What's happened to the depth in Women's Tennis? (Page 1 of 2)

Normal women can't deal with all that muscle.

Anyways, personally I find the women's game more interesting without the Williams sisters.  They're boring, they win everything, it was old ages ago.  Although I admit, I am always excited when somebody beats the Williams sisters.  It always feels like somebody did the impossible.

-Arvis

I don't think Schiavone can really play on grass.  It seems like all it takes to beat her on grass is a decent pusher, and the WTA is rife with those.  But maybe she'll prove me wrong.

I think Li is the most likely to make the final here, which would be amazing.  She went deep here last year, and she is arguably a better player this year.  For her to make three Grand Slam finals in a row would be no small accomplishment.

-Arvis

I actually think there's a good chance Jelena Dokic could beat Schiavone in the first round!

-Arvis

I think the depth is fine. The problem to me is there really aren't too many women out there with the killer instinct needed to dominate the game. Venus, Serena, Justine, Clijsters, Sharapova and even Kuznetsova at times are good examples of that fire, that constant hunger if you will. We thought back in 2007 Ivanovic and Jankovic were going to dominate, didn't happen. It's clear they don't have that extra drive required. People thought Safina could be the next big thing. She seems to have the drive, but the bright lights are just too much for her. Wozniacki and Zvonareva are now pretty highly regarded. Wozniacki doesn't have the kind of game to dominate IMO and I don't think Zvonareva has that extra gear.

The bottom line is the game really misses Justine and it will be a free-for-all when Serena, Venus and Clijsters retire for good. What you are left with is 10+ women with a good chance to win any given 'Slam. There is certainly some depth in the women's game, just not too many players seem to have the fire needed to take their game to the ultimate level. Sharapova could be the main beneficiary of said players retiring in the next couple years as long as she gets her serve problems corrected.

The men's game has great depth IMO, any of the top 50 and sometimes even the top 100 can topple the big boys on any given day, the same can't be said for the women IMO, if any of the lower ranked players do beat the top women, it's usually because the top players are not really worried about losing or carrying an injury.
It's true Aiur that any of about 10 women could win a Slam at the moment but does that mean there is great depth in Women's Tennis?? I think not!
Hopefully there will be several American, Russian and European ladies coming through the ranks to create some great rivalries in the future, I think that's what the women's game is lacking... a Navratilova/Evert/Graf type rivalry.

Hope you are right about Petra there Don, starting with her 1st Wimbledon Title

...which is how we wind up (very temporarily, I pray) with a #1 whose entire game is based on you beating yourself...

Good point.  She may not ALWAYS be a player who relies solely on her opponent beating herself -- but right now that's her only tactic in virtually all her matches, no changes, win or lose.  And she's been winning like that half her life or more, so it's hard to change. 

However, it's really a question of coaching IMO.  She's a big enough girl that if she got stronger, improved her serve and played with a LOT more power, she might be something grand.  But I do not see her father taking her there, do you?

Seems to me the reasons that women's tennis is so wide open now are that, with Clijsters gone and Serena playing so rarely, there is no truly dominant player, combined with the failure of the younger players to step up in majors so far. 

In the 6 slams since the beginning of last year, the two-time winners are Serena and Clijsters.  The other two are Schiavone and Li Na, both of whom are older than Clijsters. 

The two-time finalists have been Schiavone (now 30), Serena (29), Li Na (29), Clijsters (28) and Zvonareva (26, the "kid" of the group, who lost last year's Wimbledon and US Open finals).  The other two were Henin (29 and retired again) and Stosur (27).

The only "new" contenders have been older players who improved their game.  It feels like we're in a gap, waiting for the next dominant player. 

I think that player SHOULD be Kvitova -- so I'll just go ahead and say it will happen and hope she lives up to her potential.  It's unclear to me who her rival(s) will be.  There are any number of young players with potential.  But maybe Li Na and Zvonareva for awhile anyway?  I certainly hope Petko can make it up to competing for slams.  She, too, is starting to make an impression fairly late: she'll be 24 in September.

For comparison's sake, Rafa just turned 25.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 21, 2011 9:43pm)

If Caroline Wozniacki wants to win Grand Slams, she has to change her game plan. Right now, she's a ball-chaser and she's a damn good one at it. But you all saw how Hantachova played in Roland Garros. Her ball striking was superb against Woz.

Ball chasing and trying to force the errors from the opponent will work well in most matches except when you come up against consistent ball strikers. You come across these sort of players in the later stages of Grand Slams. She did alright to come up against Li Na 'down under' - she varied her shots - but I can't forgive her - SHE LOST A MATCH POINT! That was a turning point in the match, she pretty much broke down. Maybe the mental thing is something that affects the way she plays.

She might do well in the US Open this year if Serena doesn't destroy her opposition. We'll see this Wimbledon.

For Caro to win consistently in Grand Slams, she has to strike the ball better and maybe improve her mental strength. She's still young so I see a good future for her and women's tennis. She still has time to change. I agree with Don, a change of coach might be what she needs though probably not Toni. Nadal will go after her... (ouch)

Last edited by CrossCourt (Jun. 20, 2011 5:31am)

I didn't mean to imply that anyone in the world could actually GET Toni Nadal to coach them.  It's just that, to me at least, he's the best tennis coach in the world by a wide margin.  If Woz had a great coach and actually did what she was told, her potential would be nearly unlimited.

Having said that, I willl be amazed if it happens.

Absolutely right that her game needs to be retooled.  First, she needs to get to the gym and gain some strength.  She could also stand to get in better shape and lose the baby fat -- but she's not the only female player of whom that's true, by any stretch of the imagination.   

But, I believe, the hardest part of it would be to change her mindset, since she's been winning by pushing for so long. 

I don't think it's too late for her to make the changes necessary to do all that, but it won't happen.  Her father is never going to cede control to anyone -- and he doesn't see the necessity to do any of these things as far as I can tell.  Hence the rhetorical question about Toni Nadal.

Rafa didn't have a backhand in '05 but he had a great one by '07.  He didn't have much of a serve in '06 but he did by '08.  You see what I'm getting at here, surely.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 22, 2011 1:18am)