Tennis Ranking System Befuddles

ByABC News
September 10, 2001, 10:42 AM

N E W  Y O R K, Sept. 10 -- So, who's No. 1?

That depends on what the meaning of "one" is.

If you ask most tennis commentators and fans, it's U.S. Open women's champion Venus Williams.

If you ask the Women's Tennis Association, it's Martina Hingis, even though Williams' sister Serena dominated her Friday in the Open semifinals, and Hingis hasn't won one of the four major tournaments since early 1999.

"Hingis is No. 1, but she shouldn't be because she's not the best," Sue Sakolosky, 58, of Boca Raton, Fla., said Friday on her way to watch the Swiss star get drubbed by Serena who was ranked No. 10, by the way.

And that's just the women's side.

What's What? Who's Who?

For the men, No. 1 is "Guga," Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten, a curly-locked fan's favorite who skipped Wimbledon this year and is best only on the dirt-style clay courts so prevalent in Europe and Latin America.

Kuerten's still ranked number No. 1 this week even though on the pavement-like courts at the Open he was beaten by new No. 6 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who himself was beaten by eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt, now no. 3. In the final Hewitt vanquished finalist Pete Sampras who at No. 10 is ranked lower than world No. 2 Andre Agassi, even though Sampras beat him in the quarterfinals.

Confused?

You're not alone.

"My wife plays three times a week, knows all the technicalities on the court, but when it comes to the other technicalities," says Tom Jordan, 39, of Ridgefield, Conn., "she says, 'I don't know.' The rankings, it's hard to follow it."

And that system doesn't even take into account the ATP Champions Race a new ranking method conceived by the Association of Tennis Professionals that none of the fans interviewed at the Open could explain if they'd even heard of it.

"The Champion's Race was designed to show who's doing best year-to-date," said Greg Sharko, an ATP spokesman. "People that really follow the sport really want to know who's winning tournaments, and playing well."