Women's Tennis Power Rankings: Marion Bartoli Blasts into Top 10

The Top 10: Aug. 3, 2009

1. Dinara Safina—WTA Ranking: One

Last Four Tournaments Played: Slovenia Open [Winner] 280 pts, Wimbledon [Semifinalist] 900 pts, S-Hertogenbosch [Semifinalist] 130 points, Roland Garros [Finalist] 1,400 points

Total points: 2,710

Yes, Dinara Safina is still No. 1 in the Power Rankings, but as the clay results fall away, Serena Williams pulls ever closer. 

You have to give Safina credit, though: No one can fault her dedication. She is headlining the next big tournament in LA this week. The Williams sisters are not scheduled to play.   

There are only 85 points separating Safina and Serena Williams at this point, but if Serena does not play, she cannot catch up.

2. Serena Williams—WTA Ranking: Two

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of West Classic [Quarterfinalist] 120 pts, Wimbledon [Winner] 2,000 points, Roland Garros [Quarterfinalist] 500 points, Madrid [R64] five pts

Total pt: 2,625

All Serena had to do was go a couple more rounds—beat Samantha Stosur and Marion Bartoli, and she would be No. 1 in the power rankings, whether or not she won the championship of the Bank of the West Classic. 

Instead, she folded under the heat in Stanford and left it up to her sister Venus to try to take out Bartoli. It is during these minor tournaments where Serena’s desire dwindles. 

This is why she remains locked in the No. 2 spot.

3. Svetlana Kuznetsova—WTA Ranking: Five

Last Four Tournaments Played: Wimbledon [R32] 160 pts, Eastbourne [R32] one pt, Roland Garros [Winner] 2,000 pts, and Madrid [R32] five pts

Total pts. 2,166

The Russian has not played much of late and has announced that she will not be participating in this week’s LA Open because of a nagging foot injury. 

Kuznetsova does well on the hard courts, so if she can recover from her injury, she may retain her top five WTA ranking. 

As Roland Garros fades into the past, however, she will lose many points and her top five spot in our Power Rankings. 

4. Venus Williams—WTA Ranking: Three

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of West Classic [Finalist] 320 pts, Wimbledon [Finalist] 1,400 pts, Roland Garros [Third Round] 160 pts, Madrid [Third Round] five pts

Total pts: 1,885

Left on Sunday to take out a surging Marion Bartoli at Stanford, Venus Williams resurrected her game at the end of the second set and almost pulled a victory from the jaws of defeat. 

She also would have moved into the No. 3 spot in the Power Rankings, within a few hundred points of sister Serena. But Venus lost the final.

As the tour moves seriously onto the U.S. hard courts, look for the Williams sisters to make it to the No. 1 and No. 2 spots respectively—heading into the US Open in late August. 

5. Victoria Azarenka—WTA Ranking: Eight

Last Four Tournaments Played: Wimbledon [Quarterfinalist] 500 pts, Roland Garros [Quarterfinalist] 500 pts, Madrid [R16] 140 pts, and Rome [Semifinalist] 350 pts

Total pts 1,490

Scheduled to return to the tour this week in LA, Azarenka has been nursing some slight aches and pains after a very bruising schedule up through Wimbledon. 

No one is more determined than the lady from Belarus. She will want to make her mark now and up through the final slam of the season in New York.

6. Elena Dementieva—WTA Ranking: Four

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of the West Classic [Semifinalist] 200 pts, Wimbledon [Semifinalist] 900 pts, Eastbourne [R16] 60 pts, Roland Garros [R32] 160 pts

Total pts: 1,320

Elena Dementieva was playing well at the Bank of the West Classic until she ran into Venus Williams in the semifinals. Venus took her out 6-0, 6-1 in a little over an hour.

That has to do something to your confidence. Gone are the memories of Wimbledon, where Dementieva came closer than anyone to knocking Serena Williams out of the finals. 

But the Russian does not get down on herself, and she comes back fighting. She will continue to do so.

7. Caroline Wozniacki—WTA Ranking: Nine

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bastad [Finalist] 200 pts, Wimbledon [R16] 280 pts, Eastbourne [Winner] 470 pts, and Roland Garros [R32] 160 pts

Total pt: 1,110

Caroline Wozniacki reached the finals in Bastad and is the No. 3-seeded player in LA next week. She is having a tremendous season exceeding her expectations. 

The hard courts are made to order for her game. 

Look for her to make inroads this coming week in LA. 

8. Agnieszka Radwanska—WTA Ranking: 13

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of West Classic [R2] 60 pts, Wimbledon [Quarterfinalist] 500 pts, Eastbourne [Quarterfinalist] 120 pts, Roland Garros [R16] 280 pts

Total pts: 960

Radwanska’s play at Stanford in the Bank of the West Classic was disappointing, as she suffered an early round defeat to Daniela Hantuchova. 

But the Pole is approaching top 10 status in the WTA, and she is reaching the late rounds more often this season. 

9. Marion Bartoli –WTA Ranking: 14

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of the West Classic [Winner] 470 pts, Wimbledon [R32] 160 pts, Eastbourne [Winner] 200 pts, French Open [R64] 100 pts

Total pts: 930

The stocky French woman took out Venus Williams in the finals of the Bank of the West Classic in a tough three-setter. Her often frenetic style of play did the trick against the senior Williams. Venus had been playing well all week. 

Bartoli breaks into the Power Rankings with her recent superb play. 

A new but totally unnatural serve seems to be working in the short run. It looks like an injury waiting to happen. 

10. Maria Sharapova—WTA Ranking: 62

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of West Classic [Quarterfinalist] 120 pts, Wimbledon [R64] 100 pts, Eastbourne [Semifinalist] 130 pts, Roland Garros [Quarterfinalist] 500 pts

Total pts: 850

Sharapova went down, but not quietly, to Venus Williams in the Bank of the West Classic during the quarterfinal round. There is no doubt that as Sharapova gets match strong, her results will improve. 

Expect her to be a factor at the big event in New York later this month as the US Open gets underway. 

Outside Looking In

1. Ana Ivanovic—WTA Ranking: 11

Last Four Tournaments Played: Wimbledon [R16] 280 pts, Eastbourne [R32] one pt, Roland Garros [R16] 280 pts, and Rome [R16] 110 pts

Total pts: 671

Mostly Ana Ivanovic is busy replacing personnel on her team in an attempt to revive her tennis career. Nothing seems to help for long. 

Ivanovic seems to be going backwards like her Serbian counterpart Jelena Jankovic. 

We wonder how long the Serbian Slump will last. 

2. Sabine Lisicki—WTA Ranking: 25

Last Four Tournaments Played: Bank of the West Classic [R2] 60 pts, Wimbledon [Quarterfinalist] 500 pts, Eastbourne [R32] one pt, Roland Garros [R128] five pts

Total pts: 566

Jelena Jankovic survived a three-setter with Lisicki to advance in this week’s Bank of the West Classic. The German teenager is still able to rise up and take a match away with her powerful serve and her heavy-duty forehand. But this day Jelena escaped. 

With some consistency, Lisicki will rise in the rankings. We expect to see her add to her totals during the hard court season.