Most world ranking systems are flawed in one way or another but for this year’s Woman’s US Open Tennis Championship highlights the need for common sense to be added to whatever formula is used when the seedings are decided as they clearly take the WTA Rankings too literally.
The reason this year is simple, Serena Williams the favourite in the US Open tennis odds to win this year and a three times winner of this tournament in the past and has won her last two tournaments will be seeded at number 28! The reason why she is seeded so low is due to her long absence through illness that kept her off court for 11 months, during which time her rankings tumbled.
Nonetheless, Williams is back now and the two wins already achieved in the Stanford Open and the Rogers Cup indicate that she is back to the form that would make her the best player in the world again and why she is the favourite to win. That said, she was forced to pull out of her most recent event, the Cincinnati Open with damage to a right toe but that is thought to have been precautionary ahead of the US Open which gets underway at Flushing Meadows on Monday 29th August.
Injuries aside, as there is little doubt that she will be fit to take her place in the Tournament, the Serena Williams case to win a fourth US Open has been helped further by the absence of defending and three time US Open winner, Kim Clijsters. Apart from Clijsters, whose career is looking ever closer to the end, Serena has no-one else to fear. She has the measure of world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who has yet to win a first Grand Slam and has recent and profound victories over world number four and five, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, whilst world number two, Vera Zvonareva, would not pose a major threat.
Players such as the reigning French Open Champion, Li Na and Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova would present a more unknown challenge but neither player has the control of a hard court surface as Serena does and neither is anywhere near as accurate on a fast court.
The one other player to possibly stand in Serena's way is her sister, Venus Williams but given that she has been out injured and has not played for over a month , it really does look like this is Serena's tournament to lose!