Tennis: Curse of the No 1 syndrome

Maybe it can be called Everest syndrome. You reach the top, where the air is thinnest, and start to gulp for oxygen before the fall. The long, long, fall.

That's how it's been in women's tennis in recent years with the No 1 spot - unless, of course, it is occupied by Serena Williams - proving to be a jinx. That's what's happened to Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic and, most depressingly of all, Ana Ivanovic.

The winner of the French Open two years ago, Ivanovic was supposed to be the new "It" girl - a glamour girl; an Anna Kournikova, only with talent.

Add to that the slide endured by last year's French Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and women's tennis seems to have more on the way down than those on the way up right now.

Most observers have been puzzled by the steep descent in Ivanovic's form and fortunes - and Kuznetsova added to the puzzle with her defeat to Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko.

The latter, a quarter-finalist at Auckland's ASB tournament earlier this year, seems to be on the way up. She sent another fancied Russian, Maria Sharapova, crashing out of the first round of the Australian Open after Auckland, making it to the quarter-finals before surprisingly bowing out to China's Zheng Jie.

Kirilenko now faces the 16th seed, Italy's Francecsa Schiavone in the quarters - but it is the tale of those who had it and seem to have lost it that is a compelling sub-plot at Roland Garros this year.

Kuznetsova seems to have been around for ever but is still only 24. The winner of two Grand Slam titles, including this event last year, Kuznetsova's 6-3 2-6 6-4 loss to Kirilenko was no surprise.

She had already survived four match points in her second-round win over Germany's Andrea Petkovic - and looks less aggressive, almost passive.

"I didn't come here with my best game, but I gave my all and I fought all I could," said a downbeat Kuznetsova. "You cannot play great all the time. It's up and downs. I haven't been playing well this claycourt season or this season. It happens and I'll be back. It's just a matter of time."

But is it? Not if Safina and Ivanovic are any guide.

Safina famously crashed out in the first round to 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, who herself lost easily to Australian wildcard Jamila Groth.

As for Ivanovic, the crowd was behind her, almost pleading for her to beat Alisa Kleybanova - but the latter prevailed easily (6-3 6-0) as a frustrated and listless Ivanovic achieved only her earliest exit from the French Open. So why the sudden fall?

Most put it down to the No 1 syndrome. Cynics say the good-looking Ivanovic concentrated too much on the modelling, the picture shoots and the endorsements and not enough on her tennis. Imperfections crept in, her game suffered - and then her confidence took a slide. She has a reputation as being a mentally volatile player.

"At first my [previous] coach thought that maybe we need to improve (make changes) in order to stay at No 1 which, now, looking back, it's really silly," she said this week. "I had kind of a good game, and it was just a matter of getting more consistent.

"All of a sudden, I went away from what I was doing and trying to play more close, play more open. So it was kind of a circle of everything, and you don't feel so comfortable. You have doubts on the court. You lose some matches. Then confidence goes. So it's kind of a circle.

"I don't think I played that bad, actually," she said after her defeat at Roland Garros. "I didn't think I did too much wrong out there."

The cynics would say that might be part of the problem - playing as if you are trying to do little wrong.

However, oddly enough, Ivanovic had been showing signs of making a comeback in recent times. She had been spiralling towards a horrible collision with the foot of the world rankings before, in February, hooking up with new coach Heinz Gunthardt.

He was Steffi Graf's coach and retired when she did. He became interested in the Ivanovic project. After all, she became the only top seed in the history of the US Open to lose in the first round in 2008, a loss marked by the fact she couldn't even get her ball toss right when serving.

Her 2009 was peppered with repetitive injuries. Gunthardt is a practical, down-to-earth man and his presence seemed to settle her.

She started to get some results together - in Rome, she beat a top-10 player, Ukraine's Victtoria Azarenka, something she had not done for nearly two years. She also beat Elena Dementieva, the world No 6, before losing to eventual tournament winner Jose Maria Martinez Sanchez.

She won her opening match 6-2 6-1 against little-known Taiwanese Chang Kai-Chen. Then came the Kleybanova crash.

"I really feel I belong [at] the top and I can get back to the top," she said. "It's just the little steps and trusting myself when I'm out there, you know, just trusting the movement and the stroke rather than pulling back.

"I was serving great the past few weeks. It's been a huge improvement. Then sometimes I start to doubt."

She didn't have trouble with her ball toss, or her serve, but the question remains: what's wrong with Ana Ivanovic?

OF LATE Kuznetsova has struggled to retain the form that has made her a top-10 presence for four years and a two-time Grand Slam champion. When she arrived to defend her French Open championship she was the only top-10 player with a losing record for the season. She was 1-3 on clay. A year ago, she was 17-3.

Kuznetsova will fall out of the women's top 10 for the first time since April 2006, ending the longest active streak.

Kirilenko, seeded 30th, countered Kuznetsova's powerful strokes by chasing down every ball in the corners of Court No 1, and pressing the action until Kuznetsova made an error. The match turned when Kirilenko won four consecutive games after trailing 0-2 in the third set.

Kuznetsova, always expressive on the court, looked tortured by her own mistakes. She mumbled to herself, bowed her head in frustration and searched for answers from her contingent of supporters in the stands.

Alas, there were no answers, even after saving a match point while serving in the ninth game.

If there is to be a pointer to the fact that the once-fallen can rise again, it could come from Jankovic in this tournament. She was due to play Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine overnight and she has looked more impressive this year after her own fall from grace after making No 1.

The fourth seed, Jankovic showed some trademark jitters in getting this far but is still considered a title chance at Paris. Interestingly, the two Serbs do not get on and Jankovic even had a dig at Ivanovic's trademark fist pump after appearing to mock it during a tight match at the Madrid Masters last month.

"You know what they say: 'Sport doesn't build character. It shows it'," sniffed Ivanovic. Jankovic said her compatriot's gesture can be annoying for the opposing player.

"Every player has their way of motivating themselves and pumping themselves up. But I don't think it's nice to put the fist in their face," she said. "That's what can be a little irritating ... especially not after winning a point because your opponent missed an easy ball, I don't think it's fair play.

"If I win a point or something, I don't go like that in your face," added Jankovic, holding up her fists.

TWO OTHER former No 1s, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova are, however, definitely on the way back - although one will be out of the tournament after their third round meeting, due to have been played in the small hours of this morning.

Sharapova needed right-shoulder surgery and was off the tour for 10 months, then missed time with a right-elbow injury. Henin abruptly announced her retirement and stayed away for 20 months, then returned, happier off the court and, so far, almost as good on it.

The pair, owners of a combined 10 Grand Slam titles, set up an attention-worthy showdown in the French Open's third round Saturday by wrapping up matter-of-fact victories on a sun-soaked, busy Friday.

Sharapova and Henin have two decidedly different ways of looking at their most recent encounter, a straight-sets win by Sharapova in the 2008 Australian Open quarter-finals. It turned out to be Henin's last Grand Slam match before her hiatus.

"It seems so far away. I mean, even seems like it never existed, that moment," the Belgian said after eliminating 79th-ranked Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-3. "I didn't want to be on the court any more at that time, and now I have a lot of motivation to be out there and to fight and try to keep winning."

Here is Sharapova's take: "Actually, feels like we never left. Or it was just yesterday. It's a different Slam now, but it's the same drill."

Clay never has been the 6ft2in Sharapova's preferred surface; she's only once been as far as the semifinals in seven previous trips to the French Open, while she won each of the other Grand Slam tournaments.

The 5ft5in Henin, in contrast, excels at Roland Garros, where she has earned four of her seven major titles and owns winning streaks of 23 matches and 39 sets.

They're forced to face off this early because Sharapova is seeded 12th, and Henin 22nd - far lower than both have been, but a consequence of all those matches they missed over the past two seasons.

Henin, remember, is competing at the French Open for the first time since 2007, when she won a third consecutive championship.

"We have different features and qualities, of course. She is tall. She can be very powerful. She can be a slugger when she hits the ball," said Henin, who has won six of nine matches against Sharapova.

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