Five Still Alive in No.1 Hunt

In a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour first, six women headed into the same tournament with a shot at the No.1 ranking. As we embark on the second week of the US Open that short list is hardly shorter, as five of them can still have the post-New York top spot - Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina.
 
Although she was upset in the second round, Ivanovic only had fourth round points to defend from last year's US Open, and could hang onto No.1 if her four remaining challengers don't go too far. If Jankovic and Williams fall before the semifinals and Dementieva and Safina fall before the final, Ivanovic will keep the top spot. If any of those players reaches those rounds, Ivanovic will not keep the top spot.
 
Dementieva and Safina both need to win the title to become No.1. Dementieva would become No.1 outright with a title run, regardless of how the others do; Safina would become No.1 with a title run only if Jankovic isn't her opponent in the final (even if Safina beats Jankovic in the final, Jankovic will return to No.1).
 
Jankovic and Williams have a little bit more wiggle room, not necessarily needing to win the title to become No.1, depending on how the others do. If the final is Jankovic against Williams, the winner of that match would become No.1.
 
While Ivanovic, Jankovic and Williams have all spent time at No.1 before, it would be a first for both Dementieva and Safina, whose career-highs coming into this fortnight are No.4 and No.6, respectively. They would become just the second Russian ever to rise to No.1 in the world, following Maria Sharapova.
 
The sixth player who had a shot at becoming No.1 after this tournament, Svetlana Kuznetsova, was eliminated from the scenario after the first round, as she has 700 ranking points to defend from her run to the final last year and she needed some of the other players to lose early, given she had the most ground to make up. Her third round loss was not what put her out of contention.

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