In the three years since the WTA announced it was moving its end-of-year Championships from Madrid to Doha, and the ATP announced that the men’s event would be moving from Shanghai to London, no-one foresaw how vastly different their respective journeys would be.

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While the quality, value and depth of the men’s game have all flourished, the same cannot be said of the women’s game, which has deteriorated in all these aspects.

At the end of 2006, five Grand Slam champions topped the rankings - Justin Henin, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Kim Clijsters. The Williams sisters, through injury and apathy, were ranked at 46 (Venus) and 95 (Serena), having played just seven and eight tournaments respectively.

Now, three years later with several of the big names gone, a rejuvenated Serena tops the rankings with Venus at No.6. Between them at No.3 is the only other Grand Slam winner in the current top ten, Kuznetsova. There’s not another Grand Slam winner anywhere in sight of the top 10.

The 2009 Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha last week demonstrated how weak the women’s game has become. Throughout the week, spectators watched as all but one of the top eight in the world suffered losses largely through injuries picked up during the later course of the season.

Dinara Safina, the world No.1 going into the tournament, managed just two games before bowing out with a back problem and that set the tone for the rest of the week as others fell along the wayside as the tournament progressed.

After cruising through the group stage without much challenge from her opponents, and a semi-final match cut short by injury, Serena - with heavy strapping on her thigh all week - managed to grab the title off her sister when Venus’ body also ran out of steam by virtue of being the last woman standing and the only real heavyweight in the top 10.

Compare that to the men’s journey over the last three years. At the end of 2006, Roger Federer topped the rankings, well ahead of Rafael Nadal, his nearest rival at No.2.

Then, a long way behind Nadal, came the chasing pack of Nikolay Davydenko, James Blake, Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick. Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, relatively new kids on the block, were a long way back at 16 and 17 respectively.

Now, in 2009, as the O2 in London prepares to open its doors to the world’s top eight tennis players, after a topsy-turvy year, Federer and Nadal still top the rankings with Djokovic, Murray and del Potro in the chasing pack. When the men arrive in London there will be five Grand Slam champions taking part.

Yes, there have been injuries along the way; Nadal lost his Paris and Wimbledon crowns and the top ranking through injury, and Murray’s dream of a 2009 Grand Slam championship ended when he fell on his wrist in New York.

Andy Roddick and Del Potro have also both been injured yet, when the men start to play in London in two weeks time, you can bet your house that there will be eight heavyweights on the starting blocks. 

Come the final weekend four of those eight will still be hitting hard, with the two who make it through to the final having fought off the rest in hard fought competition.

Compare that with the women in Doha where, when faced with Venus and Serena, the rest simply turned or twisted on their heels and headed for the dunes of Qatar. 

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