Open Forum Friday: Family Feud!
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jul 27, 2007 | Print |
With Venus and Serena both back in action, committed to tennis, and ready to rumble at this year’s US Open, which Williams’ sister can stake her claim at being the best in the family business?
One Grand Slam apiece this year puts them dead even in the major’s department, but what other areas need to be considered when determining whether Venus or Serena is the more dominant - and better - player?
Everyone, feel free to take a stab at this week’s Open Forum Friday discussion. I’m interested in reading all your opinions, and I’ll be following this up with an article of my own about the Sisters later on next week.
Have a great weekend!
If you enjoyed this tennis article, please sign up for a free subscription!
Nick | Jul 27, 2007 | Reply
Women Tennis is in such a dismal stage right now, I’ll be happy just to watch any of the Top women at any of the US Open Series.
Venus has been playing a lot considering how few she ever plays, while Serena is thumbing away…so I would say Venus will do better than Serena at the US Open, but the question always is which Williams Sister will show up.
I just hope they don’t put Justine and Serena on the same draw.
Chris | Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I’d prefer if Venus did her third Wimbledon-USO pair. Seven slams instead of six? One more than Henin, two more than Hingis? Sounds delish to me.
Will.I.Am | Jul 29, 2007 | Reply
Venus, in my opinion, is the perfect tennis player. She has everything it takes to be dominant. The height, the speed, the strength, the technique. She is pure perfection. However, Venus does not have it all there mentally. Sometimes she can pull it all together (the mental and physical game), but it doesn’t happen a lot. Serena on the other hand, what she lacks physically compared to Venus, she makes up with her mental game.
I think back to 1999 when I would cheer for Serena and feel bad when she lost. Then she won the 1999 US Open, and you could see the change in Venus. I think that put a lot of pressure and conflicting thoughts in her head, and I believe she’s still dealing with some of those pressure issues.
I can’t wait until Venus is at that point in her tennis career where she can play pressure free tennis. Lindsay Davenport, towards the end of her career was playing pressure free, hitting the ball beautifully and hitting the courts with experience and confidence. I mean she made it to the quarters of the french open towards the end of her career. I can’t wait for Venus to get to that mental state, and I hope she gets there before the end of her career.
Venus Williams is the best tennis player in the Williams family and potentiallly on the WTA Tour.
Kurt | Jul 29, 2007 | Reply
I’d say that Serena is definitely the more dominant player of the two. I would also venture to say that she’s the better player (though I’m quite a novice in deconstructing technique). The only real problem I used to have with her was her fitness, but with this supposed recommitment to tennis (let’s hope she plays Los Angeles and picks up Toronto for good measure) that’s sort of gone away for me.
My problem with Venus is that although she has everything (for example, her fitness has always been better than her sister’s), she can go off so much. It’s frustrating to watch her because she can produce the 6-1, 6-3 Wimbledon win over Sharapova OR lose 2-6, 6-0, 9-7 to 94th-ranked Pironkova in the ‘06 Aussie first round. Mentally, she’s just not always there.
Serena is so much easier to cheer for in that respect because she won’t give up. Down 6-0, 5-4, two championship points against the no. 1 player in the world? No problem! Or how about that remarkable victory a few weeks ago over Daniela Hantuchova in the fourth round of Wimbledon? Even taking Henin to three sets in the quarters when she (Serena) was only playing at a fraction of her level (and slicing every backhand): incredible.
Besides owning eight majors as opposed to Venus’ six, and neglecting the fact that she beat her sister in four straight major finals from Paris ‘02 to Melbourne ‘03, Serena is much more mentally tougher. Venus has admitted this, saying how she admires and wishes to duplicate her sister’s determination. And I think the mental strength is what separates the best players in the world. You’re obviously a good player to get into the top 10, but to really be the best in the world, you have to have the heart and head. Serena’s got both. Those blistering shots don’t hurt, either…
the kiwi | Jul 30, 2007 | Reply
well serena williams is a aparentley injured because this week serena withdrawed from the acura classic she hasnt even started her season for hardcourt and the us open and the us open series but its really great to see though i just realised both williams sisters in the top20 because after venus williams won wimbledon went from worldno 31# and is currently world no 16# adn serena williams started actually way way back from what ranking venus williams started from world no 54# and serena williams had to start from world no 81# adn made it into the top20 in one week after winning the first grand slam of the year the australian open win in the final against maria sharapova of russia.i think just wait and see what they can do in hardcourt season and the us open???///\\\…