BBC Article: Caroline Wozniacki Is A Nice Girl But Is She The Number One Female Tennis Player In The World?

Wozniacki benefits from absent Serena

Post categories: tennis

Jonathan Overend | 18:03 UK time, Sunday, 10 October 2010

Caroline Wozniacki, the golden-curl-girl from Denmark, has undoubtedly been the player of 2010 so far on the WTA Tour and on Monday, at the age of 20, becomes the 20th woman to top the world rankings.

Effervescent Wozniacki, the seventh-youngest woman to become world number one, has won five titles this season (make that six if she wins the rain-delayed Beijing final on Monday) thanks to a combination of almost unbreakable groundstrokes and magnificent movement around the court.

It sets her up perfectly for a natural counter-punching game.

She retrieves a lot, plays a lot, wins a lot. But let’s be honest, she is top of the pile because Serena Williams doesn’t play as much as she does.

 

Much like Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic before her, Wozniacki has been rewarded for consistency on the WTA Tour rather than her Grand Slam record.

Williams, who hasn’t played since Wimbledon after cutting her foot, would almost certainly still be number one were it not for that broken piece of glass. Or, for that matter, had she played more frequently in a six-tournament, part-time season.

She has two major titles this year and, although it pains me to say it, not being a fan of her ego-trips, she is correct when she says “everyone knows who the real number one is”.

Interesting that Serena’s comeback, all set for Linz in Austria this week, was cancelled on the eve of the tournament. Will she make the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, or is her season at a close?

Having said all that, there is nothing Wozniacki can do about the schedule of her rivals. Nobody runs a schedule like Serena. Except perhaps Venus.

It may work for them (and it’s the key reason for their incredible longevity) but it’s not something which helps the tour.

It makes it almost inevitable that another player will overtake her, as Wozniacki has done, on the strength of frequency of play rather than success at the biggies.

Inevitable too that people will question the suitability of the incumbent. And so, rather unfortunately, we have to scrutinise Wozniacki’s credibility as a number one.

The press release from the WTA trumpeted the fact she reached at least the fourth round of every major championship this year.

Is that really something for a world number one to be proud of? Would Serena be happy with two fourth rounds, one quarter-final and one semi?

Unfortunately the PR folk, desperate to boost Wozniacki’s anonymous profile among non-fanatics, would have been better leaving that one out. It’s not that impressive.

Don’t forget Wozniacki was humbled in the fourth round of Wimbledon by Petra Kvitova, winning only two games, and lost to Vera Zvonereva in straights sets when well placed to make a second successive final at Flushing Meadows.

What is impressive is her consistency on the tour and her ability to win top-tier events such as Tokyo and Montreal.

Is she better than Safina and Jankovic? In my opinion, yes. She has fewer weaknesses and is mentally stronger.

I like the way she plays with a smile and I believe she will win a major, perhaps starting in Australia in January.

Until then, she will always be in that second group of challengers behind the big four major champions of the past decade: Serena, Venus, Henin and Clijsters.

No disgrace there, that is reality – no matter what the rankings say.