US Open 2017: Eight contenders for World No. 1 spot in WTA rankings as battle heads to Flushing Meadows

Reuters

New Delhi: The last and final grand slam of the year is just round the corner. Three more days to go before the 137th edition of US Open kicks off at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in Flushing Meadows, New York. And women's singles tennis has an interesting turnaround. Apart from the defending champion Angelique Kerber, there are eight other contenders for the World No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings as battle for supremacy heads to America next week.

The year kicked off with Angelique Keber continuing her reign as World No. 1 following a spectacular 2016 where she had clinched two grand slams and reached eight finals at tour level tallying her victories to 66. But the German failed to continue with her momentum.

Following her defeat in the Brisbane International and then in the fourth round of the Australian Open, Kerber lost her World No. 1 spot. Serena Williams inked her name on the Aussie hardcourt title and had ample points in hand to topple down the German. However, she reclaimed the spot following the American's withdrawal from French Open. But disaster struck the 29-year-old. She was shown the exit door in the very first round of the tournament by Ekaterina Makarova and failed to shine at Wimbledon too and the top honour once again slipped off her hands.

It has indeed been a short and a difficult journey for Kerber, who would now head to Flushing Meadows to mend things her way and shrug off the poor run in 2017 so far. Being the defending champion herself, the present World No. 6 does have the chance to reclaim the throne provided she is able to defend her points at the campaign.

Present World No.1 Karolina Pliskova has had a rather topsy turvy 2017. She started the year with a quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open which pushed her up to career best ranking of 3. She even reached the semi-final round of French Open 2017, but eventually suffered defeat to Simona Halep and thus it put a hold onto her bid to the World No. 1 spot. However, following Kerber's early exit at SW19, Pliskova was crowned as the World No. as per WTA rankings, becoming the first player from the Czech Republic to grab the spot.

What will be a point of worry for the Czech tennis ace is that she heads down to New York with a narrow margin of mere five points separating Pliskova from World No. 2 Simona Halep. It would indeed be a tough job for Pliskova to defend the crown at the US Open. She was the runners-up last year and would ergo be guarding her 1300 points.

Now shifting to the most consistent player this year – Simona Halep. Despite a low start from the Romanian, the 25-year-old picked it up when she successfully defended her Madrid Open title. She ergo marked a return to Top 5. She carried forward with her momentum to Roland Garros. Halep edged past Elina Svitolina in the quarters and then Pliskova in the semis and was thus up for a grab of the World No.1 spot. But eventually was left stunned by newbie Jelena Ostapenko in the final. She remained in line for the top spot even during her campaign at SW19, but suffered a defeat to Johanna Konta in the quarter-final. Her chase continued during the Montreal Open and Cincinnati Masters, but lost each time.

Hormis #Kerber qui défend le titre, les 9 premières #WTA peuvent toutes mathématiquement être n°1 mondiale à la fin de l'#USOpen ! Inédit ? pic.twitter.com/K8tJfNUylt — Guillaume Willecoq (@GuillaumeW86) August 24, 2017

EIGHT (!) Players could become Number 1 after #USOpen ! #Halep #muguruza #Svitolina #pliskova #Konta #wozniacki #venuswilliams #kuznetsova pic.twitter.com/y77NWDl23l — Bjoern Rietz (@bar78) August 20, 2017

Others in the race who mathematically fits in are – Wimbledon champion and World No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza, Ukranian tennis player and World No. 4 Elina Svitolina, former No.1 and present World No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki, World No. 7 Johanna Konta, Former US Open champion and World No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and World No.9 and runners-up in two grand slams this year Venus Williams.

So how does all fit in? Based on current points and amount they would defend, Halep, Svitolina and Muguruza can claim the World No. 1 spot if they win the US Open no matter how others perform. Speaking about the rest, their chances depend on how the other contenders perform at the Flushing Meadows. So if Halep wins her first-round battle then Venus will be chipped off the race.

It is indeed strange! Up till now, fans were busy speculating Nadal's chances of top glory, who knew that the women's singles would turn out to be so captivating. What happens next would surely be worth catching up on as the 14 days unviel at New York starting August 28.