Article examines Serena Williams and Justine Henin and how they will plummet in the rankings soon.
A year can make a huge difference in the WTA rankings as the plights of Justine Henin and Serena Williams will soon prove.
At this time last season Williams was riding high as she defeated Justine Henin in the Australian Open final but this year neither of those two players came anywhere close their past achievement.
Henin hinted that she was not at full fitness heading into the 2011 Australian Open and she backed that up with a third round exit to Svetlana Kuznetsova. With Williams, tennis fans knew she wouldn't be at the Australian Open for quite some time as she continues her struggles with foot problems.
The bottom line is that they both fail to protect a substantial chunk of ranking points and that will be felt with the new Monday rankings:
Serena Williams - Ranked 4th (January 17th)
2010 Australian Open result: Winner
2011 Australian Open result: Did not play
Net loss of 2000 ranking points
New ranking points total on Monday: 3035
Justine Henin - Ranked 13th (January 17th)
2010 Australian Open result: Runner-up
2011 Australian Open result: 3rd round
Net loss of 1240 ranking points
New ranking points total on Monday: 1957
Williams failed to defend all 2000 of her ranking points from last season and that should see her drop out of the top 10 on Monday. Henin protected just 160 ranking points of the 1400 she earned last season and that should put her well out of the top 20.
