Women’s tennis should appoint a new No. 1

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LONDON -- Since Justine Henin abruptly retired in mid-May and fatefully requested removal from her No. 1 ranking, that position has pinballed from Maria Sharapova to Ana Ivanovic to Jelena Jankovic to Ana Ivanovic again to Serena Williams, who will relinquish it next Monday to Jelena Jankovic again.

Further, it almost bounced, but didn’t quite, to Svetlana Kuznetsova, to Elena Dementieva and to Dinara Safina, and, but for a few frantic shots, it probably could have gone to Venus Williams, and maybe should have. Epitomizing the hodgepodge, Sharapova sits No. 6 after holding No. 1 in May and Ivanovic rests at No. 5 after holding No. 1 in September.

For four weeks and one tennis match, the crown stayed with Serena Williams, who toppled Wednesday in her first match since winning the U.S. Open and regaining No. 1 after a five-year hiatus. In Stuttgart, Germany, she bolted to a 6-0 lead, only to lose shockingly 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Scratch that word ‘shockingly.’ Hardly anything counts as shocking anymore. Maybe shocking might’ve been a straight-sets win. For a spell, anyway, the rankings ought to start at No. 2, with the tour installing a No. 1 who looks the part. Maybe Martina Navratilova or a photograph of the late Suzanne Lenglen.

-- Chuck Culpepper