Women's Tennis - why 2011 shows the promise of the future

The main criticism of women’s tennis in the past few years has been that no one, aside from Serena Williams, has managed much consistency. 2011 shows that this might be coming to an end. Four different winners of the grand slams, including three first time winners led to an exciting and unpredictable season. What makes men’s tennis so great at the moment is a collection of multi-Grand-Slam title winners, all with diverse styles of play, thrashing it out to end at the top of the pile each year. This makes it easier for fans to have their favourite players (as they see them play more matches at each top event) and easier to follow the game.

Women’s tennis has lacked this for some time, a succession of world number ones who have not won a slam, has weakened the female side of the game in many people eyes. The game has thrived on great rivalries in the past: Evert-Navratilova and Graf-Seles to name but two. A lack of two or three really great players at the top of their game all going all out to add to their grand slam collections hurts the game, especially when the men’s game is in arguably the strongest shape it has ever been. It is time for the women’s game to fight back and reinvent itself, the 2011 season shows that it may be about to do just that.

The emergence of Czech 21 year-old Petra Kvitova as a grand slam winner at Wimbledon this year can only be good for the game. To start off with, she plays with the racket in her left hand as opposed to her right, making returning her serve a challenge for her opponents. She also hits the ball very flat, taking time away from players that don’t move as well such as the more powerful Sharapova, who she beat in the Wimbledon final, and Serena Williams. Second, she is young and hungry and, as opposed to the likes of Jankovic and Wozniacki, she had the talent, the knowhow and the nerve to win a grand slam on her first final appearance. This feat is made even more impressive by the fact she beat hot favourite and 3 time grand slam winner Sharapova. At the US Open, the next grand slam she played, she lost in the first round, admittedly not a great sign! Hopefully her win in the end of season masters tournament in Istanbul means that she can continue to fight for titles at the top of the end game for years to come.

Aside from the emergence of a promising young Czech, it was a year of plenty of intrigue. 2011 saw the first Asian grand slam champion - China’s Li Na. Kim Clijsters fairytale comeback became even sweeter with her win in Australia and Serena was beaten in a grand slam final, a rare occurrence, especially by someone of the calibre of Samantha Stosur. No disrespect to Stosur but she admitted having won that she had one of her “best days” suggesting that perhaps, on most other days, she would have been defeated. The way that Serena shouted at the umpire in that final, having done the same two years ago when she lost to Clijsters in the semis, may show that she is feeling less in control of her game and the matches she plays. Perhaps she is aware that soon the likes of Kvitova will replace her at the top of the game. Yet she could go and win all four grand slams in 2011, we just don’t know.

But at least there is some intrigue in the women’s game, it is crying out for two or three players in their young twenties such as Kvitova along with the likes of Azarenka and Petkovic to win one slam and challenge and replace the old guard of Serena, Venus and Clijsters. Kvitova now needs to go on and win many more. Tennis is a sport of the mind, Kvitova is easily talented enough to win several grand slams, the great test now is whether she can use the experience of having won one to win more. I for one can’t wait to find out.

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