The quality and depth of women’s tennis is poor
Roar Pro
By johnhunt92, 12 Jan 2010 johnhunt92 is a Roar Pro
The women’s final at the Brisbane International, while spectacular, is a sad indication of the depth of women’s professional tennis. How is it that Justine Henin, after an eighteenth month layoff, can so easily swan into the final of her first tournament against a woman only back after six months, who was equally untroubled?
Can you sports fans imagine Roger Federer after an eighteen month layoff?
It would take ages for even the best player in 40 years to work his way back up to the top.
Men’s tennis evolves all the time, while women are playing like 20 years ago. While I respect the women who play for trying their best, there is too little variety in the game and it makes it hard to follow as a spectacle.
Sam Stosur’s awful start to the season shows also the lack of consistency in the women’s game.
How can a supposed number 13 lose so poorly to a woman from a country with little tennis pedigree? Stosur is supposed to be our best, but she looks, at the moment at least, no better than a park tennis player.
So don’t be surprised if we end up with a Henin-Clijsters final and a huge debate on whether women deserve equal prize money as our future women “stars” show a lack of depth.
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Gibbo said | January 12th 2010 @ 7:55am | Report comment
What you say is true, but with quality like Ana Ivanovic strutting the court its a damn sight better to watch than mens tennis.
Vijaya Prabu.S said | January 12th 2010 @ 10:28am | Report comment
“women do deserve equal prize money”
Will be a statement to insult men playing Tennis (I am not a male Chauvinist,lol), if most women did not change their game
This is my idea, looking at the way the women play their Tennis.
Since they lack ‘pace or strength’ of men’s Tennis, we expect them to more graceful,craftier and ACCURATE than the men’s but that is not the case…(disappointing!)
Players like Martina Navarotilova, Justin Henin, Kim Clisters and Dinara Safina(poor gurl cant win a GS) are admired for their sheer dedication.
(there are some more to the list!)
Players like Anna kournikova(she tops this list), Serena Williams(she is dedicated for her EGO not tennis) love to give skin show for the people who sit around and watch them rather than the game
(there are many more to the list!! lol!)
MAKE YOURSELF….!
dee said | January 12th 2010 @ 11:05am | Report comment
If you don’t like women’s tennis don’t watch it. I enjoy it and find men’s tennis very boring. I like the fact that you don’t know who will win and that there are changes. Serena’s, Venus’s, Justine’s and Clisters records are spectacular if looked at without prejudice. If women can bring in the fans and generate revenue, then they should be paid accordingly.
Just because I find men’s tennis boring, does not mean I think they should be compensated less. Perhaps paying women better, will motivate younger women to play better and improve their game. Which, if you have watched it as long as I have has evolved amazingly.
Anyhow, I don’t enjoy men’s tennis, so I don’t watch it, but I don’t feel the need to bash it just because I don’t like it.
Roger of ACT said | January 15th 2010 @ 9:58pm | Report comment
Dee said ” If women can bring in the fans and generate revenue, then they should be paid accordingly. ”
That’s the whole point…they don’t. A lot of the revenue is generated off the back of men’s tennis otherwise why don’t they have separate tornaments like they do for women’s golf or basketball…which attract very little public interest. Take for instance, Lauren Jackson who is supposed to be the best women’s basketballer in the world. The ACT Government and other businesses have paid her an amount well into six figures to play a dozen or so games. When I saw in a video clip of a game she was playing in the other day, the crowd at the venue appeared to be no more than a couple of hundred people. Of course it wasn’t of sufficient public interest for the whole game to be broadcast.
janie said | January 12th 2010 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Ana Ivanovic gets a bad rap. She is one of the best players of the past decade she arrived in 2006 winning a major and contesting 2 majors finals becoming #1 player and winning several big tour titles. She did this in 4 years. It’s not her fault if she’s young. But this is better than players like Hantuchova & dementieva who are so overrated. Yes women’s tennis would be better if they put some replay systems in there for ALL players not just the big names. I don’t buy the supremacy of the big names these matches are rigged the calls are disgusting. Bad calls make a HUGE difference they can cost a career. Don’t put these players down until there’s definative proof they’re all playing on an equal playing footing. I question the supremacy of the ‘SO CALLED best in women’s tennis. Matches are rigged prove me wrong get replay system HD on all courts doesn’t have to be shot spot or an expensive hawk-eye system. Tennis can use what the replay systems nfl & other sports use. just get a system in there ! Women’s tennis is not a clean sport.
janie said | January 12th 2010 @ 11:50am | Report comment
Twice I remember Serena williams being ripped off from making the final of the US Open in 2004 against Capriatti & again in 2009 against Kim Clijster due to deliberate bad calls. The fact that officials refused to replay whether there was a foot fault or not proves the call was a cheat to advance to the final a weak player in clijsters. Serena’s records is now 11-2 against Clijsters. People wrongly state williams had lost the match WRONG she’s won so many close ones especially against Clijsters. I cite this case as a example. But there are no name player toiling in obscurity on backcourts where the officiating is notoriously UNFAIR. No player can win against the chair, the lines people & the opponent. There are many female players training and performing their hearts out. But it is useless if it can be taken away by a system of deliberate bad calls to advance players the tennis establishment deems “marketable” for the game. Competition is marketable for the game jackasses not sex, or the favorties of a select few tennis executives. Replay challenges for all players democratizes the game open it up.
WA said | January 12th 2010 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
Easy solution. Reduce the number of competition entrys and make them play best of 5 sets. Standard will rise fast.
James said | January 12th 2010 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Boredom level will rise too however with five sets.
ohtani's jacket said | January 12th 2010 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
If you want depth in women’s tennis then you ought to be happy that both Clijsters and Henin are back. Who cares if they made the final in Brisbane? It was the match-up everyone wanted to see and it delivered, even if the tennis wasn’t great at times. Besides, depth is an illusion in both men’s and women’s tennis. The top seeds dominate and always have done.
sledgeandhammer said | January 12th 2010 @ 9:36pm | Report comment
Having just spent the day at the Medibank Sydney International, where for 10 bucks you can watch top class tennis so close up you can almost shake the players hands, I’d have to strongly disagree with this article. While the speed of men’s tennis is a notch up on the women, this is just a genetic reality. The women are still incredible athletes, and are just as professional and technically sound players. The difference between the very best and the rest is not as great as people think. There will always be winners, and losers in any sport. This doesn’t mean there is no depth. If this were true we would have to agree that there was no depth in world football, as the same teams always win world cups. Pure baloney of course.
Benjamin Conkey said | January 13th 2010 @ 3:45pm | Report comment
Women’s tennis is always great for drama, but I agree with you..outside the top 10 the quality is pretty poor.
If Sam Stosur played more conservatively she’d probably have more success due to the large amount of unforced errors in the women’s game.
It’s very rare for even the best women players to have less than 10 errors in a set.
buck said | January 13th 2010 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
I think the women’s game is a little more interesting than the men (even though i am a fan of both – 4 times a year). I like the see-sawing matches and see it as a strength of the women’s game. no stats to back me up here, but its seems like a greater variety of women win slams over the past 15 years than the men. Federer and Nadal seem to win everything, whereas it Williams sisters aside, it seems a few more win, like the Belgians, Davenport etc. i also think women should play 5 sets in slams, for, if the men lose the first 2 sets they still have the chance to come back, women don’t but should have the same opportunity.