I saw this quote from Lindsay Davenport in the mailbag:
Question: "We talked earlier about the WTA saying [Clijsters is] the lowest-ranked player ever to win a Tier I, which is really bogus, but [Clijsters] said last week she didn't even think about taking an injury ranking. I would think for somebody in your situation, you could go to Miami and draw her in the first round or something."
Lindsay Davenport: "Yeah, well, it's tough. They've changed the rules after what happened last year with all the special seedings. The Tour made a rule that they would never special seed someone again. I don't think she had that option. The other thing, she was out two periods of five months, then played a tournament. You have to be out exactly six months to get any special ranking. And both times she missed it by a few weeks by trying to come back. It was pretty complicated in her situation, as she tried to play in Berlin, then tried to play in the fall, in September, and then came back again in February. It was never six months. But while all these discussions were going on last year, she was always very -- just very positive saying, 'I don't care what happens. If I get healthy, I just want to play, don't worry about anything.' You know, as far as looking at what her ranking is today, is, like you said, bogus. I mean, all the players out there know what a great player she is."
I knew about the six months rule, but I hadn't heard that special seedings were gone. I thought they still seemed to be there in the WTA rulebook and assumed Justine would get one. I guess we'll see soon when we get a look at the Miami draw.