Rebecca said:
Its funny, if I recall correct after reaching number one he lost 6 straight matches 
The funny/sad thing is that he became number 1 DURING the losing streak. I think people made too much out of that losing streak though. True, he definitely tightened up a couple times, but he ALWAYS has a bad clay court season. People acted as if it was just so shocking that he kept losing.
The other strange thing that year was that he held the number 1 position for 6 weeks, all through the slump, while other players who were playing well only managed to hold it for 1 or 2 weeks.
P.S. when I write funny/sad, I mean that it was sad for him. He was so depressed when he became number 1. Can you imagine finally achieving your lifelong dream and have it be one of the most miserable periods of your career? I think Yevgeny truly wants the game to do well, so he felt bad because he thought he was hurting the game when he became number 1. I remember the big uproar when John McEnroe made the "You're number 1" comment to Yevgeny and Yevgeny answered "Unfortunately". Fortunately, he seems to be able to look back and appreciate and take pride in it.
It was also really sad for him because the game was really being criticized and scrutinized and Yevgeny took a lot more scorn than even he's used to. It's still amazing to me that people can't figure out that the ranking is based on a whole year so a top player can lose and still hold his place.
I mean really, when I started watching tennis, I knew ZERO about the game. I learned the rules through watching it on TV and it took me a little while to figure out the scoring systems. I remember it took me the longest time before I even figured out whether Mary Carillo was a man or woman! (sadly, I'm not joking). And even as ignorant as I was, I never once thought, oh, he lost, why is he ranked that high?
P.P.S. To explain the Mary Carillo thing. When I was still in the "figuring it out" stage of my tennis watching, she had this really poofy curly hair that didn't have much shape. I couldn't figure out if it was a woman with really bad hair (I've seen women with hair like that) or a man with really bad hair (I've seen men with hair like that). Plus, her voice is so low, but at the same time, I didn't think it sounded exactly like a man's or a woman's. I went back and forth for a long while. It wasn't until I actually saw her name go up on the screen that I finally knew for sure. I must have had the worst luck in timing because it was a couple months before I actually saw her name come up on the screen.
