New York: Has there been a greater discrepancy in the form, reputation and general well-being of the two world No.1 players heading into a Grand Slam tournament than there is between Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki as the US Open begins on Monday?

Djokovic, who began the year ranked No.3, has carried all before him with a staggering 57-2 record, while Wozniacki opened 2011 at No.1 by bouncing an inflatable yellow kangaroo on her knee in Melbourne to try to show the press that she had a sense of humour and comes here still as the No.1 needing to find the fun in something, with her coaching situation in a state of flux and her form all at sea.

When the men’s draw is made at a Grand Slam tournament these days, you wonder who can prevent the top four making another set of semi-finals; with the women’s, it is to see who not only scents Danish blood first but also spills a drop or two. In this event’s case, Nuria Llagostera Vives in the opening round or perhaps Arantxa Rus or Elena Vesnina in the second can cause what would not be that much of an upset. That was never considered in the days of Navratilova, Evert, Seles or Graf.

Behind the scenes, Djokovic’s days of upheaval are over, with Marian Vajda safely ensconced as his coach and everyone behind the scenes knowing exactly what their duties entail and doing them with commitment. Wozniacki, after first-round defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati, was embroiled in a mystery as to whether Piotr, her father, was still her coach — a situation confounded in that neither of her usual Team adidas mentors, Sven Groeneveld or Mats Merkel (who were in New York rather than New Haven, Connecticut, where she was playing this week), knew what was happening.

Piotr Wozniacki, who left his native Poland to be a professional footballer in Denmark, has been his daughter’s only coach until now and said on Thursday that it was his idea to oversee a new set-up for his daughter. He said that he had been proactive in “the process of finding new input” and welcomes the idea that someone could come in and advise her technically on what is required for her to make the leap from a respected ranking to a respected Grand Slam champion.

He is quoted as saying that he “no longer wants Caroline to be a pure stroke machine who goes for winners as soon as she sees the ball at racket length”. She should also “get better at some things” and these changes had to be built at a “calm and sensible pace”.

There is a thought that she may curtail her physical work and play a more sensible schedule so that she can recover better between tournaments. Between March and the middle of July this year, she played 11 tournaments; Djokovic played seven, winning six.

The calendar is coming under the spotlight as never before, with increasing evidence that unless important decisions are taken about the Grand Slam tournaments and their positioning, the much-of-a-muchness quality of their women’s champions could be replicated by the men. What the Grand Slams will always have in gilded prestige, they must make sure they sustain in the levels of memorable matches and great champions. What has Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, done since she became the Wimbledon champion in July, and who remembers much, if anything, of that final?

There has to be a decision taken soon to extend farther the period between the French Open and Wimbledon — which would involve Wimbledon moving back in the year and the US Open being played earlier. At present, the result of so much tennis between SW19 and the Big Apple is the final Grand Slam of the year decided as much on aches and pains as talent alone.

Djokovic’s withdrawal from the Western & Southern Open final against Andy Murray in Cincinnati last weekend because of a sore shoulder means that there is an asterisk against his favourite’s billing.

John McEnroe, a New Yorker of some repute, said: “Wimbledon was where Djokovic took himself to a whole new level. The only match where any pressure got to him was the semi-final of the French Open against Roger Federer, but he is on his way to having the greatest year in the history of our sport. He psyched Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon.”

Who will be psyched — or spooked — at Flushing Meadows? If it is spooking you want, Caroline Wozniacki would seem to be your girl.