Ranking System.

I know, I know.. this topic has been beat to death, but I still don't know what's going on with the WTA ranking system. This year isn't the only year this has happened, I think you know what I'm talking about, how a player like Dinara Safina (Do not get me wrong, she's an amazing, amazing player) getting to the top of the tennis world without having a grand slam title on your resume?

The ranking system the WTA uses currently is modeled after the same ranking system used on the ATP Tour which awards points based on results in tournaments, and caps it off after a certain number of tournaments. For the 2009 season the WTA is capping that at 16 events. 

So, if a player completes in more than 16 events, only the best 16 results will count towards their ranking, so if they perform poorly in some events those can be dropped without any worries. I believe this is where the main flaw lies in the WTA ranking system.

But back to the WTA's current number 1 player, Dinara Safina. She's held the ranking for 12 months now, and she's had an amazing 12 months along the way..last year she was ranked number 17 in the world, but in that time she's reached the finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, the olympics, and she's also won 4 WTA tournaments.

But she still doesn't have a major title on her resume.

Safina replaced Serena Williams as the world number 1, even though Williams won the US Open and Australian Open, and reached the finals of Wimbledon last year, and won it this year. Yet she's still #2.

Your thoughts, opinions..feel free to add on any other flaws you see in the ranking system..


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