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08/18/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you've been wondering if there's an American woman out there not named Serena Williams or Venus Williams that has a shot at winning a major title in the near future, well, you probably don't have to worry about it.
American tennis, especially at the WTA level, appears to be in a free fall. Just last week, the U.S. failed to place a player in the men's top 10 for the first time since the computer rankings were introduced way back in 1973, as top-10 fixture Andy Roddick dropped out for the first time in four years.
But I'm concerned about the American women in this particular article, as the mighty Williams sisters continue to be the only ones who are producing anything on the ladies' tour.
Serena is currently the standing world No. 1, which is no surprise considering she's the reigning Wimbledon and Aussie Open champ, and Venus is ranked fifth in the world and is a former No. 1. Serena boasts 13 Grand Slam singles titles, while Venus checks in with seven. That's 20 between 'em.
And that's awesome.
But after Serena and Venus, it gets pretty ugly in the contiguous 48, with Melanie Oudin (44th) coming in as the only other top-50 American. And the next-highest American woman after Oudin would be Vania King, who checks in at No. 79.
Oof.
And guess what? There are no more American women inside the top 100 after King, who is a non-factor out there. At least the spry Oudin reached a U.S. Open quarterfinal in dramatic fashion last year, stunning a bevy of Russian stars, in come-from-behind fashion, along the way.
But the 18-year-old Oudin hasn't done much on the circuit since then, and still has yet to title as a member of the WTA Tour. She failed to get past the second round at this year's first three major events, including head- shaking opening-round exits at both the Oz and French Opens.
And King (who certainly is no Billie Jean King)? Fugetaboutit! She's only ever reached the third round at a Grand Slam event once (which occurred at last year's U.S. Open). She's been a first- or second-round loser at 16 other major tournaments.
But King (Vania King), unlike Oudin, has at least titled once on the circuit (four years ago in Bangkok).
Minnesota native Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who beat her Fed Cup teammate Oudin at a tournament in Montreal just this week, is just outside the top 100, at No. 101. Which means there are only four American women inside the top 100!
Yuck.
Thank goodness we (USA) still have Serena and Venus out there, otherwise we'd be watching a whole lot of American-less women's tennis.
The last American woman not named Serena or Venus to capture a major title was Jennifer Capriati at the 2002 Aussie Open. And you'd have to dip into the '90s to come up with a non-Williams American winner at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as Lindsay Davenport was the last to turn the trick at the All England Club, in 1999, and in New York, in 1998.
And Serena is the only American woman to capture our national title -- the U.S. Open -- over the last eight years.
And when's the last time an American not named Serena or Venus finished a season inside the top 10? Well that would be Davenport back in 2005, a year in which Lindsay finished No. 1.
Heck, in 2006 there were zero American women inside the top 10 at year's end.
Whatever happened to the good old days when American-born women dominated the top-10 landscape? Like in 1980, for instance, when five of the top 10 hailed from the U.S., including the top-two ladies in the world, Chrissie (Evert, that is) and Tracy Austin.
Will we ever see five American women inside the top 10 again? I seriously doubt it, considering how popular tennis has become all over the globe in the last quarter-century.
What's the (tennis) world coming to when there are more Belgians in the top 20 (Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Yanina Wickmayer) than there are Americans (Serena and Venus)?
BELGIUM?
My native Pennsylvania, alone, is almost four times the size of Belgium.
The Russians, as a whole, dominated in recent years, but they're starting to cool off, with only one player, Elena Dementieva, residing inside the top 10 for the time being. But they certainly spread it around (in terms of success), with the likes of Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, and even Anastasia Myskina. Three of those women have corralled major titles; two have reached No. 1; and all have played in at least one major final.
Sure, the Williams sisters are still here, and the younger one is still a dominant force on tour, but Serena and Venus aren't going to be around forever, and the United States needs to produce at least one woman who can challenge for a top-10 spot sooner rather than later. And that woman currently does not exist (sorry, Oudin), although some have been starting to hype Coco Vandeweghe in recent weeks, despite the fact that the 18-year-old has yet to accomplish anything in "The Show."
By the way, Vandeweghe is the niece of former NBA star/executive/coach Kiki Vandeweghe.
About five years ago, California's Alexa Glatch was a "promising" American.
Was she?
Five years later...she stinks (as far as potential Grand Slam winners go).
Did You Know?: Venus has never finished as season as a year-end No. 1. And Serena's only accomplished the feat twice.
At the upcoming U.S. Open, Serena will certainly be among the favorites, as she always is. Venus...not so much. Oudin...an extreme longshot at best. And King (Vania King) and Mattek-Sands? Not in this or any other lifetime.
Dear USTA, It's time to get back to work!
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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