Welcome to the first instalment of The Overrule. Every fortnight I'll be dissecting the tennis world on and off the court and seeing if you guys and gals are of the same opinion as me, or whether I can at least help you to see things the way you should. Topics ranging from on court issues and performance to aspects of the celebrity tennis world and all the fun, games and controversy that entails will be the order of the day (or fortnight as it will be).

As the not so great Etienne de Villiers once said “It's just a furry ball going over a net”, so let's at least try and have some fun with it…

Not so Number One

Congratulations are in order to Jelena Jankovic as she sits at the top of the women's game as the new number one. A triumph of persistence rather than excellence as Jankovic has produced consistent performances over the past twelve months but has rarely, if ever, shown us the kind of pattern of results and dominance that you would normally expect from a player to have hit such heights. Can a player who has never won a Slam or even been to a Slam final really be taken seriously as the best player in the world?

The rankings say that she is, but we all know that she isn't. There is something holding everyone's favourite drama queen back from making a major breakthrough at Slam level and invariably it's herself. Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic grabbed their first Slam success this year after both reached a Slam final a piece in 2007, while we still wait for the remaining Serbian talent in Jankovic to make a similar impact. I'm starting to wonder whether she ever will, as young and talented as she is, especially after blowing a golden chance at the French Open this year where there was no Justine Henin to contend with.

After defeat to Dominika Cibulkova (one half of tennis's latest hot couple along with Gael Monfils) in Montreal had seemingly ended Jelena's chances of taking the number one spot, she made light of the situation and played down its importance, “ The No. 1 spot doesn't matter.” Upon being informed by the WTA that she would indeed become number one when the latest rankings were released, Jelena suddenly remembered its relevance, “Since I was a young girl, it's been my dream to become No. 1 in the world.”

Conclusion: Being number one only matters if you are. At least that's what everyone who isn't number one tells themselves.

Number One in all but name

The current ATP rankings tell us that Roger Federer is still the number one player in the world but those days are very soon going to be over. Rafael Nadal will officially become on August 18 what he has unofficially been for a couple of months now – the best player in the world. Nadal's rise to number one is in such stark contrast to Jankovic's current reign at the top of the women's game. While Jankovic has been the beneficiary of the retirement of Justine Henin and a game of number one musical chairs between the remaining top players, Nadal has literally wrestled Federer's number one spot away from him which culminated in a demolition job at the French Open and what turned out to be a match for the ages at Wimbledon. How long will Nadal be on top for? Certainly not as long as Federer was, that's a given, what will be interesting to see is how Federer responds on the court over the next twelve months and how his demeanour changes, if at all, off the court now that he will no longer be seen as the man to beat. Will this change in status free him of the pressures of constantly carrying those high expectations or will the change now free opposition players of the aura surrounding Federer and their chances of success against him. Results this year suggest that aura has well and truly been blown apart; it's strange to see someone who we always expect to win now rarely do so in the form of winning titles. It's August and Federer hasn't won a Masters Series title or Slam in 2008, would anyone have thought that possible at the start of the year? To those of you with your hands up, we know you're lying.

Money can't buy everything

At the very least it can't buy Maria Sharapova a decent enough medical team to have spotted a tear in her shoulder that she has seemingly been carrying since April. Mistakes can happen, but seriously, of this magnitude with such finely tuned athletes? The same happened to me (sort of) when I was a teenager as the NHS couldn't figure out what was wrong with my ankle which had been troubling me for the best part of a year. After a visit to a private clinic it turned out I had pieces of broken bone floating around that were causing me the discomfort as well as ligament damage. I feel Sharapova's pain, actually I suspect that the pain I encountered was greater, but that's open for debate.

What isn't open for debate is that this is a dreadful blow to Sharapova who would have had great hopes of winning a medal at the Olympics and possibly picking up her second US Open title. Now her season may be over which is a far cry from the way in which she begun the year at the Australian Open where she looked like she was going to take women's tennis by the scruff of the neck. Get well soon, Maria. And in the meantime, get a new medical team.

Marat Safin's sister

For years it's almost as if to some Dinara Safina didn't have an identity, she was simply Marat Safin's sister. The shoe is on the other foot now as Dinara has won back to back titles in Los Angeles and Montreal in addition to reaching her first Slam final this year while her older and more celebrated brother continues to toil between the fleetingly sublime and ridiculous. Safin surprised everyone, including himself, by reaching the last four of Wimbledon recently but has since reverted back to his enigmatic ways by blowing up worse than a packet of Hubba Bubba against compatriot Dmitry Tursunov in Cincinnati. Safin couldn't get over a foot fault called during the pivotal game in which he was eventually broken in the second set and ended up tanking the next game that concluded the match. It was a sorry sight and the very opposite of the attitude being shown by Dinara at present, who despite her emotional ways, is showing a greater maturity on court that is clearly being reflected in her results.

I'm a big boy now

Whenever I see Andy Murray on court these days looking physically fit and able to handle the rigors of professional men's tennis at the highest level, I can't help but remember his match against Thomas Johansson at Queen's in 2005 where he literally fell flat on his face. It's testament to the amount of work he has put in since that day to get to the level he is now. One of the great things I find about watching sport is seeing the true development and progression of a player from the limitless potential to the transition of being the real deal. And while Murray is certainly not yet at the level of Nadal or Federer, or even Djokovic – whom he has beaten twice in a week having failed to record a win against the Serb previously – the signs are clearly there that Murray is progressing at a good rate and may very well soon be in the mix at the very top of the game.

Murray won his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati this past weekend and although it has sparked a ridiculous over reaction from the books with all kinds of specials involving the Scot and slashing his odds for both the Olympics and US Open, it's a clear indication of his talent coming to fruition. And if the British media can find a way to not get too carried away with it all, Murray should give British tennis fans many more reasons to celebrate over the coming years. That doesn't necessarily mean Slam success, but the ingredients are there for Murray to be a strong force in the game and a consistent top five caliber player.

Federer back to his best

For you Federer fans out there worried that you may never again see arguably the greatest player of all time carving his way through draws on the way to title after title, check out Federer's latest Nike advert where he gets the better of his opposition in a way in which he was unable to do against Gilles Simon and Ivo Karlovic.

So who really is the best player in women's tennis now that Henin is becoming nothing more than a memory? How long will Nadal be able to stay at the top of the game and will it be Djokovic or Federer that his greatest challenges will now come from? Let me know what you think about these subjects and more in the forum.

Check back with The Overrule on August 19 as the world of tennis will have some Olympic champions to speak of. In the meantime if you can figure out what Nicole Vaidisova sees in Radek Stepanek then let me know.