Women Pro on TOP!

The top seed having faltered yet again, the big question now seems serious! The reliability of the professional tennis ranking system! The three grand Slam winner not being a number one, a non Grand Slam winner, Jelena Jankovic, finishing the previous year as number one and the current world number one has some feeble chance of repeating the same! Some prescribes of reviving the system; some are convinced in the name of consistency! Murray seems to go with the later and also questions the William sisters’ commitment to the game!
If the ranking system is faulty, then there must be a similar cacophony, in the men’s circuit. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. Harmony prevails in the men’s ranking system.
The word consistency is slowly losing its real sheen in the women’s tennis, which may not be owed to the lack of incompetent players or some may put the other way around – too much of competent players. Neither is true.
Much after the days of Davenport, Henin Hardenne, (barring William sisters’ from the context), the WTA is suffering from this disease - Inconsistency. Many promising players emerged, and had a flashing entry, reaching the top spot with exuberance, but refused to be on top and give a fight. Sharapova, Ivanovic, Jankovic are few to name. Let this disease stay away from the promising star - Oudin. Strange was the case of Mauresmo, wining two grand slams in a year and was not there to defend the title in the next year’s finals, facing early exits.
Players like Safina, Dementieva are in the other side of consistency. The most consistent of all in the current season, failing to rise on the occasion, inflicts more pain. Experienced Dementieva, should have known the wining ways and should have bagged a couple of grand slams easily. Safina, going very close to the pinnacle of fame and failed twice, should have learnt the ways to control nerves.
But the story with the American sisters is bit strange. The Williams have always been unique in their own way and stood synonymous to unpredictability. Though they were consistent, poised, experienced, victorious they still weren’t staying on top, as Roger Federer, Pete or Agassi, because they were unpredictable. May be Murray’s questioning of their commitment may be exaggerated, but one should not forget that they, would remain among legends for years and their passion to the sport is beyond doubts.
So it is not the ranking system that has to be revisited, but the players themselves. The rating, though appears to be defective, but still, is justified. The winning streak of Safina in 2009 or an excellent winning show of the US Open series, 2009 by Dementieva are its best examples.
Though the three Grand Slams of Serena may stand tall and great but tennis is just not the grand slams! One must not forget that it is the smaller tournaments that bring new players and fresh opponents to the tennis world.