Near has been, Caroline Wozniacki (above).

When the latest WTA rankings became public today, we found ourselves scanning the page a little bit, for it isn’t every week that the previous week’s #1 drops all the way down to four in one week’s time.  Then again, Wozniacki isn’t like most other #1’s.  Like the kind who earn their way there by scoring both major and minor tournament victories, and not just via the latter.  We all knew that things were going to be different for the Dutch miss when she woke up this morning than it had been in quite a while, and frankly, Azarenka, Kvitova, and Sharapova, the new top three, have earned their new spots by playing great tennis and by also dominating Wozniacki.  So finally, the rankings system is working again in the women’s game.  As the great John McEnroe explains in his book, You Cannot Be Serious, that when a player falls from #1, each slipped notch represents a great divide, and that #1 is say, so much better than #2, and #2 is so much better than #3 and on down.  Now you might be thinking, not so, when applied to the current men’s game, and not even so when looking at the top two women’s spots, even this week.  For there is obviously, at least based on Melbourne, not a great deal separating #1 and #2 and #1 and #4, having watched Djokovic-Murray and then Djokovic-Nadal.

But these men are different.  We haven’t had an unworthy men’s #1, a non major champion #1 man in ages.  And for our money, Kvitova is the real #1 on the women’s side, and she has the edge over Azarenka, whether she has the ranking or not.  As for Wozniacki, there is no question that she has been undeserving (and under serving), or that she was worthy of this startling demotion.  As a #1, she made zero major finals last year, and lost a staggering 17 times, for a 63-17 record.  Clear cut compiling, by virtue of amount played, ala Jelena Jankovic, the other most blatantly undeserving (and under serving) #1 in recent memory.  Wozniacki lost once every four and a half matches, which wouldn’t even see her reach the semis, on average, at masters level events.  And what about who she lost to?

We haven’t racked the annals of the record book yet, but we’ll ask when a world #1 of any sort lost two matches in one year to players ranked 70th or lower?  Last year, Wozniacki lost to Sofia Arvidsson (#73) and Christina McHale (#76), and only the latter has been on an upward trajectory.  Too many losses, too poor a quality of loss, and very bad losses at majors, such as to Hantuchova (#29) in the round of 32 in Paris and to Cibulkova (#24) in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, after winning the first set 6-1.  Since almost all American tennis coverage comes filtered through ESPN, heavily invested in promoting athletic personalities for reasons such as promotion, like all the players they put in their Sportscenter commercials, a group to which Wozniacki belongs, it isn’t surprising that lead female voice, Mary Joe Fernandez, was pubbing for Wozniacki hard all of last year, constantly on the stump about how well the rankings system works, and how deserving Wozniacki was.  MJF has to be so careful though, what with all her and ESPN’s conflicts of interests and all.  So when she says things like ‘winning at Indian Wells is just like winning a major’…um…take that with an ocean of salt.

While we do stand by our title, and feel Wozniacki, like Jankovic, is for all intents and purposes done at the top, she is far from done as in cooked.  Yet.  The first thing that Wozniacki needs to do, like so many in her position or a similar one, is ditch dad.  In Jankovic’s case it was mom.  Wozniacki has her ex-soccer star father coaching her, and as you can see, nowhere in that byline is the word “tennis.”

Plenty of girls have success as slap hitting pushers.  Just look at Kim Clijsters.  But Clijsters comes up with shots when pushed while Wozniacki comes up with…losses.  She needs a drastic remodel on the forehand side, and she needs to find a way to hang on to her serve in pressure situations against mediocre and top talent.  That’s a big job and it will start in practice.  As we suggested for Jankovic, we suggest for Wozniacki.  She must cut weeks from her playing schedule and add weeks to her practice schedule.  We don’t think the homely Jankovic was in demand as a model, so it wasn’t like she needed to worry about that, but Wozniacki does.  But Wozniacki is no Kournikova.  She is not so hot that people will want to take her picture when the tennis part is done.

What she does have in common with Jankovic is plain old greed.  When Wozniacki should be practicing or resting, she is playing.  When she needs to be practicing for Wimbledon, where she sucks, she is playing indoors, clearly picking up the paycheck.  When she needs to be resting the week before the US Open, she is playing New Haven, the only top player in the world who doesn’t skip it.  When she should be preparing for red clay, she is playing on green clay, which does not make you in any way appreciably better on red clay.  For the paycheck.

So Wozniacki must also exercise some common sense as well.  We understand the demands of sponsors and all this other nonsense, but those demands will lessen quickly if she is out of the top twenty next year, which can also happen.  Not that we care to see her improve.  Just being honest.  And while we’re at the honesty thing, we feel no real imperative to suggest a coach, as we might do for a player we like.  You know we were thrilled to see today’s huge, if not stunning reversal in rankings.  This kid does not play the right way.  Kudos WTA.

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