By Nick Georgandis
This past Monday, Caroline Wozniacki dipped to No. 8 in the WTA rankings, her lowest slot since early July of 2009.
After back-to-back seasons of 63 and 62 wins, Wozniacki is a fairly pedestrian 20-9 so far in 2012 without a single tournament championship.
Throughout her 67 weeks at No. 1 - a total of 18 from October 2010 to February 2011 and a further 49 between the end of February 2011 and the end of January 2012, Wozniacki was famously, and perhaps unfairly, criticized for being the world's top player despite having not on a Grand Slam title - somethng many critics, among them Martina Navratilova, have said should not be allowed to happen.
But the real culprit in Wozniacki's ascension may well have been nothing more than a healthy bout of coincidence - mixing her own consistent game featuring a busy schedule with a lull in the talent at the top of the WTA.
Consider that Wozniacki, then 20 years old, first took over the No. 1 spot in October of 2010, not because she won the US Open (she lost in the semifinals), but because the injured Serena Williams could not defend her points.
Wozniacki kept the No. 1 spot for all but one week of 2011, losing it to Kim Clijsters after Clijsters won the Australian Open. But Wozniacki bounced back to win Dubai while Clijsters was forced to take a huge chunk of time off as injuries caught up to
her, and Wozniacki was back on top a week later.
The rest of the year was classic Wozniacki - she won Indian Wells, Charleston, Brussels, Copenhagen and New Haven, but was done in the third round at the French Open, the fourth round at Wimbledon and the semifinals again at the US Open.
But while she couldn't win a major, no other player could make a move on the top spot - as Li Na, Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur each won a single Slam and climbed the rankings in the process, but not enough to knock off the persistent Wozniacki.
The start of 2012 brought on the culmination of Victoria Azarenka's strong finish to 2011 as she won the Australian Open and started the year 24-0, displacing Wozniacki as No. 1. Suddenly faced with a healthy Top 10 of strong competitors - the resurgent Williams and Maria Sharapova, a very impressive Agnieszka Radwanska and others - Wozniacki has faced the struggle of defending points won against easier opponents a year previous.
Wozniacki is hardly the first woman to find herself at the top of the leaderboard due more to circumstance than dominance.
In recent years, Serbia's Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, and Russia's Dinara Safina, have all spent time at No. 1 based largely on consistency from tournament to tournament rather than defining wins.
And the bad news for the 22-year-old Wozniacki, all of those three hit the top spot early in their careers, never to return (at least not so far).
Here's a quick look at the rise and fall of three former No. 1s with similar circumstances to Wozniacki.
Ana Ivanovic
Time at #1: 12 weeks total bewteen June and September of 2008
Grand Slams Won: 1 (Roland Garros, 2008)
Reaching #1: Justine Henin spent 61 straight weeks at No. 1 from March 19, 2007 to May 18, 2008, when she abruptly retired for the first time. After Sharapova claimed the top spot for two months, the 21-year-old Ivanovic took over by winning Roland Garros. The No. 1 spot would change hands seven times total in 2008, not surprising considering Ivanovic went just 11-9 after winning the French Open.
Aftershock: Ivanovic couldn't regain the magic in 2009, putting together a lackluster 24-14 record and ending the season ranked 22nd. She hasn't been back in the top 10 since, and has just three titles - two at Bali, one at Linz - since 2008 ended.
Jelena Jankovic
Time at #1: 18 weeks total between August 2008 and February 2009
Grand Slams won: 0
Reaching #1: Much like Ivanovic before her, the 23-year-old Jankovic first reached No. 1 in the world in the flux following Henin's unexpected retirement. In Ivanovic's Post-French Open fade of 2008, Jankovic used consistency to find her way to No. 1, reaching the US Open final, then winning Stuttgart, Moscow and Berlin in succession during the fall season to move secure the top spot. She held it until following February, when Williams won the Australian Open.
Aftershock: After sliding as far as eighth in 2009, a strong clay court season and Wimbledon saw her battle her way all the way back to No. 2 by July of 2010. From there, she entered a virtual free-fall, losing 11 of her last 17 matches and requiring eye surgery in the off-season. After a so-so 2011, she's dropped to 20th in the world, off to a 17-12 start to 2012.
Dinara Safina
Time at #1: 26 weeks total between April 20 and November 1, 2009
Grand Slams won: 0
Reaching #1: The 22-year-old Russian took the mantle away from Williams early in 2009 by racking up points with a finals appearance at the Australian Open and another at Stuttgart. She looked ascendant over the next four months with back-to-back wins at Rome and Madrid, coupled with a French Open final slot, another at Cincinnati and a trip to the Wimbledon semifinals. A disappointing third-round exit from the US Open foreshadowed her playing just four matches the rest of the season, three of them losses as a nagging back injury took its toll.
Aftershock: The back injury continued to plague Safina into 2010, although she regained the No. 1 spot for a week. Stotalled the same number losses (16) in 29 matches in 2010 as she had in 71 matches the prior year. She fell to No. 50 by year's end, and things only got worse in 2011 as she started the season 8-11 and has not played since April 30 of that year.