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Sunday 6 July 2014

A World Without The Williams

Photo by Jae under Creative Commons License, CC BY-SA 2.0

I’m not at all one these fans that are close to a seizure whenever their fave lose or is struggling. I’m a laid back type of fan. Whenever the girl or guy I’m cheering for stumble, I shrug and go like “dude that’s the way it is.” However, when Serena lost last week against Alizee Cornet, in the third round of Wimbledon, I must admit that I was saddened.


It wasn’t just the fact that Cornet is the type of journeyman Serena had no business losing against, or that she had already lost once to the French girl this year, or that the youngest Williams’ sister hadn’t been able to reach the second week in Slam in 2014, so far, that pressed me so much. My issue was that I felt an area, perhaps, the best area in women tennis was ending.

Serena is an early 80’s baby. So is Venus, who also hasn’t reached the second week of the Slams she entered this year. When Hingis was still on top the Williams sister came into the scene. When Davenport and Capriati turned the USA into a fully fledged tennis nation on the women side, they were there. When Belgium decided to invade the WTA with its best ( and only) generals Henin and Clijsters, Star and Jameka registered present. When the less pretty but much more focused version of Kournikova came into the scene their name was still in the headlight. 

Minus Sharapova, the girls cited above, all top players and Slams winners, left their racquets in their closet and are now embracing whatever career they have been able to carve for themselves post-tennis.

In 2012 and 2013, Serena proved that her game transcended time and was still the best out there. Even now, when she peak Serena is literally unbeatable. However, how long can she sustain such level? That’s the main question.

Getting older, her body is obviously getting weaker, and I think mentally, it must be harder to fight back in match. Besides after having won literally every single title a tennis player can crave, does she still have that hunger, that desire in her? And can she handle the constant pressure she and the media put on herself? I’m truly wondering.

As Serena exited Wimbledon in singles and withdraw in double looking scarily exhausted and disoriented, answering "not that long" to this question seemed about right. People can say that with the fight-till-I die mentality her father Richard instilled into her and her sister, she’ll find a way to bounce back (yet again), perhaps she will, but I doubt she has many more years left. Same goes for Venus.

When Venus and Serena hit the WTA courts we all knew that someday the dream would end. Now that they are aged 33 and 32 respectively, I guess it’s legit to say that the dream is ending. And when they’ll be truly gone all I can think about is “What will be left of the tour?”
I was never really a fan of Henin, Mauremo, Dementieva or Safina, but I must admit that their presence spiced up the tour. And now, if the sisters came to leave, the WTA would become kind of dull.

In tennis, we love to compare generation. If anyone compared this generation to the previous one, they’ll have to admit that the youngster aren’t as good or interesting as their elder. Top 10 2014 would get routed by top ten 2007. Though I believe the general level of women tennis has improved, I don’t think there is any elite top player right now. 

Maria for all her fighting spirit, has more loss against basic players compared to a few years back, and I think that her pre-surgery level of tennis has never really reappeared on court. 
Goat Petra seems to only appears in Wimbledon and hibernate the rest of the year. Li Na is a bit like Petra, her best form appears in dilettante. Though I love Vika, and consider her a champion, her game doesn’t have that WoW factor we expect from Slams winners.

Sorry GenieLiever, but I’m really, really not sold on the Canadian, despite her Wimbledon final. Yes, she’s hard-working. Yes, she’s tough and determined. Yes, she’ll probably win Slams. Yes, she’s very pretty. But no, she isn’t going to revolutionize tennis.  And bottom line is: her game doesn’t excite me at ALL.

Genie takes the ball very early, moves well around the court and is on the offensive almost non-stop, but she isn’t the hard hitter, spectacular player commentators makes her out to be. If anyone paid a little attention to yesterday’s final or their respective Wimbledon campaign, they’ll easily see which of the two blondes has the most impressive game (note that I’m talking game and not brain). There are obviously other talented girls, such as Robson or Konjuh for example, but none have fully bloomed.

One thing's for sure though. It's going to be REAL white at the top until maybe Keys, Townsend and why not Stephens sharpen their game. 

Of course I’m still going to watch tennis (I'm a die hard fan) but it won’t be as fun without the Williams.

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