While waiting at the lab this morning for a blood draw, I was browsing through the Sports Illustrated magazine. It had an analysis of the Australian Open Finals, both men's and women's. Of all the sports that I play or watch, I love tennis the most - both playing, as well as watching.
I remember waking up in the middle of the night with my dad when I was 6 years old to watch Grand Slam matches. Because of early morning school, I usually only got to watch the quarters, semis and finals, and those times were fun. Steffi Graf, Martina (Navratilova and Hingis), Sabatini, Chris Evert, Seles - that era was something else. Of all the players, I admire and adore Steffi Graf the most. I loved watching her games.
The men's game can be rated as the best of all times right now. There is so much versatility and competitiveness - as we can see from the Fab Four players (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray) who consistently wow us with their performances at each event. Sadly, there is no such wow factor to be found on the women's side.
Did you see the finals of the Australian Open? Sharapova rightly deserved the drubbing. She was just standing on the baseline and hitting the ball with as much power as she could manage. She was using very little of her brain to come up with some volleys, drop shots, coming to the net or varying her game to beat her opponent. Both the finalists were grunting so loud on the court - it was almost unbearable for me to watch, honestly! A few years ago, I thought Sharapova was going to be another Steffi....but I was wrong!
If you look at the last 4 Grand Slam events played, Petra Kvitova won Wimbledon (1st Grand Slam win), Li Na won the French Open (1st Grand Slam win), Samantha Stosur won the US open (1st Grand Slam win), and Victoria Azarenka just won the 2012 Australian Open (1st Grand Slam win). Caroline Wozniacki held the #1 ATP ranking for many weeks during 2011, and she is yet to win a major.
It's okay for different players to win Grand Slam events, and each one deserves their win. However, they shine in one major, and then go out in one of the early rounds at the next major. Or succumb to injuries. Or, like in the case of Justine Henin, personal life takes over. I wonder why they don't take their game seriously and improve upon their performance at each event. We don't see this on the men's side, only in the women's. And I hope the situation improves - soon enough.
I'm the only one among my group of friends (who all love tennis) that watches the women's games. Everyone else finds them boring, and to an extent, I agree. However, I support the players, and the game, and am always hopeful of a good match.
One other thing to observe is the lack of top players from the US. Serena and Venus Williams are almost towards the end of their career (or so I hope), and Andy Roddick seems to be on the downward spiral as well. There are so many academies here and so many leagues being played regularly - I'm wondering why there is a dearth of top US players in the ATP rankings.
Of all the top players on circuit right now, I really think Kim Clijsters is the most promising player. She made a wonderful comeback as a MOM in 2009 (I admire her for that), won the US Open back to back in 2009/2010, and also won the 2011 Australian Open. I like her quick paced game, and she does not fear from coming to the net often. I also love her personality - she is so charming to watch!
As the article I read today stated - if the men's game is an oligarchy, the women's game has been a study in anarchy :). Let's see what the future holds!
PS: Here is the article I read: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1194465/1/index.htm
