Is tennis the new black?

Fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier showed a tennis-themed, ready-to-wear spring line for Hermès on Wednesday night in Paris. The collection won rave reviews from critics for its "sporty, jet-set ... preppy looks".

Tennis skirts, dresses and headbands were sent down the runway, which itself was transformed into a grass tennis court for the occasion. The clothes looked like a cross between Helen Willis-Moody and Daisy Buchanan and probably would have thrilled Michael Kors but inspired a catty comment from Nina Garcia.

To keep with the theme, some of the models at the show carried wooden racquets down the runway and tried to rally at the end of the catwalk. Unfortunately, they were reported to have about as much success as Dinara Safina.

Vindication will arrive at last for Serena Williams next Monday, when the WTA rankings computer finally acknowledges what we've all known for quite some time: that Williams, and no one else - certainly not Dinara Safina - is the best women's player in the world.

Thankfully, once official confirmation of the new top spot arrives, then the jokes, jibes and barbed comments from Williams can finally come to an end.

The demise of Safina has been excruciating to watch and was played out in the full glare of the public spotlight. The Russian deserved her ranking on principle - it is not her fault the way the system is constructed. But in recent weeks and months she has performed more like a player ranked outside the top 50, and every loss made the ranking formula seem more and more flawed.

On current form, there is no way we could include her in the latest edition of the Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings, which has a returning entrant this week in Maria Sharapova. Sharapova has struggled with her

First serve

A medical expert would be needed to confirm exactly where an "upper respiratory infection" reaches, but my guess is that choking is one of the side effects. If so, then Ana Ivanovic has been carrying the condition for more than a year.

Ivanovic cited the illness for her decision to pull out of the rest of the season, claiming it has depleted her of the physical reserves needed to cope with life on tour.

However, what has been blatantly and painfully obvious to the tennis world ever since Ivanovic's 2008 French Open win, is that her problems are not physical, but mental.

The choice to call it quits until next year is a blessed respite from forcing us to witness a talented player tie herself into mental knots each week and lose to players with considerably less talent.

Ivanovic's demise has been ugly, a prime example of failing to cope with the spotlight and pressure of being No. 1.

That is no longer an issue and may not be ever again. Ivanovic's performances have tumbled her