WTA ends 2001 with unlikely No. 1

By Sandra Eggers Sports Central Columnist

Remember Lindsay Davenport? She won Gold at the Olympics in 1996 and followed that up with her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 1998, ending that year as the top ranked player in the world. She added the Wimbledon crown to her collection in 1999 and an Australian Open win in 2000. It was the start to a spectacular career, indeed.

Similar to former No. 1 Martina Hingis, who hasn't won a Grand Slam title in years, Davenport ended the year with enough points to earn the top ranking. Not because of her performance at the big events, but because of her consistent performance overall. Quite a remarkable accomplishment, really, considering Davenport has been plagued with injuries the past several years that has kept her off the court for extended periods of time.

Davenport started 2001 with a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open, but was forced to sit out the French Open due to injury. Her Grand Slam year ended with a semifinal loss at Wimbledon and a quarterfinal loss at the U.S. Open. Frankly, a disappointing showing for the former No. 1 player, but not unexpected, given her health.

Though not a strong performer in Grand Slam events during 2001, Davenport finished off the year with three titles in October, and qualified for the year-ending tour championships in Germany. After breezing through the first two rounds, Davenport pulled out a tough semifinal win over Kim Clijsters and it appeared as if she would add one final title to her total in 2001. As fate would have it, Davenport suffered an injury at the end of her win over Clijsters, the win that clinched the No. 1 ranking, and is unable to compete in the final match, giving the title to Serena Williams.

Many would say that Davenport had a good year, but not an exceptional one, and certainly not worthy of the No. 1 ranking. In fact, Davenport herself would agree. She has said more than once that she feels Jennifer Capriati or Venus Williams should hold that title, at least for 2001.

So how did this happen? Why are the best player in the world and the No. 1 player not the same person? It's all a numbers game, and has been the talk amongst players for some time now. Following the completion of tour year, the WTA acknowledged the inconsistency with their ranking procedures, and have introduced a new policy giving more weight to the Grand Slam tournaments.

With or without the new WTA ranking policy, Davenport worked hard to earn the No. 1 ranking in 2001. Does she deserve it? Well, probably as much as Martina Hingis did the past few years when she wasn't winning Grand Slam titles. 2002 is a new year.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.