So, we all know one of the main storylines on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this year has been the race for the top spot.
Ever since Justine Henin retired, it’s pretty much been a revolving-door-type situation, with Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and now Serena Williams all holding it down at number one.
Dinara Safina’s in the mix as well, and if Venus Williams was playing more, there’s no doubt she would be in it, too.
It’s all been pretty exciting, but you know, I can’t help but think of one other who should be battling it out with the above players, and that’s Amelie Mauresmo.
With Henin gone, is there a player as versatile as Mauresmo on the tour right now? She has a backhand that she can slice, drive or loop (some might say one of the best one-handers ever); a solid forehand and serve; plus really nice hands around the net. Look at the top players now: Does all of that come to mind with anyone else?
Long known for her mental breakdowns, Mauresmo pretty much put that to rest, it seemed, with the year she had in 2006, when she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. It looked like that might be the start of a dominant streak, but then injuries got in the way and she finished 2007 out of the top 10.
This year, there’s been some quarterfinal and semifinal finishes for Mauresmo, most notably over the summer hard-court season when she went to the final four back-to-back in Cincinnati and New Haven. Getting to the fourth round at the U.S. Open was nothing to sneeze at, either.
However, her last two events haven’t worked out for her at all, where she’s blown leads in first-round matches twice against Dominika Cibulkova.
Despite all those ups and downs over the past few years, I’m not going to count her out. She’s going to be 30 next year (man, I’m getting old!) and there’s plenty of more young players coming along—Cibulkova being among them, much to Mauresmo’s chagrin—but her game is too solid and versatile to not have her more in the mix next year.
As a matter of fact, I’m putting her down for my comeback player of the year in ’09. Stay tuned…
Van Sias of Tennis Talk, Anyone?
Thank you, Van! Excellent article.
With Henin out of the picture, Amelie remains the sport’s purest ball striker. When Mauresmo played at her best level, not even Henin could beat her.
I thought earlier this year that Mauresmo might be tempted to call it quits because of her slump, but from what it sounds now, she is willing to weather this setback. That alone shows she is confident that this is a short-term obstacle, especially after reaching the fourth round at the US Open.
Dominika Cibulkova is quickly coming into her own on the Tour and a few months from now, I doubt that we’ll be considering her defeat of Mauresmo as surprising. In the meanwhile, Amelie will just have to hope to avoid her in the draw of her next event.
Actually when Mauresmo defeated Henin it was either a young Justine (1999) one that was tired from over playing (Wta Championships 2003), with a Virus (Amelia Island 2004) or injured at (A0 2006).
Mauresmo is a better grass court player that Henin, and that’s about it. The Amelie indoor carpet game is pretty good though, but that’s about it. There’s not time for choking on grass, and the French woman has always been oddly enough superior on grass than any other surface in her career.
But Henin is the overall greater player than Mauresmo against all opponents and not only each other.
Cibulokova is a Kuznetsova type player, but her progress is more about the lack of standard from the current top 10 more than anything else. Mauremos on the other hand looks tired, and only her ego is keeping her in the game. The tennis is very low in standard and passive.
“Lack of standard of the current top 10″ is a bit harsh – the six mentioned in the first three paragraphs aren’t too shabby! Justine left a void, certainly, but there’s still some quality up there.
Dominika also hasn’t been around long and is making excellent progress so let’s give her a while yet.
As for Amélie, much as I’d love to see her back fighting it out for top spot (or even the top 10) I personally think she’ll call it a day. She’s hinted at retirement before and might well pack it in at the end of the year. And yes, with Justine’s gone as well, we’ll miss Amélie’s backhand even more…
• Hi Aaress, thanks again for letting me write this article: I enjoyed doing it. About Amelie: I’m glad to hear that she’s committed to making a comeback. I think she definitely has a couple of more good years in her.
• Hello Roger. I know Henin has usually come out on top in her matches with Mauresmo, but would you say that makes her a better player? Because I think from an ability standpoint, they would be pretty equal, regardless of surface. Henin’s just more mentally tough, at least that’s how I see it.
• Hey Drew. Yeah, those six I mentioned are definitely OK, to say the least! I would be sad to see Amelie go so soon. I feel especially that unless she just couldn’t play anymore physically that she shouldn’t go anywhere. Her game translates well to any surface: I just hope the injuries and losses haven’t eroded her confidence. If so, then here’s to hoping she gets it back!