tennis gut

Is Novak Number One? Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal each entered the US Open with one slam title this year.   A victory by any one of them would make a strong argument for being #1 for the year. Djokovic nailed the title and it was enough to move him from #6 to #3 in the rankings.   It also moved him to #2 in the yearly race.   But is his record enough to consider him the year’s #1? How significant are the ITF-controlled slams in the yearly accounting?   Martina Navratilova has spoken out claiming she feels they’ve gotten too important compared to the WTA- and ATP-controlled tours that consist of the all the other tournaments at the 250 point level or higher.   In her era players often skipped the slams for more lucrative tournaments. But that was then.   Now the slams have assigned point values for the world rankings that have been relatively stable for the last 29 years.   This year Federer has won 14 matches at the slams...