OT: Serena Williams

[CamrnCrz1974]

Here is how utterly dominant Serena has been against the best women's tennis has to offer:

• The No. 2-ranked Li is now 1-11 against Williams.
• No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska is 0-8.
• No. 4 Victoria Azarenka is 3-14.
• No. 7 Sharapova is 2-16.

It all adds up to a combined record of 49-6 -- a winning percentage of 89 percent.

 

[Vowelguy]

Nice. If she tries a little harder, perhaps she can approach UConn's level.

 

[EricLA]

Love Serena.

But also I'm encouraged by the young crop of US women tennis players. For a long time it seemed like there was only Venus and Serena, and then no one else even in the top 100.

But Sloane Stephens is in the top 15 or so, and Keys, Hampton, Riske, Lepchenko, Mattek, Davis and McHale are all in the top 60.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Here is how utterly dominant Serena has been against the best women's tennis has to offer:

• The No. 2-ranked Li is now 1-11 against Williams.
• No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska is 0-8.
• No. 4 Victoria Azarenka is 3-14.
• No. 7 Sharapova is 2-16.

It all adds up to a combined record of 49-6 -- a winning percentage of 89 percent.

FACTS

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

The last time Sharapova beat Serena was December 2004, and in that match, Serena was injured (got an injury after being up 4-0 or 4-1 in the third set and lost the match as a result).

Here is another stat for you...Serena is 17-4 in Grand Slam Finals. Think about that...she wins the biggest tournaments 80.9 percent of the time she is in the final. Graf was 22-9 (71 percent). Navratilova was 18-14 (56 percent). Evert was 18-16 (53 percent).

Serena: 17 GS Titles
Top Players: 30 GS Titles
(Sharapova - 4; Azarenka - 2; Li Na - 2; Davenport - 3; Hingis - 5; Henin - 7; Clijsters - 4; Capriati - 3)
Her biggest rivals (not named Venus) over the course of 1999 (first GS Slam) until 2014 have a total of 30 GS titles, while she has 17 by herself. And it takes the top four of them (Hingis, Henin, Clijsters, and Sharapova) to reach 20, while she has 17 by herself. Three of those players are already in the Tennis Hall of Fame!!!!!

Hmmm...winning all the time on the biggest stage? Kind of like having a great record in the Final Four or being 8-0 in national championship games. I wonder what other athlete or sports team has that kind of record...

 

[JRRRJ]

The last time Sharapova beat Serena was December 2004, and in that match, Serena was injured (got an injury after being up 4-0 or 4-1 in the third set and lost the match as a result).

Here is another stat for you...Serena is 17-4 in Grand Slam Finals. Think about that...she wins the biggest tournaments 80.9 percent of the time she is in the final. Graf was 22-9 (71 percent). Navratilova was 18-14 (56 percent). Evert was 18-16 (53 percent).

Serena: 17 GS Titles
Top Players: 30 GS Titles
(Sharapova - 4; Azarenka - 2; Li Na - 2; Davenport - 3; Hingis - 5; Henin - 7; Clijsters - 4; Capriati - 3)
Her biggest rivals (not named Venus) over the course of 1999 (first GS Slam) until 2014 have a total of 30 GS titles, while she has 17 by herself. And it takes the top four of them (Hingis, Henin, Clijsters, and Sharapova) to reach 20, while she has 17 by herself. Three of those players are already in the Tennis Hall of Fame!!!!!

Hmmm...winning all the time on the biggest stage? Kind of like having a great record in the Final Four or being 8-0 in national championship games. I wonder what other athlete or sports team has that kind of record...

I believe Serena is the best big match singles player the women have had since I became aware of the sport.

But I must point out that the three women you mentioned from the previous era would have had much better records in the Grand Slams if they didn't play each other so often -- especially Chrissy & Martina. Not to mention Graf vs. Seles (who would also be on the list if she hadn't been stabbed).

And Serena saves herself for the Masters & GS matches. Despite her incredible talent, she has only won 59 singles (3+/year) and 22 doubles titles. Graf is 3rd at 107 singles (7-), Chrissy 2nd at 157 (9+) and Martina leads with 167 (8+). Don't even think about doubles dominance when Navratilova is in the discussion.

Serena dominates her era in the big events. I really wish we'd had an opportunity to see how/if Steffi or Monica would have coped with her game.