- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova sits on the court as she plays Serena Williams of the United States during a Women's singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. AP Photo/Dita Alangkara
I’m curious to know how weak the state of women’s tennis is when a player who hasn’t picked up a racquet for two years can stroll through to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam?
No doubt that Kim Clijsters has an affinity for the US Open – it is the only Grand Slam she ever won – but to make it this far and this easily makes a mockery of the rest of the WTA.
Of the Top 16 women’s seeds, only nine made it past the second round. This is a shocking statistic and a damning indictment of how bad women’s tennis at the top level is.
Dinara Safina demands that everyone recognises her at the world’s number one ranked female player. But why should we?
She was abysmal at the US Open and lost the first set in each of her three matches. She should have been eliminated in the first round, but young Aussie Olivia Rogowska completely lost her nerve.
When it comes to a women’s Grand Slam, if a Williams sister doesn’t win, it comes down to who chokes less.
I have seen ladies finals and semi-finals of a Grand Slam where neither player can hold serve and the first player to do so wins. Is she how it should be? That the winner comes down to who makes fewer double-faults?
Every Grand Slam, the usual suspects of Elene Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Daniela Hantuchová Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka will find another excuse to bumble and stumble their way out of the tournament, leaving it for some outsider to make it deep.
At the French Open it was Samantha Stosur, at Wimbledon it was Sabine Lisicki, and at the Australian Open it was Jelena Dokic.
Jennifer Capriati also made a comeback and and won the 2001 Australian Open and then two of the next four majors.
Clijsters knows all about this, as she lost the final of the 2001 French Open to Capriati, going down 12-10 in an unforgettable third set.
Could you imagine this happening in men’s tennis?
No way.
A player leaves the game for an extended time and most likely the game is going to leave him far behind. Ok, he might have a good tournament here or there, but he wouldn’t have the unbelievable success that Capriati and Clijsters enjoyed.
Women don’t deserve the same prize money as men.
Playing three sets Vs five sets is just one point, but the more pertinent one is that the depth just isn’t there in the women’s draw.
To win a Grand Slam title, you should have to play the best tennis you can possibly play as opposed to being the one who chokes least.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.