Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark officially will take over the World No. 1 ranking when the new rankings are released on Monday. In doing so, she has dethroned Serena Williams of the USA.

The 20-year-old will become the first player from Denmark, male or female, to hold the top ranking after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Petra Kvitova at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday.

“This is a real big step for me. To be the world No. 1 has always been a dream for me,” Wozniacki said at the Beijing Tennis Center. “It doesn’t feel like it’s real.”

Wozniacki is currently No. 2. The 29-year-old Williams hasn’t played on the women’s tour since capturing her 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in July. The American had foot surgery the same month after walking through glass at a restaurant in Munich, she told USA Today in September.

Wozniacki, a finalist in last year’s U.S. Open, won the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last week for a WTA Tour record fifth tournament victory this year.

Wozniacki is the 20th player to top the rankings since they began in 1975 and the third in the last two years to do so without having won a Grand Slam title, following Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic. But you can be sure capturing a major title is her next target. “That would be like a dream come true,” Wozniacki said.

Wozniacki has won 11 titles, five of them this year, and has lost once in her last 21 matches. She reached the U.S. Open final last year, losing to Kim Clijsters, and her best Grand Slam result this season was also in New York, where she fell in the semifinals.