Intentionally or not, Richard Williams backed up the argument his daughter Serena Williams made earlier this year about the curious ranking of Dinara Safina atop the WTA. Earlier this year, Serena Williams dismissed the legitimacy of Safina’s ranking since she has never won a Grand Slam (much the same way Jelena Jankovic was ranked no. 1 during last year’s U.S. Open despite being Slamless).
It all started when I asked Richard in the player’s lounge yesterday about what he thought of the field.
“I think Victoria Azarenka is no one to look over, that girl can play some tennis!” he said. “Also that other girl, you know, the one who is no. 1…”
Safina, I said.
“Yes, Safina! She’s not no. 1 because of a mistake. I don’t care what anyone says about her.”
“I think she’s playing great tennis,” he continued. “I think she deserves to be no. 1. I’ll tell ya something else, no one wants to play Sanowa, or whatever her name is. That girl hits that ball.”
Richard Williams likes to play games with the press, and we wouldn’t put it past him to purposefully forget her name–particularly when the lesser known Victoria Azarenka rolls right off his tongue–but maybe Safina can go ahead and win a Slam and put this one to bed once and for all.
