A few days ago, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour released the official 2008 season-ending women’s tennis rankings. Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings is the worldwide computer rankings for women’s tennis.

Jelena Jankovic has made the top of the list as the number one tennis player in the world. Congrats! Here are the top 20 rankings:

1. Jelena Jankovic - Serbia - 4710

2. Serena Williams - United States - 3866

3. Dinara Safina - Russia - 3817

4. Elena Dementieva - Russia - 3663

5. Ana Ivanovic - Serbia - 3457

See the rest of the rankings below.

6. Venus Williams - United States - 3272

7. Vera Zvonareva - Russia - 2952

8. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Russia - 2726

9. Maria Sharapova - Russia - 2515

10. Agnieszka Radwanska - Poland - 2286

11. Nadia Petrova - Russia - 1976

12. Caroline Wozniacki - Denmark - 1678

13. Flavia Pennetta - Italy - 1670

14. Patty Schnyder - Switzerland - 1590

15. Victoria Azarenka - Belarus - 1494

16. Alize Cornet - France - 1492

17. Marion Bartoli - France - 1410

18. Anna Chakvetadze - Russia - 1363

19. Dominika Cibulkova - Slovakia - 1337

20. Katarina Srebotnik - Slovakia - 1272

Source: ESPN

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Lindsay Davenport, who is still troubled by a knee injury, may not be making the trip to Melbourne in January 2009 for the Australian Open. In fact, it’s being said that she may not play again professionally at all.

Davenport’s knee injury caused her to withdraw from several 2008 tournaments. In 2007, after the birth of her first child, she made a comeback and won four Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles.

That makes me sad because I love watching Davenport play. I wish her all the best in whatever she decides and wherever life takes her next. I’ll be keeping an ear out for any further news about her.

Source: The Age

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On November 21-23, Spain and Argentina will play the final of the 2008 Davis Cup World Group held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Today, members of both teams posed for pictures after the draw ceremony.

ESPN’s Ravi Ubha is predicting that Argentina will come away with the title. Rafael Nadal is out with a knee injury,something they couldn’t have and wouldn’t have wanted to predict to happen, but alas, that’s sports for you!

Argentina definitely has the home advantage. They have won the last 13 series in a row since 1998. Sweet. Read Ubha’s article. He breaks it down from the stakes to the surface.

So, who do YOU think will win? Vote in the poll below.

More pictures from the draw ceremony at the Davis Cup below.

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Tennis star Maria Sharapova seems to be having a great time as she rehabilitates from her injuries. Earlier this month, she began her morning having breakfast with a male friend, then later lunched with her girlfriend and was approached by man after man. Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Pau Gasol even took a shot at the singles tennis champion.

I’ll give it her, she looks great in her cute striped dress. And hey, she’s single, so why not!

Photo credit: Pacific Coast News

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Third-ranked Maria Sharapova withdrew from the tournament with a shoulder injury and therefore won’t be making any strides towards another stint at number one.

On the men’s side - well - Roger Federer lost. Somehow that seems like a very commonplace thing to say. Maybe it’s because I’ve been saying it rather too often in the past weeks. Ivan Karlovic came out on top in two tiebreakers on the first and third sets after dropping the second set to the current-but-soon-to-be-not number one men’s tennis player.

So with all this unrest in the top ranks, who’s going to win the Olympics?

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Pushing all the legal and financial mumbo-jumbo aside, the basic premise is this. The future WTA schedule will have 20 “premiere tournaments” instead of the Tier One and Tier Two events of today’s WTA. And, while the paycheck is going up 40% ($63.6 million in prize money up to $84.4 million), so are the fines.

Should a player withdraw late, back out of a committed tournament date or *gasp* have an injury, zero ranking points and no bonus money.

Oh, did I mention there are mandatory tournaments the top-ranked players are going to have to compete at?

Sorry ladies, but the freedom of the Pretty Woman-”I say who, I say when, I say…who!”-lifestyle has just kissed y’all goodbye. Better buckle in for WTA Boot Camp 101!

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Nadal is just - wow. I think sports fans are some of the most fickle on this planet. I know what’s going to happen when R-Fed is finally removed from the position he’s held for nigh on forever. But just because I love Roger - and I would never turn my back on him or denounce the things he’s done - doesn’t mean I can’t have a healthy appreciation and admiration for his biggest opponent. Goodness knows Roger has a deep-seated appreciation for his more than worthy rival. It’s a matter of time before Nadal takes over the number one spot. I know it in the way I knew Nadal would win Wimbledon…or the way I know the sun is going to come up tomorrow because it always does.

Heck - Nadal just won in Toronto. He’s not a clay-courter any more. Is it a phase? Is this period of amazing tennis just a passing fancy for the Spaniard? Shoot, I don’t know. Nor do I really care. Because even if he does take over the number one spot, it’s only a matter of time before someone new comes along to force him to relinquish it whether that’s months or years from now. It’s just how sports are. There are so many variables - it’s like playing the stock market.

Is Nadal going to win the U.S. Open? Maybe. He’s certainly got a great shot, and he’s probably going to be the favorite running into it. But we all know this is tennis - anything can happen. Except Andy Roddick winning. His star set years and years ago.

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Jankovic is number two in the world and, had she won the East West Bank Classic, she would have become the newly minted number one player in women’s tennis. Obviously that didn’t happen as Dinara Safina ousted the Serbian in the semifinals of the Classic 7-6, 6-1 to move into the final against Flavia Pennetta. (She is not to be confused with any person having a connection to Flava Flav…at least not to my knowledge.)

Despite the loss, Jankovic is still on the verge of becoming the world’s top-ranked woman in the yellow fuzzy ball sport. And - get this - the Serb has never played in a Grand Slam final. Never. Notta. Zilch. Zero. Bagel. Donut.

Jankovic is the quintessential good-but-never-great player of the tour and, baby, it’s payin’ off.

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