One of the main reasons why we watch tennis is because it can be unpredictable. You never know when a relative unknown is going to make a run to the US Open semi-finals or the No.1 lose to someone ranked 225 places below her in the world.
For every all-Williams final, there is a run to at least the quarter-finals by Jelena Dokic, Carla Suarez Navarro (Australian Open 2009), Sorana Cirstea, Samantha Stosur (French Open 2009), Sabine Lisicki, Francesca Schiavone (Wimbledon 2009), Melanie Oudin or Kateryna Bondarenko (US Open 2009) – not to mention of course Yanina Wickmayer who made the final four in Flushing Meadows).
There are limits, however, and as fans of women’s tennis, we have been given a bad press over the last couple of years. The No.1 ranking has been a curse – on those who have occupied it and in particular on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. What the powers-that-be would have given for a dominant player to win a couple of majors, three or four WTA Premier tournaments and sit proudly atop the rankings as the poster girl for women’s tennis.
What they – and we – got unfortunately was Serena Safina – it took two players to do it. Unpredictability is good for any sport, but what you need is a real champion, someone who fires the imagination and inspires young and old alike. Last year we had Serena dominating tennis, but only when she felt like it.
I’ll play here, win there, don’t like clay much, let’s keep the on-court appearances to a minimum so as to maximize the off-court opportunities and I’ll shove a ball down the throat of anyone who tries to tell me otherwise. Meanwhile Dinara was doing the exact opposite, almost literally breaking her back in an attempt to justify the fact that the ranking computer said that she was No. 1, despite the fact that those little voices in her head started whispering to the contrary every time she tossed the ball up to serve…
The season-ending tournament epitomised the current lack of broad appeal that women’s tennis has. An all-Williams final, one alternate replacing another, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic at home nursing injuries and insecurities… Doha 2009 had all the attraction to the neutral spectator of a five-day cricket match.
A look into the future for the 2010 season however paints a rosier picture. Imagine a season-ending championships where the Williamses are joined by the Belgian not-siblings-but-definitely-rivals Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. Pick the best two Russians, a Serbian and a newcomer on a meteoric rise and suddenly we have an event to shout about.
Of course, there’s plenty of tennis to come before we can even start to contemplate that – 52 weeks worth. But what a year it promises to be. Clijsters has already earned the title for the best “Kimback” of the year, and if Henin can recreate even half of the form that made her the last undisputed world No. 1, then I’ll wager that Serena and Venus will up their games accordingly and we will have some real old-fashioned rivalries on our hands again.
Justine described the 15 months she spent away from the circuit before announcing her return as “an opportunity to focus only on myself, and it helped me realize that I still had many things yet to achieve. I need to push the limits higher, and explore new challenges… not about understanding size limitations, but of raising dimensions.” At a generously listed 1.66m and 57 kg, she is certainly not about to out-hit any of the new generation. But admit it – we’ve all missed her backhand. And we’ve all missed the variation, the subtlety, the light and shade that she has in her game and that few others can ever conjure up.
The most apposite and ironic summary of recent women’s tennis came from Venus Williams, arguably the second best player of the past decade. After losing her Wimbledon crown to her sister in a one-sided affair last July, she was asked why she had failed to adapt to Serena’s game that day which involved keeping the ball low over the net. Why did she not fight fire with fire? “I just slice when I have to, not because I want to… I know how to slice very well actually. I have a great slice. I just… I don’t know. I’m a shover. Some people push, but I shove – that’s my mentality. I have to just hit, and I can’t help it. It’s just hard to change my mind. Will I slice one day? Probably- but if I have a choice to hit it or slice it, I’m gonna hit it.”
After two years of being dominated by shovers, women’s tennis is welcoming back one of the game’s greatest slicers in the shape of Justine Henin – and I for one think that the circuit will be all the better for it.
Drew will be reporting from Rome, Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the first half of 2010. In the mean time, you can follow him on facebook and at http://twitter.com/DrewLilley.
Excellent article, Drew! “nursing injuries and insecurities” – well said.
that was a great article i look forward to seeing the Belgians dominate again
I think the WTA circuit has great potential this year for some rapid changes in the order and appearance of some of the top players. It will not take Kim and Justine long to get into that top 10 list. And lets not forget Melanie Oudin. She is going to be a Titan this year along with Caroline Wazniacki. See the field is already primed for a change. Dinara better get her act together and Ana, better find herself too. I love change and this year it’s gonna be good.
Good article. But Venus second best of the decade ? I think not. That was Justine I.
I watched Justine’s match against Petrova today and I truly think she can be even better than she was last time around. She really has the most beautiful game. She’s not just a thumper like many of the bigger players. Watching her play is like listening to a symphony. Welcome back to the tour Justine. Great article above.
I am also joyous to have Justine back. Petrova clearly indicated she had raised the bar up and I think together with Kim they will dominate the circuit. And we tennis fans will finally get something else than boring shover tennis aka screamball. I think Caroline Wozniacki will continue to rise, her game is also different than the rest of the tour. She is a hard hitter but she does take time on her shots and has a good strategy which has been a rare sight on the tour.
Regarding Dinara, poor thing does defeat herself before her rivals get a chance to do it. I think it’s the mental game she should improve. Ana should do less photo shoots and spent more time in the gym, hopefully she’ll stop her downward spiral and pick her game up this season. I also want to see my other hopeful Kirilenko get better and go back to the top 20 where she belongs
I’ll stand by my belief that the WTA is second-to-none when it comes to drama. If we had a single dominant player we may miss all the dogfights and jockeying for position that we had for the majority of ‘09.
Very true that Justine’s ability to color will be a welcome addition in 2010. If there is one facet of the game that has been missing it is that. More net play, angles, slice, and strategy may force the others to dig deeper and play more creatively.
Just want to say that Drew Lilley’s column was a very incisive recap of the 2009 WTA tour. He sure described exactly what I felt about the tour this year.
How great it will be to see Justine and Kim and all the other real competitors back in the hunt whether or not the Williams sisters can spare a little time for the tour.
Nice article, I appreciated the comment about Serena’s sporadic dominance. I can’t stand that about her. She’s trying to break into acting which I find repulsive. I’d like to see her drop out of the top 5 while failing to win a major in 2010. Her “Randy Moss” inspired approach to the game hurts the SE tour.
Drew, I echo everyone’s comments about what a great article you’ve written. Thanks for joining us! It’s always a pleasure to feature your work.
Appropriately titled and great article! Thanks.
The Queen is Back. Allez Justine!
Bill & JT I think you are right on with your comment about “sporadic dominance” of Serena. Her major-only approach to the tour is a good tactic to earn enough points to earn a good ranking and keep the sponsors happy. On the other hand, it does make her less credible as a top competitor. When I was watching her play at smaller events sometimes I doubted if this was the same player… I value Justine because she has always been the truly committed to the game and made fans believe it is not only grand slams which matter. The tour cannot survive only on slam tournaments, they also need to get the audience for smaller events. To the tour needs stars. But when your stars are not too keen to raise their game at other than big events…well, you need a new star.
A little correction:
“To get the audience to come at smaller events the tour needs stars”
I totally agree with ur assessment of the game today, the ugly monotony of the two fisted shovel has made tennis so unwatchable. It would be great to watch the variation and subtleties of the single fisted backhand and Justine is simply the best, pound for pound the best single fisted backhand i have ever had the privelge of watching in tennis. It ought to be framed and put up in the Louvre along with all the other classics. Welcome back Justine.
@kannan: “It ought to be framed and put up in the Louvre along with all the other classics.”
We know what you mean. Just awesome and what a sight a behold!
Ritcie {Dicko to his Friends..You know who I am}..agrees with Kannam……Another final for the one who is smoother than Belgian Chocolate..Justine!!!
Love the article.
Just saw the Justine vs. Kim final and am so happy to be able to watch Justine play again. Her elegant and smart game was sorely missed. Very sad the good old days of matches between Justine and Amélie are over but at least one side of the court will be interesting to watch again.
You’ve got to be kidding me ! Queen of what? I’m so sick of Justine, and she’s only played two tournaments! Serena and Venus are the best in the world! Get over your racist views!