View Single Post
Old 06-09-2012, 04:28 PM   #5
effenseshoora

Join Date
Oct 2005
Posts
504
Senior Member
Default
Now that the USO semifinals are set and we have a good perspective on the year, I think it's time to bring up this question. Men's tennis has been in a golden age for several years now. Partly in comparison to the men's side, and partly on their own, women's tennis has been heavily criticized as mentally weak and unpredictable.

Counting the Olympics, only five players have played in the eight final spots this year. Four of them are now in the USO semifinals (Radwanska being the missing one).

Azarenka and Sharapova have been extremely consistent all year, almost tied in the race to year end #1. Serena has been her normal self, usually unbeatable with some baffling losses thrown in. Radwanska has shown increased power and grit this year, highlighted in her run to the Wimbledon final. Errani has been the surprise of the year, reaching her first slam quarterfinal at the Australian then immediately beating that at the French with a runner-up finish. Now that she's had a third surprise deep run out of four slams, maybe it's time to stop being surprised.

Are we entering a golden age? I think so. Azarenka and Sharapova seem prepared to contend for every slam, every time. Serena has at least a few more years as a frequent favorite. Kvitova, Kerber, and Wozniacki are completing the puzzle pieces to their impressive games. There's a promising crop of youngsters coming up, and it's now totally normal for a player older than 25 to have a career year. More players than ever walk into the biggest tournaments thinking they could go deep and wanting to fight for it. I think it makes for exciting tennis.

What do you think?
Things might be stabilizing, maybe, but there aren't any great rivalries. I think that's one litmus test of a golden age. I'm not even sure we have any budding rivalries except maybe Azarenka and Sharapova (oh, brother) and Azarenka and A-Rad. It's a shame, because Azarenka, Sharapova and Serena are all great candidates for a rivalry. They have the right attitude and swagger. Serena, in particular, deserves an amazing rivalry, like Federer and Nadal have enjoyed. Every great career has a great rivalry. The closest Serena has had is Venus, and that doesn't really count because their relationship is different. Serena and Sharapova have the tension but not the competition. What was our last great rivalry - Henin-Clijsters, and Seles-Graf before that? Does Hingis and the Williams Sisters count?
effenseshoora is offline


 

All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:29 PM.
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Design & Developed by Amodity.com
Copyright© Amodity