Dinara Safina is the world No.1. Here’s why.

Dinara Safina

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It was 51 minutes of car crash tennis, watched through the gaps between fingers. Nobody expected Venus Williams and Dinara Safina, playing Thursday’s second Wimbedon semi-final, to produce a contest to match Serena and Elena Dementieva’s toe-to-toe showdown – the women’s match of the fortnight.

As it turned out, they couldn’t even produce a contest.

After sitting in the locker-room awaiting the end of the longest semi-final in Championships history, Venus subjected the world No.1 to the most comprehensive semi-final defeat since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals for the loss of a single game in 1969, and blowing open the debate about the philosophy behind the rankings system.

Serena’s got her trophies, Safina’s got her spot. The system isn’t perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got…

Dinara Safina has never won a Grand Slam tournament. As well as her 6-1 6-0 Wimbledon semi-final defeat, she was bagelled by Serena in the final of the Australian Open and shocked by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Roland Garros final, and is rapidly developing a reputation as a choker on the big occasion.

Yet the Russian rose to the top of the women’s rankings in April, and continues to occupy the world No.1 spot, leaving many in the tennis world scratching their heads – not least Serena Williams.

Safina took over from Williams as world No.1 when the American lost in the first round in Marbella. And despite currently holding three of the four Grand Slam titles, she remains best of the rest by the tour’s standards.

It clearly rankles with the 11-time Grand Slam champion. “I see myself as No.2 – that’s where I am,” she said sarcastically after winning her third Wimbledon crown. “I think Dinara did a great job to get to No.1. She won Rome and Madrid,” before bursting out laughing.

She had been even more overt in May, shortly after losing in the first round at Rome, which the newly-promoted Safina went on to win. “Well, we all know who the real No.1 is,” she said. “Quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.”

Perhaps on any given day she has a point, but that’s not how the WTA sees it. The rankings system, like that of the ATP, is geared to reward both brilliance and consistency, encouraging players to turn out and play as often as possible.

Serena may have a 6-1 head-to-head lead over Safina, the Russian’s victories at Rome and Madrid added 1,800 ranking points to her tally of 10,521 earned in the past 52 weeks, not least by reaching the semi-finals of all four majors in the past year, and two finals – regardless of the outcome. In contrast, Serena’s early exit in both tournaments added just 6 points to her total of 8,758.

The system also rewards sheer hard work. The top players are required to play at the most important tournaments of the year – and rewarded accordingly. A Grand Slam victory carries 2,000 points, while winning a Premier Mandatory tournament is worth 1,000.

After that, the point value of the other tournaments drops off. The East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles may have only been worth 550 points to Safina last year, but that is 550 more than Williams earned as she withdrew to focus on the Olympics.

As well as winning Rome and Madrid, Safina played a full schedule of 19 tournaments in the past year. The rankings system selects the points earned from any 16 tournaments over the past 52 weeks, meaning her three worst performances are discounted. In contrast, Williams played 15 events, including that first round defeat – all of which contribute to her rankings.

So Serena may baulk at the notion of the Russian being considered a better tennis player than her, and many may agree. But Dinara Safina has earned the top spot by consistently reaching the business end of virtually every tournament she enters, with modest success along the way. And as long as she keeps putting herself in the frame to win a major, the greater chance she has of learning how to deal with the big occasion.

Serena’s got her trophies, Safina’s got her spot. It may not be a perfect system, but right now it’s the best we’ve got.