Dinara Safina tells Sport Express in Russia that Victoria Azarenka’s No. 1 ranking is legitimate, even though she holds a career 1-10 record against world No. 4 Serena Williams and has lost to the American four times this year. Serena won two majors this year (Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) and the Olympic gold medal, compared to Azarenka’s one major win at the Australian Open. Safina, a former No. 1, has not played since April 2011 due to back injury. It is unclear whether she will ever return to competition, but she says she has not been hitting regularly is taking college classes.
“At another time, this topic was also relevant,” Safina said. “The rankings were headed by Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and me [all former No. 1s who had not won a major]. The No. 1 is not the tennis player who selectively plays major tournaments, even winning them, but the one who is stable over the full season. Ranking is a set of performances at all tournaments. Azarenka won the Australian Open and was stable all this year - and it is very difficult to do, you need to be well prepared physically. Everyone has started to forget about the achievements of Vika, the same with Maria Sharapova, who won Roland Garros, after Serena Williams won gold and won the title at the US Open, and it is wrong. Let the younger Williams play a full season, and then we'll see who will be the No. 1.”