By Robert Martin                             Photo Credit: Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(August 11, 2011) It was only one day ago that World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was eliminated from the Rogers Cup in Toronto by Italy’s Roberta Vinci. Despite that she will lose a large number of points, there is no denying that she has earned her spot in the rankings, regardless of what many will argue.

It is true that the Dane has not come through and won a major so far, but she cannot be blamed for the situation that surrounds her. Looking at the numbers, she plays very consistently well, and the majors of this year have been dictated by a player that caught a hot streak and rode the momentum to the title.

Kim Clijsters, who is No. 2 in the rankings, sits in the eighth spot in the race points. To further explain, the race keeps track of only the points that have been earned in the current year, while the world rankings include all events within the previous 52 weeks.

Due to injury problems this year, Clijsters has more than 60 percent of her points coming from her triumph at the Australian Open to begin the year, and her No. 2 ranking is in jeopardy with 2000 points to defend from last year’s US Open title.

So how is it that Wozniacki deserves to be No. 1 without a major title? For one, she is a product of the environment and players around her, many of whom typically either do not play as many events, or do not have the same kind of consistent results.

Some will argue that Wozniacki pads her points total by competing in smaller events like Copenhagen, but when looking at her points, she is earning around 67 percent of points from grand slam and premier events. In comparison, Petra Kvitova has earned 550 points less at these events despite winning a major.

Maria Sharapova has consistently been the best in these types of events though, with 4770 of her 4960 points coming from grand slams and premier tournaments. She has played only two events outside of these, losing in the quarterfinals at both Auckland and Stanford.

It is true that Wozniacki plays in more events that many of her competitors, but with a game built around consistency and movement, she needs that. Until she is able to develop a weapon, she will always run the risk of being overpowered by the likes of Sharapova and Kvitova.

So it has been established that Wozniacki can be beaten, but how have the top women done so far this year? Wozniacki actually has the best record against players ranked inside the top 20 at 13-3, while the three players trailing her all have four losses.

Kvitova leads the trailing three with nine wins, while, Sharapova and Li Na both have seven wins each. The best result for the woman from China was at Roland Garros, where she took out four straight top 10 players en route to the title.

Another interesting statistic is the number of losses to players ranked outside of the top 50, where Wozniacki holds an advantage again. The Dane has lost only one time this year, in Bastad to World No. 73 Sofia Arvidsson when she retired with a shoulder injury while trailing 2-6, 1-0.

Kvitova on the other hand, has lost three times to players ranked outside of the top 50, including a loss to Kristina Barrois at an ITF event in the Bahamas. The only reason that Kvitova was able to play that particular ITF event was because she lost early in Indian Wells, which ran through the same week.

Sharapova is listed at four losses, but one deserves a footnote as it was a loss to Serena Williams who was ranked No. 169 following a ranking drop due to injury.

Li has been better than the others, with technically two losses, but one was her loss at Wimbledon to then-ranked No. 62 Sabine Lisicki. The German has shot up the rankings and now stands at a career high 14th.

Wozniacki has proven throughout this year and the end of last year that she is capable of beating the big names consistently, but it is easier for her during the premier events. This is because in one-week premier events the more explosive players do not have the same amount of time to recover as they do with the off-day during a grand slam.

This works in the favor of the No. 1 by promoting her consistency and ability to take advantage of an opponent’s errors. If the top players were consistently healthy then it would be tough for her to maintain her ranking, but do not be fooled into thinking that she cannot compete with the top players.

She had one of the most impressive runs in recent history last year where she made the semifinal of the US Open, won in Montreal, New Haven, Tokyo, and Beijing before making the final of the Tour Championships. During that stretch, she went 21-3 with six wins over top 10 players and 15 over the top 20.

This does not mean that she will be remembered for being No. 1, just as Jelena Jankovic is frequently forgotten. More than anything else in the sport of tennis, success and memory is decided by grand slam victories, and so far the 21-year-old only has one final appearance to show.

While she may not be remembered in the future if she is unable to win a major title, she has still put in the effort and results to justify her top ranking in the environment that she is competing in. She has proven that she can beat the top players, but time will tell if she can beat them on the highest stages and create a legacy of more than the unfair title of “undeserving World No. 1”.

Robert Martin is a writer for Tennis Now and has been a tennis fan and player for 10 years. He can be reached at robert@tennisnow.com.