By Sandra Harwitt

That’s right. Someone over at the WTA Tour needs to sit down and give some thought to how they might reprogram their computer so the rankings more accurately reflect player results.

Let me assure you I’m not the only one thinking that Caroline Wozniacki, an excellent player indeed, should not really be ranked No. 1 at the moment. After Wozniacki fell to Andrea Petkovic of Germany 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the fourth round on Monday at the Sony Ericsson Open, the Associated Press referred to her “dubious No. 1 ranking” at the top of their story. And at the beginning of the tournament Top 10-ranked Samantha Stosur said she believed Kim Clijsters—the reigning US and Australian Open champion—should legitimately be ranked No. 1. Clljsters currently is ranked No. 2.

The current system rewards players for playing often, a strategy that enables one to horde more points. It also rewards for how deep you go into a tournament, which also helps a player who consistently gets to the later rounds of events. Recognize Wozniacki?

While the above might all seem to make sense, the truth is that the current system is failing at identifying who is the true top player in the women’s game.

It’s hard not to think something is awry when Clijsters isn’t sitting on the ranking throne. So why isn’t Clijsters at the top of the charts? Simply because as a young wife and mother the Belgian, to some extent, cherry picks the tournaments she plays so she can stay home more often with her family.

There needs to be some kind of adjustment to the rankings to account for these types of situations. It’s hard to justify to tennis fans that Wozniacki, still without a Grand Slam title to add to her resume, is better than Clijsters, who won the two big prizes available the past seven months.

Michelle Kaufman, my Miami Herald colleague and good friend, put it best when we discussed the need for ranking reform in the women’s game. She said, “It’s like if you gave the Best Actress Oscar to the actress who had the most roles as opposed to the one who gave the blockbuster performance in one role.” Kaufman then went on to suggest Wozniacki deserved the supporting actress statue for an admirable body of work, leaving Clijsters to pick up top prize.

Last week when the Sony Ericsson Open was starting, Wozniacki, arrived here as the Indian Wells champion, and defended her No. 1 ranking.

“I’ve won quite a few tournaments the last year and I feel like I’m playing great tennis at the moment,” Wozniacki said. “I feel I deserve to be where I am.”

Clijsters bumped Wozniacki out of No. 1 following the Paris tournament in February, but relinquished the spot back to the Dane the next week. Wozniacki is guaranteed to continue at No. 1 until at least the week of April 18.

According to Clijsters, she doesn’t really care what she’s ranked—she just wants to enjoy playing and win big titles.

“To me, it’s not something I’m focused on and aiming for,” Clijsters said. “I’m happy she enjoys the whole role because I think when you’re No. 1 there’s even more things to do. Let somebody else do that.”

For now, Wozniacki was leaving the ranking issue behind as she had a more important project to pursue before playing the Charleston event next week: “I’m just gonna take a few days of rest now. I need that, maybe on the beach, get some of the tan lines off.”