WTA: Halep & Co: Number one as a burden

Even industry leader Simona Halep doesn’t feel like a real number one and thinks Serena Williams is the best player in the world. As a “fan”, the Romanian recently watched the American in her third round match in Indian Wells. According to Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, there can only be one on the tennis throne.

The scene was symbolic. Simona Halep sat in a black baseball cap in the stands of the Centre Court in the paradisiacal Tennis Garden of Indian Wells – and enjoyed the 29. Edition of the Sister Act. Actually, all that was missing was a bag of popcorn in her left hand and a paper cup of cola in her right hand to make the typical American fan experience perfect for the 26-year-old.

A day later, Halep did not turn her heart into a killer’s pit and explained her trip to the stands as follows: “I am currently the world’s number one, but I watched the world’s best player:”Serena Williams lost the duel with her sister Venus (3-6, 4-6) and missed the round of 16. But Halep’s verbal and quite remarkable kneeling in front of the 36-year-old perfectly reflects the mood in the scene.

Serena Williams may not yet have an official ranking after her baby break, but for many the 23-time Grand Slam winner is still the light figure in the WTA circuit. One reason for this is that none of the other candidates have so far shown constancy if she managed to make the leap to the top. The tree-changing game on the tennis throne reached a climax in 2017: five different players – including Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza – were in the sun last season. There were a total of seven changes in pole position.

“The pressure is paralyzing most of them. You play worse, not better, as number one,” said Martina Navratilova these days at BNPParibasOpen.com and said: “At Serena it’s like this: she plays better under pressure. And that’s why she wins these big matches – and the others don’t.” Period.

Navratilova’s former rival Chris Evert also sees a vacuum behind Williams:”Last year there was a chance to play to the fore in the absence of Serena. No one made it,” said the American. The times when someone is preparing to lead the world rankings 186 weeks at a time, like Steffi Graf or Serena Williams, seem antiquated.

Wimbledon winner Muguruza blames the increased power density for the lack of dominance of a single player, among other things:”Times have changed. Almost any of them can be a big surprise. As a top player you are always in danger,” the Spaniard explained. She lost her opening match in Indian Wells against Sachia Vickery (USA).

But Muguruza also spoke of a”big backpack”, which is attached to you as the industry leader. When you are small, you always dream of:’I want to be the number one in the world’. But you’re not thinking about the pressure or the expectations. And it’s a big deal when you lose a match,” said the third in the world rankings describing the dark side of the coin.

I think you only really understand all this once you have experienced it,” reported Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki (No. 2) about her “learning by doing”. The Danish woman has also already retired in the Californian desert.

Halep has a clear opinion about the bureaucratic treatment of Serena Williams,”She should at least be ranked one in the eight tournaments in which she is allowed to use her Protected Ranking. That’s where she was when she left the tour,” said the top seeded Romanian, who will meet Naomi Osaka (Japan) in the quarter-finals of Indian Wells on Friday.