Justine Henin: Most Underrated Female Athlete in the World, Much Less Tennis

I was thinking of topics to write about two weeks ago during Wimbledon and meant to write this article way back then. I put it off but then had to revisit the topic while watching the ESPYs on ESPN.

I know the ESPYs don't amount to much, they aren't highly respected awards or anything like the Oscars or the Emmys. The fans also vote on the ESPYs so it's largely a popularity contest. When it was announced that Maria Sharapova won for best female tennis player it was not a shock at all (although my money would've been on one of the Williams sisters), but I thought to myself that people really need to be educated on the sport of tennis.

No offense to Maria Sharapova. I actually like Maria Sharapova, which I think most people who actually follow tennis don't like that her much because of her attitude. I'm assuming most of the people who voted for Maria Sharapova are the people who don't really follow tennis and think she is hot. I do like Maria Sharapova though, she is a very good tennis player but she is not the number one female in tennis, neither is Serena Williams, neither is Venus Williams. Justine Henin is the top female in tennis and probably the most underrated female athlete in the world.

It's easy to see that Justine Henin is the top female in tennis because unlike a lot of sports, tennis has a ranking system. The WTA Rankings take into consideration the last twelve months of play. Justine Henin is currently first in the WTA rankings; 779 points ahead of second place Maria Sharapova, 2077 points ahead of Serena Williams and 2802 points ahead of Venus Williams. The Sony Ericsson Tour takes into consideration only what a player has done this year. Justine Henin is also first in the Sony Ericsson point race; 255 points ahead of second place Jelena Jankovic, 1104 points ahead of Serena Williams, 1460 points ahead of Maria Sharapova and 1615 points ahead of Venus Williams.