OFF: Can Justine Henin Fight Off the Challenge for No. 1?
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Mar 21, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
The clock is ticking on Justine Henin’s reign as the No. 1 player in the world.
Given the present form of Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, and Maria Sharapova, it will not be easy for Henin to remain in the top spot.
Henin does have a 2,500 lead over Ivanovic (her closest rival) on the rankings, but Justine will spend the few months trying to defend, not add to her ranking total.
Today’s Open Forum Friday is your chance to tell us which of the four (Ivanovic, Kuznetsova, Jankovic, and Sharapova) has the best chance of taking the No. 1 ranking away from Justine Henin.
If not, who do you think will overtake her for the top spot?”
Henin needs to defend the following points between now and Roland Garros.
Miami (Finalist) - 350 points
Warsaw (Champion) - 275 points
Berlin (Semifinalist) - 195 points
Paris (Champion) - 1000 points
Everyone, thank you for your participation and have a happy Easter!
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Andrew Broad | Mar 21, 2008 | Reply
Based on the form of 2008 so far, Maria Sharapova is the true #1. If she keeps up her brilliant tennis, then I would expect the rankings to confirm that she is the world’s best player on Monday 7th July if not sooner.
Bill | Mar 21, 2008 | Reply
Henin hasn’t won a Tier I title on clay last year. She has opportunities to gain points. Jankovic over played tournaments last year, she has alot of points to defend. Ana won Tier I’s last yaer, and has points to defend.
The problem is that Ana, Jankovic and Kuznetsova have yet to defend any titles won. And they have not won any titles this year either.
Sharapova has the best chance, but she doesn’t have a good history of playing well once she has reached #1. The season is very long it might come down to the final tournaments of the year, and again with injuries plus illness anything can happen.
Louise | Mar 21, 2008 | Reply
I think it will come down to Paris, obviously. The rankings usually have rather big shifts at the end of grand slams. For some reason i don’t see Henin winning Roland Garros this year, as she wants to focus on winning Wimbledon (dream big!), so i wouldn’t be suprised if she lost her ranking to maybe Kuznetsova. Right now, Sharapova is playing really well, but i think it would be rather hard for her to stay the standard she’s been at for this first part of the season.
hayley | Mar 22, 2008 | Reply
I think justine is so strong as a character, i think she will remain number 1 for a long time and i cant see anyone else winning the french open except her because she just a stunning claycourt player and really is unbeatable at roland garros and she will have the best preparation for both french and wimbledon.
She is rightfully the best player in the world!!!!!!!
Suzy | Mar 22, 2008 | Reply
Couldn’t agree more with what you’ve all said. To
add to it, Justine had such a cushion in points coming into this year such that discounting the unexpected, I can only see anyone catching up after wimbledon, ie if she doesn’t do well there.
She’ll have lots of points to defend after that as well, so might leave her a bit vunerable.
Alice | Mar 23, 2008 | Reply
Fair play to my friend Jim, who predicted at the new year that Maria Sharapova will end the year in the #1 spot.
She has certainly begun the year intent on fufilling his forecast.