After the Australian Open, I cannot help but notice patchy opinions and comparisons of the great players, that in my attempt to analyze the differences.
Kim Clijsters:
Ranking when retired: 4
Retired / Comeback: May 2007 / Mid 2009
1st tournament: QF defeated by Safina
2nd tournament: 3rd round by Jankovic
3rd tournament: Champion
Playing style: Baseline basher / deep ground strokes
Pressure: no expectations
Justine Henin:
Ranking when retired: 1
Retired / Comeback: Mid 2008 / Jan 2010
1st tournament: Final defeated by Clijsters
2nd tournament: Final defeated by Williams
3rd tournament: ?
Playing style: Variety with precision
Pressure: Huge pressure to replicate Kim
If by looking at the facts, Kim has come back strong as first appearance in grand slam, but far from it that Henin is less impressive in the second tournament only. No doubts Clijsters’ form was seemingly better when she played in US open but her style of playing is probably easier to pick up in a shorter timeframe backed with strong physical training, as opposed to Henin’s style which needs to come with time to tune in the accuracy of each shot in her complexity of game plan.
On the other hand, Clijsters came back without much expectation of winning as a wildcard by others, as such that with her brilliance she stormed everyone by surprise when she reached the final and passed through Serena. By the time Henin arrived to Australian Open, all eyes were on her to make the same progress. But mind you, then everyone on tour was alert on this potential dangerous wildcard, with Serena especially increased additional training on the morning of their final.
Not to mention the road to QF in the first week was especially testing for Henin to beat very strong and upcoming players, than those of Clijsters on route to US open’s 2nd week. The winning of the final often depends on who your opponent is. Caroline, the first time finalist compared to Serena, who flourishes and plays her best at final.
The pressure on Henin was, thus far from anyone could bear, being known and kept advertised as the former number 1 to do a miracle on her second tournament back. With that mental and physical torture, how she was able to still stay focused and at ease with herself and played with such sparks on court, that in itself speaks volume.
And what about Williams when everyone seems to be showering praises that she is greatest ever? Who could remember when Williams came out from injuries in 2004, it took her some time, actually years to recover her form and regained number one again in September 2008 after Henin retired.
Then, given the magnificent runs of the two Belgians, why is everyone urging them to be at the top of rank again within a year? My only answer is that if people are longing to give the number one to someone more worthy? Or purely women’s tennis was at such a stale stage that people are yearning for some quality games and change of hands at the very top?
Be patient, and there time will tell (and it is too early to tell), if any one of the Belgians will be able to return to top form consistently in the coming years and if Williams will not be threaten by them. My bet is, Henin has the mind and body to come back stronger than ever.
It has been quite a while since I posted here on The Tennis Times. I have wanted to keep this site up to date, but finding the time at the moment is near impossible. Im on the look out for anyone and everyone help me to keep the site up to date. I love tennis and really want to give something back to the sport. If you are interested in writting on The Tennis Times and having your say then please get in touch!
p.s. Good luck to Roger Federer and Andy Murray tomorrow in the Australian Open Mens Singles final for 2010.
The Tennis Times would like to send out a big congratulations to Samantha Stosur who won her first career WTA tour title at the 2009 Japan Open. Sam is from the same place as me back home in Australia and we played all the same tournaments when I was a junior, so its great to see a fellow Aussie doing so well.
The final match in Japan Sam defeated No. 24 ranked Francesca Schiavone 7-5 6-1 to take home the title.
Stosur was quoted at Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, “I’m very, very pleased to win my first title after losing five previous finals. It has been a personal goal for a while, so I’m glad to have achieved it and it’s the perfect way to finish my year in singles. My next goal is to reach the Top 10, for which I would need to play like today every day.”
Stosur had been on a downward trend the past three years, being ranked No. 29 at the end of 2006, No. 46 at the end of 2007, and No. 49 at the end of 2008. Currently ranked No. 13, she has made a good turn around and her goal of reaching the Top Ten certainly seems possible.
You can see more of Stosur’s career stats at Sony Ericcson WTA Tour.
Can you say cheese! Newly crowned US Open mens singles champion Juan Martin del Potro has become the fifth player to qualify for the end of year Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. He has joined Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic for the event which takes place at the O2 in London from 22-29 November.
Kim Clijsters has capped a great return to womens tennis with a 7-5 6-3 win in the final of the US Open over Caroline Wozniacki. Kim received a wildcard into the event in which now she goes from being unranked in the world to the Number 19 player in the world according to projections.
Nevertheless, congrats to the 19-year-old Wozniacki for making the finals and becoming the first Dane, man or woman, to reach the finals of a Grand Slam in the Open Era.
Congrats to Kim Clijsters the 2009 US Open Womens Singles Champion
Roger Federer became the first tennis player to reach $50 million in career prize money with his first-round win at the U.S. Open tennis championship. The 28-year-old Swiss, who is guaranteed at least $31,000 by advancing in New York, is seeking his sixth straight U.S. Open title and 16th Grand Slam championship.
Here is a quick breakdown of the US Open prizemoney is for 2009:
| PLAYER |
BASE PRIZE MONEY |
POTENTIAL PAYOUT WITH BONUS |
| Winners |
$ 1,200,000 |
$ 2,200,000 |
| Runners-Up |
$ 600,000 |
$1,100,000 |
| Semifinalists |
$ 280,000 |
$ 530,000 |
| Quarterfinalists |
$ 140,000 |
$ 265,000 |
| Round of 16 |
$ 72,000 |
$ 142,000 |
| Third Round |
$ 42,000 |
$ 82,000 |
| Second Round |
$ 26,500 |
$ 51,500 |
| First Round |
$ 16,500 |
$ 31,500 |
| TOTAL |
$ 12,144,000 |
$ 14,769,000 |
Andy Murray has entered the debate over the value of the tennis world rankings by questioning the Williams sisters’ interest in tournaments outside the grand slams.
The rise of Russian Dinara Safina to No 1 has raised the question of whether it is justifiable for a player without a grand slam title to be on top. Serena Williams has won three of the last four grand slam women’s singles titles, however she only stands at No. 2 in the WTA Tour standings. Men’s world No. 2 Murray, who has also still yet to win one of the four top tournaments in tennis, believes there would be little merit in raising the points on offer at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open just to ensure the winners of those events have a better chance of topping the rankings.
Murray understands why the issue is being discussed, and why there are varying views, but he is convinced the ranking systems as they stand have plenty of merit.
The Scot said:
“Do you not agree that it’s important for the top players like Serena to turn up at the other big events? “Tennis (has) an 11-month calendar. If you have ranking points which are too small for Serena to turn up at some of the smaller events, then all of a sudden the whole calendar is completely pointless and she can turn up — which is probably what she wants to do — at the four slams and play, and then not play for the rest of the year. And I think you have to be rewarded for consistency, and her consistency in slams is great, but in the other tournaments I don’t think it is.”
I love the consistency of womens tennis, but I still find it funny how you can have a match in which you win the first set 6-0 and then lose the next set 6-0!
Currently in the female game I think that there are still 3-4 key players who seem to be in the finals of every tournament they play, but I do think the depth of the womens game is getting a lot better of late. At this years US Open we have seen the return of Kim Clijsters (in which it is great to see her back on court), who has been playing very well and now finds herself in the quarterfinals. However, the point of this article is to discuss how in Kim’s last match she won the first set 6-0 against Venus Williams, but then quickly lost the next set 6-0. It is great to see that Kim sorted herself out to drive through the final set 6-4 to book her place in the quarterfinals. However, do these kind of results still show how hot and cold some women tennis can still be?
Tournament officials have warned players not to broadcast “inside information” via Twitter at this years US Open. Naturally, players complain about it via Twitter. I find it very funny that the US Open has warned players to not broadcast inside information on Twitter, as if most players are stupid enough to do this in the first place. I think Andy Roddick sums it up the best.
Twitter is pretty much just texting online which allows people from all over the world to listen to what you have to say. I cant really see how tournaments can stop players from Twittering in their spare time and even on court to a degree. Tennis is a professional sport and if you are on tour then you know that giving away inside information or betting on tennis could see you hit with serious consequences.
Plus if you aren’t already following The Tennis Times on Twitter then why the hell not!
