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Post by Grarliner on Apr 9, 2007 17:28:05 GMT -5
Yeah. I think we've been talking about this for a few weeks now. It was a really good Top 18, with a couple of exceptions...now it's a really good Top 20, with a couple of exceptions. But it's a weak Top 10, no? Players not named Justine, Maria, or Serena are interchangeable, right? I think that may be what S2 is referring to -- because only three players are really good makes the rest of the Top 20 look better than they really are because they beat the Top 5-10 more than players 11-20 used to be able to in the past. I mean, retiring Clijsters, Hingis, Jankovic, Vaidisova, Chak...no better than, say, Peer, Li, Golovin, Hantuchova, Ivanovic, as groups. Yet none of them compare to Justine/Serena/Maria. 4 through 20 are close, but are they good? Still...it's a very competitive Top 20. Which is indisputable, and great for the game. That is what I'm saying, though it doesn't necessarily follow that it's a weak top ten either. So ... the new rankings are hella boring. No changes in the top ten at all. The first alteration is Safina passing the injured Dementieva for #12. Then all you've got in the top twenty is Golovin moving up one spot to #19 with her title. Bammer 29-26. Venus' QF gets her into the top thirty again, 32-29. Anna-Lena 28-31. Kirilenko 39-40. Tu, who beat Pennetta today in Charleston, is again in the top 50. Quite the revival from Meilen. 51-47. Razzano 70-64. Is there a reason why she can't be top 25 for just a little while? Raz can't put it together for more than a couple tourneys a year ... The Douche rise continues 75-71. Craybas 64-78. Benesova 86-80. Pin 81-88. Sprem 107-99. Knapp 117-102. VRP 88-103. Hsieh 122-117. Holy crap, Tatjana Malek has played 34 tournaments! She rises 132-127 to a new career-high. Cibulkova 150-131. Errani 151-138. Bacsinszky 115-142. Roar. Ani 188-163. Sfar 200-188.
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Post by janie on Apr 9, 2007 20:18:48 GMT -5
There are EIGHT Italian women in the top 100 now. Sara Errani @ 138 now? Woohoo!
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Post by corswandt on Apr 9, 2007 20:28:10 GMT -5
According to TBE's list, by the end of the week we may well have a Rumanian in the top 100 for the first time since...can't really remember when.
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Post by janie on Apr 9, 2007 20:29:50 GMT -5
Since Irina Spirlea? I loved that girl.
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Post by janie on Apr 9, 2007 20:31:06 GMT -5
Weeks at #1:
1. Steffi Graf (All) 377 (17/08/1987) 2. Martina Navratilova (USA) 331 (10/07/1978) 3. Chris Evert (USA) 262 (03/11/1975) 4. Martina Hingis (Sui) 209 (31/03/1997) 5. Monica Seles (USA) 178 (11/03/1991) 6. Lindsay Davenport (USA) 98 (12/10/1998) 7. Justine Henin 60 (20/10/2003) 8. Serena Williams (USA) 57 (08/07/2002) 9. Amélie Mauresmo (Fra) 39 (13/09/2004) 10. Tracy Austin (USA) 22 (07/04/1980) 11. Kim Clijsters 19 (11/08/2003)
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Post by sasha on Apr 9, 2007 22:55:18 GMT -5
Ruxandra Dragomir. 2001, probably.
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Post by Calico on Apr 10, 2007 10:56:37 GMT -5
You guys are really good with numbers. I can't believe Makiri is almost out of the top 40. And now that the clay season is here she will likely fall further because clay is her worst surface.
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Post by DBBN on Apr 10, 2007 12:33:57 GMT -5
I can't believe Makiri is almost out of the top 40. ...you can't? Because I can't believe she was ever in it. Man, Charleston being wide open has huge consequences: a title by the likes of Safina, Peer, Ivanovic could put them well into the Top 10 Li, Golovin or Schnyder could easily win it all and break the Top 12
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Post by lexpretend on Apr 10, 2007 12:56:59 GMT -5
I liked that last post, until the name Schnyder cropped up.
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Post by DBBN on Apr 10, 2007 13:07:46 GMT -5
Oh, don't get me wrong, that would easily be the worst-case scenario. And therefore it will probably occur.
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Post by corswandt on Apr 10, 2007 13:32:49 GMT -5
Oh, don't get me wrong, that would easily be the worst-case scenario. And therefore it will probably occur. Schnyder got back into the top 10, and into the Enchanted Land of being a top 8 seed at the Slams, by going deep into a lot of depleted Tier I and Tier II events back in late 2005. I still fear she may do the same now.
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Post by lexpretend on Apr 10, 2007 13:38:52 GMT -5
I remember when she was an upset artist who'd beat the entire top 5 in a fit of inspiration, then spend the rest of the year being an insane bitch. She was fun, then, and generally ranked in the 17-30 range. Then she decided she'd become a boring passive defender who'd beat all the players beneath her all the time, and never the elite, and promptly went top 8 and stayed there for, god, it seemed like an eternity.
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Post by corswandt on Apr 10, 2007 13:49:01 GMT -5
I remember when she was an upset artist who'd beat the entire top 5 in a fit of inspiration, then spend the rest of the year being an insane bitch. She was fun, then, and generally ranked in the 17-30 range. Then she decided she'd become a boring passive defender who'd beat all the players beneath her all the time, and never the elite, and promptly went top 8 and stayed there for, god, it seemed like an eternity. You've just brilliantly summed up Patty's whole career in a paragraph.
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Post by Grarliner on Apr 21, 2007 16:28:20 GMT -5
The lower half of the top ten is now in flux.
Jankovic moves from #9 to 37 with her Charleston crown, and she is only a handful of points shy of Hingis for #6.
Petrova, who didn't defend Charleston for some reason, trades places with Jelena, and is now only 6 pts ahead of #10 Safina and 22 up on #11 Chak. She may well see her top ten run end soon with having to defend her Berlin title soon.
Ivanovic #17-15.
Schnyder spirals downward, #16-19.
Venus' semifinal run gets her a seven spot rise to #22. She is still 350 pts-ish shy of #20 Zvonareva, so she might not make that jump for a little while.
Anabel Medina Garrigues is back in the top 30 to Corswandt's great satisfaction.
Peng 35-32. Still waiting on her breakthrough.
Krajicek 54-40. (Not the band)
Anna-Lena 31-45.
Rezai 62-54.
Chan 92-69.
Castano 67-88.
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Post by janie on Apr 21, 2007 16:55:17 GMT -5
Jankovic moves from #9 to 37 with her Charleston crown Gosh, that hardly seems fair!
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Post by corswandt on Apr 21, 2007 18:51:08 GMT -5
Anabel Medina Garrigues is back in the top 30 to Corswandt's great satisfaction. "Great satisfaction" is an understatement. "Ebullient" would be more apt. I'm watching the Fed Cup Russia vs Spain not-dead-but-moribund rubbers tomorrow only to see her lose.
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Post by Grarliner on Apr 25, 2007 17:52:44 GMT -5
Jankovic moves from #9 to 37 with her Charleston crown Gosh, that hardly seems fair! Roar! It's a correction due to the crappiness of the field.
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Post by Grarliner on Apr 25, 2007 17:55:19 GMT -5
Anabel Medina Garrigues is back in the top 30 to Corswandt's great satisfaction. "Great satisfaction" is an understatement. "Ebullient" would be more apt. I'm watching the Fed Cup Russia vs Spain not-dead-but-moribund rubbers tomorrow only to see her lose. Sniff, such dedication just gets me right there in the ol' emotions.
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Post by corswandt on Apr 25, 2007 18:00:21 GMT -5
"Great satisfaction" is an understatement. "Ebullient" would be more apt. I'm watching the Fed Cup Russia vs Spain not-dead-but-moribund rubbers tomorrow only to see her lose. Sniff, such dedication just gets me right there in the ol' emotions. Like those fellows in that Spanish comic strip used to say: "You wouldn't believe how much I hate [...]" "Hating takes effort" "Well I'm a very hard worker"
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Post by Grarliner on Apr 25, 2007 19:09:54 GMT -5
Sniff, such dedication just gets me right there in the ol' emotions. Like those fellows in that Spanish comic strip used to say: "You wouldn't believe how much I hate [...]" "Hating takes effort" "Well I'm a very hard worker" ;D
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Post by Grarliner on May 11, 2007 16:25:10 GMT -5
The rankings of May 7th - post-Warsaw.
Justine's title gives her a very substantial lead over the injured Sharapova. 4134 vs. 3388. Mauresmo about 600 pts back of Maria. It's hard to see Henin surrendering #1 anytime soon, even with titles at RG, Yeastbourne and a RUP at Wimbledon to defend.
Kuznetsova is right in the neighborhood of Amelie still. Her Warsaw SF leaves her dropping pts from last year though.
Clijsters she does surmount, though. Kim's first match loss to Vak means she gains only one point and loses her W pts from last year, plummeting her to #5. (Which is a pretty decent career-ending ranking, actually). The question for me becomes whether she now takes herself off the rankings promptly or just leaves herself on to wither in the coming weeks and months.
Her retirement supplies some much-appreciated (I'm sure ... Kim's so nice) space in the top five/ten for others. Jelena Jankovic looks like she will gain the top five very soon, in fact. Her Warsaw SF combined with Hingis' absence from Warsaw moves her up one to #6 and not very shy of Kim. Her Berlin result may enable her to reach the top five for the first time next week.
Petrova remains at #9 but that will all change due to her QF ouster to Kuznetsova this week in Berlin. Her titlist points shall fall off and wound her ranking greatly.
Alona Bondarenko's RUP in Warsaw allows her a healthy rise from #40 to #29.
AMG disappoints Corswandt by falling #29-32.
And other than that, nothing really happened. Azarenka up #68-55.
K-Bond 80-67.
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Post by DBBN on May 11, 2007 16:48:13 GMT -5
Kim is having herself removed from the rankings. Good for her. Some other players should take note cough Lindsay cough.
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Post by Grarliner on May 11, 2007 17:21:48 GMT -5
Well, Lindsay may play a tournament or two on a whim this fall or something. I don't know.
Kim is doing that. Good.
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Post by Wagasi on May 11, 2007 18:19:16 GMT -5
What difference does it make anyway? It's not like an absentee ranking can do anything
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Post by DBBN on May 11, 2007 18:35:53 GMT -5
I think it's nice to let people get the ranking they deserve officially if someone in front of them is really out for good. Kim is retired -- Jank should be Top Five right now because she is the fifth-best active player, according to points. We shouldn't have to think about it, it should be there next to her name. Just my opinion.
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Post by sasha on May 11, 2007 22:58:57 GMT -5
So, is Martina now the player we believe needs to get out of the Top 10.
Oh, how things change.
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Post by Grarliner on May 12, 2007 1:32:22 GMT -5
So, is Martina now the player we believe needs to get out of the Top 10. Oh, how things change. Maybe. Fatigue has taken a toll on her since the first few weeks of the season. If she falters in Rome or Paris, or worse, skips one or both, she might find herself out of the top ten. Might I point out how wide-open ... well, aside from the clear favorite, RG has become? There is a big vacuum at the top now. Clijsters is gone (not that she could beat Justine anyway), Mauresmo is struggling after ditching her appendix (and we all know too well her troubles with Paris), Maria is hurting and slumping and never does too well on clay anyway. Kuznetsova cannot beat Justine, especially there, and isn't immune to an upset. That leaves Jankovic or Serena or Vaidisova or Chakvetadze (or Venus or Peer or Ivanovic, etc.) as players with better than usual title chances given their rankings.
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Post by Grarliner on May 12, 2007 1:41:37 GMT -5
I thought a gander at the Race to the Chase ... err, Champs was in order;
JANKOVIC is now #1! 1555 pts on ELEVEN tournaments, leads #2 Serena by 24 pts now.
Henin is solidly in third, Sveta in fourth, Hingis in fifth, Maria in sixth. The last three very close to each other.
Clijsters is #7, but that will change.
I feel like puking for some reason right now ... ugh ...
Daniela, Chak and Golovin round out the top ten in that order.
Mauresmo is mired at #15 and that won't get much better after this week either.
Venus #21.
Schnyder #30.
Honestly, the only three players to turn in big results so far have been the top three there. And ... Jankovic's name is a bit of a surprise, I'd have to say. Yes, I know, 11 tournaments, but she does have some hefty results. Two titles so far, very consistent otherwise, bidding for another title this week. I'm quite impressed by her; I half-expected her to fall back after her incredible surge the last six months of 2006.
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Post by lexpretend on May 12, 2007 3:00:08 GMT -5
I think it's nice to let people get the ranking they deserve officially if someone in front of them is really out for good. Kim is retired -- Jank should be Top Five right now because she is the fifth-best active player, according to points. We shouldn't have to think about it, it should be there next to her name. Just my opinion. I'm the other way round, removing one's name from the rankings means something of an existential crisis where those points are concerned. Someone earned them! That someone should be on the rankings! Otherwise you get missing points sloshing around in the ether. Uncomfortable. Also, it fucks up the year-end rankings, like in '99 when a RG winner/Wim finalist wasn't on the list at all.
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Post by lexpretend on May 12, 2007 3:01:48 GMT -5
I don't think RG is any more open than usual, ie, clear favourite way out in front, assorted crap way behind her. Actually this is the first year in a while there'll be a viable challenger, ie Serena (and maaaaybe Jankovic if she pulls a win out today).
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