Jankovic set to Become World #1

[Drummond]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080802.TENNIS02/TPStory/Sports

Jankovic loses shot at No. 1, or does she?

MONTREAL -- It sure looks as if women's tennis has fallen apart since former No.1 Justine Henin retired in May.

That seems the logical conclusion to draw after No.2-ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia lost 7-5, 6-2 to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals yesterday, thus ending her bid to take over the No.1 ranking from compatriot Ana Ivanovic.

After Ivanovic, playing with an inflamed thumb, was upset on Thursday, Jankovic needed to reach the final to take over the top spot.

Her loss to Cibulkova apparently ruined that chance on the same day it was revealed No.3-ranked Maria Sharapova has a small rotator cuff tear in her right shoulder and is out of tennis for at least two months - missing both the Olympic Games and the U.S. Open.

That is a huge blow for women's tennis, but there is more, getting into a wackier realm. Projected calculations by statistician Robert Waltz of the Daily Tennis newsletter reveal that while Ivanovic remains at No.1 in Monday's new rankings, a week later she will be replaced and there will definitely be a new No.1.

And guess what? The new No.1 will be none other than - drum roll, please - Jelena Jankovic.

The simplest explanation for this relates to the WTA Tour's rolling ranking system - points go on one week and then are replaced by the points earned exactly 52 weeks later.

So, because Ivanovic will lose the points she got 52 weeks ago for winning in Los Angeles, and Jankovic will not yet have dropped the points she received a week later as the Rogers Cup runner-up last year, Jankovic will become, however briefly, the 18th No.1 since computer rankings were introduced in 1975.

"I don't really think about No.1, and at the moment I don't deserve it," Jankovic yesterday said after losing. She was certainly unaware that will happen whether she deserves it or not.

Her argument is credible because she will be the first No.1 not to have even made it to a Grand Slam final.

A brief look at the women's top seven, with their current status in brackets, reveals the instability on tour: 1. Ivanovic (inflamed thumb, but good prognosis). 2. Jankovic (off-form after inactivity while rehabilitating a knee injury). 3. Sharapova (out). 4. Kuznetsova (healthy, but a feeble performer on big occasions). 5. Serena Williams (chronic left knee woes). 6. Elena Dementieva (also feeble on big occasions). 7. Venus Williams (right knee trouble).

Well there you go...

 

[red+black]

1. Jankovic (bad head)

 

[Kaan]

The new fugly #1

 

[aaronm46]

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooo