Ivanovic Returns to No.1

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Hall of Fame
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2536
ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA - On this week's Monday, August 18 rankings, Ana Ivanovic reclaims the world No.1 ranking, a distinction she will hold for at least the next three weeks. The 20-year old Serb, who held No.1 for nine weeks earlier this year (June 9 to August 10), returns to the top of the rankings by replacing compatriot Jelena Jankovic.

Entering the week of the Olympics, three players had a chance to emerge with the No.1 ranking - Ivanovic, Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Both Jankovic and Kuznetsova had a chance at the No.1 ranking if they could reach the finals in Beijing, but an opening round loss to China's Li Na ended Kuznetsova's bid, while Jankovic was eliminated by eventual silver medalist Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals. Ivanovic withdrew from the Olympics with a right thumb injury.

This year, Ivanovic has won titles at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells and Roland Garros, her first Grand Slam title. She was runner-up to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in January and a semifinalist at two other Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stops in Sydney and Berlin. She is 30-8 on the season and has already secured a place in the singles competition for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, from November 4-9, 2008.

Ivanovic first burst to prominence in late 2004 in the second round of Zürich, where as a 16-year old qualifier she pushed Venus Williams to two tie-breaks after holding set points in each set. She has steadily risen up to the pinnacle of the rankings since then. Her season-ending ranking has improved from No.705 (in 2003) to No.97 (2004) to No.16 (2005) to No.14 (2006) to No.4 (2007).

Since Justine Henin retired and immediately took her name off the rankings, three players have held the No.1 ranking: Ana Ivanovic (the next three weeks will be her 10th through 12th weeks), Jankovic (one week) and Maria Sharapova (three weeks). For a full list of the 18 world No.1 players since the inception of computer rankings in 1975, visit the Media Center.
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soyizgood

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Ivanovic is #1 for now. Though she's not a convincing #1. She could still lose #1 to either Jankovic (never been to a slam final) or Kuznetsova (still has nightmares of Henin and flaking in finals). The crazy thing is Serena could also get #1 if she wins the USO. The #1 ranking this year has been tossed around like chicks on Melrose Place. Aiyeee....
 
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M

MEAC_ALLAMERICAN

Legend
So soon? :shock:

But let's be honest, is there anyone on the tour currently playing like the #1 player in the world, the ranking is just to save face.
 
boredone3456

boredone3456

G.O.A.T.
MEAC_ALLAMERICAN said:
So soon? :shock:

But let's be honest, is there anyone on the tour currently playing like the #1 player in the world, the ranking is just to save face.
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Safina is playing like you would expect the number 1 to be playing...to bad she doesn't have the actual number to back that up.
 
FuriousYellow

FuriousYellow

Professional
Ivanovic has the least amount of points to defend from last year's Open after losing in the round of 16, but she's also the most suspect when it comes to injury right now.
 
Tanya

Tanya

Hall of Fame
Who cares, she won't stay at #1 for long. (At least she shouldn't!)

She has done nothing worth mentioning since the French Open. I don't know why people still pick her to win the US Open this year; it isn't going to happen. I'd be surprised if she makes it past the 4th round.

I want Serena to win the US Open, take over the number one spot, and stop all this number 1 controversy nonsense. If anyone is deserving of the top spot in Women's tennis it's one of the Williams sisters, Serena especially. She is the most intimidating player on the tour, and has to best resume to boot, Venus coming in second to her sister.

Ivanovic is a weak number 1 and never deserved the ranking in the first place if you ask me. Call me crazy or whatever, but I'd much prefer Jankovic #1 than Ivanovic.
 
anointedone

anointedone

Banned
Tanya said:
Who cares, she won't stay at #1 for long. (At least she shouldn't!)

She has done nothing worth mentioning since the French Open. I don't know why people still pick her to win the US Open this year; it isn't going to happen. I'd be surprised if she makes it past the 4th round.

I want Serena to win the US Open, take over the number one spot, and stop all this number 1 controversy nonsense. If anyone is deserving of the top spot in Women's tennis it's one of the Williams sisters, Serena especially. She is the most intimidating player on the tour, and has to best resume to boot, Venus coming in second to her sister.

Ivanovic is a weak number 1 and never deserved the ranking in the first place if you ask me. Call me crazy or whatever, but I'd much prefer Jankovic #1 than Ivanovic.
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The Williams are not currently deserving #1s either. Ability wise they certainly are. However they are not producing either the consistency or the regularity in playing to warrant the #1 ranking sadly. I dont mean playing every event or winning every event, which is too much to expect every reasonable #1 to do of course. I mean consistently making deep rounds and playing a pretty consistent schedule like a #1 should, not just winning the odd big event mixed with lots of withdrawals and early round losses.

I also dont think the Williams really intimidate anymore as you claim. There is no current female player who intimidates by their sheer presence, everyone feels they have a real shot vs anyone they play at the moment. The other players are not really afraid of them anymore, even ones that are not top players, and they have to win matches by either outplaying their opponent or gutting out the victory. I see them play often and they do not gain any advantage on their aura any longer. The only female player who has recently done that was Henin in the 2nd half of last year, but once Sharapova crushed her in Australia that went out the window too.
 
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mrDamien

mrDamien

Hall of Fame
Very soon she will dump out from No 1 again. It will be a battle till the end of the year to see the Top 5 women compete with each other for just the No 1 hotspot.
 
N

NADALwonWIMBLEDONagain

Guest
Jankovic looked so pathetic the WTA had no choice but to return the top ranking to Ana.
 
soyizgood

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Love Game said:
Didn't she make it to semis?

While Ana did nothing?
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Jelena had to make the finals to keep #1, but lost in the QF. Jelena's points from Canada 2007 came off, so she needed to go far to keep the ranking. Ana basically got #1 again by being idle. Then again, Jelena was #1 by a technicality (points from a 2007 tournament didn't come off yet) so she got to be #1 for a week.
 
seffina

seffina

G.O.A.T.
Love Game said:
^^^I guess someday I'll understand the ranking points.

Thanks for explaining! :D
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It's the same reason that Nadal had to wait until yesterday to be number one.

I do think the women's race would benefit from a bit of separation. Not a consistent number one, but a consistent top three. Too bad I don't care much for the current top three.
 
soyizgood

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Ivanovic only has 97 pt lead on Jankovic. In fact, it's possible for Safina to take #1 despite being #7 currently. Ivanovic has a lot to prove and I'm not certain she can pull it together. If Kuznetsova is going to win a 2nd USO now is the best time for her.

Of course if Ivanovic messes up early, Jankovic could take #1 AGAIN without even making a slam final. Oh, the world of women's tennis in the post-Henin era.
 
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Tanya

Tanya

Hall of Fame
post-Henin era? Henin never had an era. She was only on top of the women's game for like what, 2 years? That's hardly an era.

The Williams sisters had an era. Federer had an era. Henin did not.
 
anointedone

anointedone

Banned
Tanya said:
post-Henin era? Henin never had an era. She was only on top of the women's game for like what, 2 years? That's hardly an era.

The Williams sisters had an era. Federer had an era. Henin did not.
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Serena or Venus were only on top for 2 years each as well. Venus was on top in 2000 and 2001. Serena was on top in 2002 and maybe 2003. That is it. That is not an era either unless you count them jointly which goes against the fact they are both one person.

The only eras any of them had are at one event. 2003-2007 was the Henin era at the French Open. 2000-2008 has been the Venus era at Wimbledon. As overall players the last one to have an era themself was Steffi Graf.
 
shawn1122

shawn1122

Professional
Tanya said:
post-Henin era? Henin never had an era. She was only on top of the women's game for like what, 2 years? That's hardly an era.

The Williams sisters had an era. Federer had an era. Henin did not.
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She may not have had an era but at least she made womens tennis watchable.
 
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