I hope that flag doubles as a shield, kiddo.
She did it. She beat Petra and will be numero uno with an aster--I mean, bullet, come Monday. The hatin' has already started via the Twitter and I won't completely rehash my thoughts on it. She's 20 years old, busted her ass off all year, and got the #1 ranking. How about we give her a pat on the back before we collectively punch her in the kidney?
Playing a counterpunching style she's completely *overachieved* so far in her career. And at 20 years old she's only getting better and has plenty of time to pick up that Slam. There's no reason to think that she won't eventually get one. But somehow she gets flak because she achieved one goal before the other? I guess I missed that day in WTA school where they said that you are absolutely 100% never allowed to achieve the #1 ranking before you get a Slam.
I hate that the players get blamed for this, as though they somehow cheated the system to get the ranking. I don't think Caro should be blamed, I don't think Serena should be blamed. But if you're going to rag on one you better rag on the other because they both contributed to this situation. Caro consistently failed to get herself into a position to play the big matches and Serena for choosing to only play 6 tourneys (three of which were Slams) up through Wimbledon. And if you're going to call the WTA a joke and the ranking system a sham, well you better offer up a better system that would actually work.
But until then this is the system we have, no one, as far as I can tell, has a better solution, the players played knowing the rules and the consequences of their decisions, and it all shook out thusly. Who exactly is the bad guy in this?
Here's hoping that Caro is better equipped mentally to deal with the questions and constant undermining of her achievements by press an fans.
Then again, this whole #1 thing could be short-lived. Serena's confirmed for Linz, which means she's likely playing the YEC. So at ease, gentlemen. Serena might just swoop in and RoboCop this motherfucker.
And then everything would be right in the world. Or something.
