TENNIS in DEPTH.

There’s little doubt that the women’s draw has attracted most of the attention at the US Open in its first week.

On Thursday, both Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic, the winners of the two big warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, both fell by the wayside in the first big shocks of the tournament.

But the real media glare has fallen squarely on world number one Dinara Safina, who has twice only narrowly avoided joining her fellow seeds through the exit door.

She’s almost certainly feeling the heat generated by the debate over her status as world number one, the fires of which were lit at Wimbledon – not least by closest rival Serena Williams – and are still burning two months on.

Certainly something is affecting her game.

As everyone is pointing out in New York right now, Safina looks a million miles from the best player on the planet.

Her problems are perhaps best summed up by her double-fault statistics. In her last three matches, Safina has produced no less than 43 – including three in one tie-break in her second-round match.

Like it or not, this is the world number one, yet at times she’s looked little better than the players at my local club.

The service problems seems to have unravelled much of the rest of her game and surely better or more experienced players than Olga Rogowska or Kristina Barrois would have made her pay.

However, Safina should be given some credit for her fighting attitude.

In both contests she found herself a set down and in both she was also a break of serve behind in the final set.

Yet the determined Russian still found a way to win and she’s certainly provided entertainment for the fans both at Flushing Meadows and on television around the world.

She should also be applauded for her dealings with the media. Having been subjected the same questions over and over again for months now, she’s still fronting up – even with her game crumbling around her – with a smile on her face.

Someone labelled Safina as the WTA’s “worst ever number one”.

That may or may not be true, but there’s no doubt she’s providing entertainment – I’d rather watch these struggles than the love-and-one wins she was reeling out for much of the French Open earlier this season.

For those wanting that, head to Serena Williams’ matches.

Her progress has been smooth and with her title rivals falling or struggling, her position as favourite is hardening – she’s now odds on in places.

Everything seems to be in place for another chapter to be written in the Safina/ranking argument in the coming weeks. It will certainly be interesting to hear Williams on the subject should she win a third Slam of the season here.

Even if she does, the Russian will stay at number one regardless of the results in New York.

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