Now That Kim Will Be Number One, She Will Be Pressured To Defend Her Titles

706 Views 15 Replies 9 Participants Last post by lizchris, Aug 3, 2003

lizchris

Discussion Starter · Aug 3, 2003 (Edited)

Correct me if I am wrong, but has Kim defended any of her titles (of the tournaments already played) from last year? Because now that she is the number one player in the world, she will be under the same pressure as Serena was, and Venus before her and Jennifer before her to defend her titles and the results haven't been all that great:

Jennifer Capriati
Held three titles when she became number one, was only able to defend one (2002 AO)
Result: Lost number one ranking to Venus Williams in Feburary 2002

Venus Williams
Held nine titles when she became number one, was only able to defend three(2002 Acura Classic, 2002 Pilot Pen, 2003 Antwerp)a
Result: Lost number one ranking to Serena Williams in July 2002

Serens Williams
Held five titles when she became number one, was only able to defend two (2003 NASDAQ-100, 2003 Wimbeldon)b

(a) Chose not to defend 2002 Gold Coast title and 2002 Paris Indoors title; was not number one when she defended her Acura Classic and Pilot Pen titles
(b) Did not defend her 2002 Scottsdale title due to injury

When Kim reaches number one, she will have the following titles to defend (so far):

2002 Prosche
2002 Seat Open
2002 Year-End Championships (which will have a roun-robin format, not single elimination)
2003 Adidas International
2003 Indian Wells
2003 Italian Open
2003 Ordina Open
2003 Bank of the West

Sorry Kim fans, but with Venus, Serena and Justine breathing down her neck, plus the up and coming Russians, it will be very hard for Kim to defend her titles.

What does everyone else think?

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WF4EVER

· #2 · Aug 3, 2003

I am a Venus fan but I think this is absolute crap. Anyone who wins a title has to feel some pressure to defend the next time around. It's all well and good if you don't like Kim or don't like the idea of her overtaking Serena, but do you have to keep throwing darts at the girl?

I am a devout Venus fan but I don't think this is fair to Kim. It's not as if she has the choice not to become no. 1. Come on. All the players have pressure to defend their titles; whether they do or not does not erase the fact that they won the titles.

The WTA system is a cycle, everyone has to defend points from th eprevious year, whether they do or not is another matter, but if I had the choice to win a tourney and fail to defend it the following year over losing in the first round this year, I would want to win this year. Wouldn't you?

Venus said herself it was great getting to No. 1. Kim may be saying the same thing and I'm sure she feels badly enough that she gained it without a Slam but that's not her fault. She has met the criteria and IMO she has earned the No. 1 spot. How long she keeps it is irrelevant, IMO.

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lizchris

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 3, 2003

WF4EVER said:
I am a Venus fan but I think this is absolute crap. Anyone who wins a title has to feel some pressure to defend the next time around. It's all well and good if you don't like Kim or don't like the idea of her overtaking Serena, but do you have to keep throwing darts at the girl?

I am a devout Venus fan but I don't think this is fair to Kim. It's not as if she has the choice not to become no. 1. Come on. All the players have pressure to defend their titles; whether they do or not does not erase the fact that they won the titles.

The WTA system is a cycle, everyone has to defend points from th eprevious year, whether they do or not is another matter, but if I had the choice to win a tourney and fail to defend it the following year over losing in the first round this year, I would want to win this year. Wouldn't you?

Venus said herself it was great getting to No. 1. Kim may be saying the same thing and I'm sure she feels badly enough that she gained it without a Slam but that's not her fault. She has met the criteria and IMO she has earned the No. 1 spot. How long she keeps it is irrelevant, IMO.

No one told you to read this post and if you think what I wrote is throwing darts, then you'd better stay away from the following for the new few weeks:

All sports TV channels
All sports magazines
All newspapers with a Sports section
The US Open coverage

Because if you don't think this is going to be discussed, then you are in fantasyland.

-Sonic-

· #4 · Aug 3, 2003

wf4ever is right, you're so full of poison and shit Lol. Your posts are starting to have a general theme, I'm sure I could guess you wrote your posts even if usernames were taken off of posts. If you got any more transparent you'd be able to join the LXG as the invisible woman.

It doesn't matter if Kim defends her titles or not in my opinion. If she does, cool, points still in the bag. If she doesn't, not the end of the world, as she'll be winning brand spanking new tournaments that weren't previous tournament wins for her.

Defending grand slams is a bigger deal, as they are worth a much larger amount of points. Kim doesn't have a GS tho so its not the most major concern. Her biggest test points defence wise will be her over 700 point haul from last year's championships, but much of that will depend on who is in her group/not in her group, so we'll come to that bridge when we reach it.

i_like_tennis

· #5 · Aug 3, 2003

was Marcelus sure looks pissed all the time

oh well, i would take that #1 ranking in a heartbeat,
but that's just me, a Hingis fan.....

lizchris

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 3, 2003

Sonic The Hedgehog said:
wf4ever is right, you're so full of poison and shit Lol. Your posts are starting to have a general theme, I'm sure I could guess you wrote your posts even if usernames were taken off of posts. If you got any more transparent you'd be able to join the LXG as the invisible woman.

It doesn't matter if Kim defends her titles or not in my opinion. If she does, cool, points still in the bag. If she doesn't, not the end of the world, as she'll be winning brand spanking new tournaments that weren't previous tournament wins for her.

Defending grand slams is a bigger deal, as they are worth a much larger amount of points. Kim doesn't have a GS tho so its not the most major concern. Her biggest test points defence wise will be her over 700 point haul from last year's championships, but much of that will depend on who is in her group/not in her group, so we'll come to that bridge when we reach it.

Then don't say shit when either sister doesn't defend a title they previously won. I say that because you seem like that type that would post soemthing when they don't.

-Sonic-

· #7 · Aug 3, 2003

I'm afraid you're wrong there darling.

Shut ur bitter little mouth Lol

lizchris

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 3, 2003

Sonic The Hedgehog said:
I'm afraid you're wrong there darling.

Shut ur bitter little mouth Lol

Why be bitter?

Everything comes to an end. Serena's reighn at number one will end and when Kim gets there, her's will end too.

-Sonic-

· #9 · Aug 3, 2003

and for your first post: I don't think Serena has ever been near the Gold Coast tournament, certainly not in the last few years.

Venus has won there recently tho.

Ka-Klunka

· #10 · Aug 3, 2003

I think she already feels the pressure. A friend of mine is a custodian at the Acura Classic and she said that she walked into the ladies' bathroom and Kim was there, screaming and pulling big sheets of toilet paper off the roll. I am worried for her and, naturally, am praying for her.

Miss Thang

· #11 · Aug 3, 2003

Miss Kim aint gonna have any more or less pessure than anybody else to defend her titles. To me and maybe cuz it just cuz I look at winnin a tourney a special thing and defendin it is nice and u should get props for doin it but if u don't it's all good. It don't mean that u trifilin just cuz u didn't defend your title. It just mean it wasnt meant to be cuz somebody outplayed u and knocked u out of the tourney. It happen to most player who try to defend titles.

fammmmedspin

· #12 · Aug 3, 2003

Its always a few hundred points harder to stay number one than to get there regardless of the pressure to defend. You get fewer points for beating the best and the top players get more points for beating you.

starr

· #13 · Aug 3, 2003

Of course, Liz Chris is right.

It is a lot harder to defend at number one than it is to get there. That's why people who have remained number one for several years are respected. And it's not just the number of points, it's the outside distractions and demands as well.

I've been waiting throughout 2002 just to see how well Serena could defend her number one position. It's too bad her body broke down. I would have liked to have seen it through to the end.

Of course, it helps to remain number one if a player goes out and plays a full schedule. But I think Kim will have to cut back on her schedule a bit. 111 matches in a year is quite a lot.

kr003

· #14 · Aug 3, 2003

Here we go again ...
Kim will be number 1 because she deserves it.
once again she didn't invent the ranking system.
oh wait ... I have the solution stop playing tennis
Kim for 8 weeks so that you can give the number 1
spot back to Serena...
Jeezes ... Kim will be number 1 for a certain period
cope with it !

lizchris

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 3, 2003

starr said:
Of course, Liz Chris is right.

It is a lot harder to defend at number one than it is to get there. That's why people who have remained number one for several years are respected. And it's not just the number of points, it's the outside distractions and demands as well.

I've been waiting throughout 2002 just to see how well Serena could defend her number one position. It's too bad her body broke down. I would have liked to have seen it through to the end.

Of course, it helps to remain number one if a player goes out and plays a full schedule. But I think Kim will have to cut back on her schedule a bit. 111 matches in a year is quite a lot.

Thanks for the support.

To be honest with you, I was surprised that Serena lasted at number one as long as she did, mainley becuause of her schedule. But I expect her to get back to number one sometime next year.

As far as Kim's schedule, she will have to cut back if she plans on having a long career. Her own father said that she will probably retire by 23 because the WTA schedule is too gruelling.

lizchris

Discussion Starter · #16 · Aug 3, 2003

kr003 said:
Here we go again ...
Kim will be number 1 because she deserves it.
once again she didn't invent the ranking system.
oh wait ... I have the solution stop playing tennis
Kim for 8 weeks so that you can give the number 1
spot back to Serena...
Jeezes ... Kim will be number 1 for a certain period
cope with it !

I think most Serena fans (including myself) will be able to cope with Kim being number one; at least better than non-Serena fans coping with her being number one for almost 60 weeks.

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