Your Call, 10.8

This will be quick, folks, because I have to shoot a few video reports for Tennis.com this morning. I emailed Vani Vosburgh, the Greg Sharko of the WTA Tour and one of the most resolutely professional behind-the-scenes operatives on either tour. I was hoping to get some clarification on the WTA race for the year-end no. 1 ranking without breaking out a calculator or running some fancy computer statistics modeling program (actually, I'm still trying to digest the owner's manual that came with my abacus).

At any rate, Vani tells me that Jelena Jankovic is safe in the no. 1 position for at least the next two weeks. The main threats to her hope of finishing no. 1 for the year are Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, and Ana Ivanovic. No surprise there. It really is all up in the air, and the final shakeout will be determined by how many points each of the contenders posts as a net gain (that is, after the points from the previous year come off) after each event. The WTA will be tracking the various scenarios at its website, under Daily Notes.

My three cents: I hope Serena steps up and makes a concerted effort to unseat Jankovic. Ana Ivanovic has the most to gain; a strong finish here will wipe out what, by any measure, has been a surprising collapse. Then there's Safina: her momentum from last spring through the fall has been impressive, a great end to the year will create a great race next year to determine whether she, or Jankovic, will the first to win a major.

Okay, start your match calling whenever, and feel free to go off-topic.

---

-- Pete***