I think Steffi and Margaret Court may have something to say about that.
Maybe Margaret Court will team up with Martina to present the special award if Serena hits 24 at the Aussie open in 2017! I bet they would get on like a house on fire.:D
So no more women's grand slam tennis until January 19th 2015.:( see ya in Melbourne!
Good for Serena that she's salvaged her 2014, although few would have thought she'd only win the one slam this year. Her victory in New York reaffirms the fact that she's still the best, as if there was any doubt.
Always a bit sad when the slams are over, but there's still some good tournaments to look forward to and storylines to follow until season end. The year flew!
Maybe Margaret Court will team up with Martina to present the special award if Serena hits 24 at the Aussie open in 2017! I bet they would get on like a house on fire.:D
So no more women's grand slam tennis until January 19th 2015.:( see ya in Melbourne!
I hate how they make such a big deal about the money. It's tacky.
First time I saw one of their presentation ceremonies I was so shocked by it. It still jars, and I feel it lets down the tournament that it finished with focus on the money, rather than the glory.
Well done to Serena. I'd have liked Caroline to get the win, but she's had a great tournament and I'm happy for Serena to get to 18.
Does Serena age? Christ she's 7 weeks younger than Federer and he looks so ordinary nowadays compared to his 04-09 era, yet Serena still plays like she's 23.
I'm assuming she has no interest having children so we'll probably seeing her at 45 still winning majors quite possibly.
The women's game is so much weaker than the men's anyway.
Federer has basically followed the pattern of past dominant in their 20's male singles players where they started to slip from near total supremacy approaching 30 and the same will happen to Nadal and Djokovic e.g. too.
Don't think for a moment that Nadal or Djokovic will win at least 4 grand slam titles in their 30's. They could both win 2 apiece in their 30's along with Murray which would match Connors and Agassi in the over 30's grand slam title achievement stakes.
I don't think Nadal will pick up 12 or 13 French Open titles. Surely a second defeat at Roland Garros for Nadal is due within the next 2 years.
Nadsl and Djokovic will be increasingly relying on performing on impulse to get deep in the grand slam events as opposed to getting to the final nearly every time just by clicking their fingers.
this little exchange from Tennis.com made me laugh
One more. That's all I want. 19. Stand alone at number 2. I just don't know if 23 is realistic, so 19 and anything past that is gravy baby. Let's do this.
Judy didn't look much of a prospect on Strictly. I bet she wanted some hot male totty and got Anton instead.
LOL My thoughts exactly.
I don't think I'm going to watch the mens' final. It's been a rough week healthwise so it's not worth risking getting worse by staying up half the night.
Don't mind who wins though maybe Cilic, just for Goran.
Well done Serena, brilliant hard-court season, just like Maria's clay-court one before the French, show winning in other tournaments helps I feel.
Well what a weird female Grand-slam year that was. 8 different finalists, 8 different nationalities, and when all said and done the best player reaffirmed herself as the best, after an indifferent year.
Have to say, felt very mixed, and I would like a bit more consistency next year. Variety is good, and we had thrilling first weeks in all the Slams, but in the end that meant the second weeks were often dull. Three people won their slams without meeting a top-10 player (Petra and Li Na didn't beat one all year in all comps, yet anyway), in the other one she met one, which was probably the match of the year. Yet without upsets she'd have been out by then. I think Serena would have won whomever she met BTW, such was her form before and during the USOpen, but we might have had a match against Petra or Ana.
So I love the randomness, but tone it down a bit next year please;-)
Oh and Kvitova will remain the only person born in the nineties to win a slam, either Wta or ATP:o
Slight cheat though, as Kei was born December 29th 1989.
Another thing about past multiple grand slam champions allegedly had to beat a few fellow multiple grand slam champions to earn each and every grand slam title they won?
I made a refernce to this. I wasn't arguing that it makes the current era weaker necessarily but some could. I did balance that by saying the current era may have greater strength in depth.
Exactly how many fellow multiple grand slam champions did Sampras beat to win some of his Wimbledon titles, and indeed in some of his other grand slam successes away from Wimbledon?.
Sampras is just one player. Lendl, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, etc had to contend with each other quite often.
I agree, however, that it's all just speculation. Also, as you say, the others all suffered GS defeats at their peaks to comparative non-entities while Federer didn't.
Does Serena age? Christ she's 7 weeks younger than Federer and he looks so ordinary nowadays compared to his 04-09 era, yet Serena still plays like she's 23.
Ordinarily we shouldn't expect a 32-year old woman to still be as dominant as Serena still is. However, I would speculate that it is theoretically easier for a woman to win GS's at her age than a man., especially looking at the current men's game. It's amazing that Federer is still able to get to the odd semi-final and final.
Also, I would say of Serena that her GS record this year was poor except for the US and that might be a sign of things to come. I.e., we should not expect more than one GS win per year from now on. She obviously likes the US Open though.:)
@jon_wertheim To be clear: USTA didn’t kill Super Saturday for nothing. Had to pay CBS a huge fee ($6m, I’m told) for ratings consequence of Monday final
Jon Wertheim @jon_wertheim · Sep 6 @jschaff USTA was stuck. Top players and ATP hated Super Saturday. (Used their leverage and got day off before final)
I'm sure CBS is thrilled with this men's final today...
I don't think I'm going to watch the mens' final. It's been a rough week healthwise so it's not worth risking getting worse by staying up half the night.
Don't mind who wins though maybe Cilic, just for Goran.
So sorry you are having a rough time Tally. Life is a bummer.
Hoping for a Nishikori win, but don't mind if Cilic does it. As much as Im gutted Federer isn't through, I quite like the fact we have two new names in a GS final
I agree with this. The big names are the ones who pull the casual viewers in, because they know who they are for a start
I am looking forward to it, I really hope Kei wins.
According to Ben Rothenberg on twitter, he says there's no Croatian media at the Open and another tweeter posted that Cilic matches (or any matcheso the US Open) aren't even shown in Croatia :o.
Comments
Maybe Margaret Court will team up with Martina to present the special award if Serena hits 24 at the Aussie open in 2017! I bet they would get on like a house on fire.:D
So no more women's grand slam tennis until January 19th 2015.:( see ya in Melbourne!
Always a bit sad when the slams are over, but there's still some good tournaments to look forward to and storylines to follow until season end. The year flew!
LOL
Well done to Serena. I'd have liked Caroline to get the win, but she's had a great tournament and I'm happy for Serena to get to 18.
Unlucky for Caro, hopefully she uses this tournament as a stepping stone to making the big breakthrough for GS title.
Onwards to the men's final, rooting for Kei but not that fussed if Marin wins.
Hope it's a good match.
The women's game is so much weaker than the men's anyway.
Federer has basically followed the pattern of past dominant in their 20's male singles players where they started to slip from near total supremacy approaching 30 and the same will happen to Nadal and Djokovic e.g. too.
Don't think for a moment that Nadal or Djokovic will win at least 4 grand slam titles in their 30's. They could both win 2 apiece in their 30's along with Murray which would match Connors and Agassi in the over 30's grand slam title achievement stakes.
I don't think Nadal will pick up 12 or 13 French Open titles. Surely a second defeat at Roland Garros for Nadal is due within the next 2 years.
Nadsl and Djokovic will be increasingly relying on performing on impulse to get deep in the grand slam events as opposed to getting to the final nearly every time just by clicking their fingers.
Kudos to tennisfan2331 for such a good metaphor
I don't think I'm going to watch the mens' final. It's been a rough week healthwise so it's not worth risking getting worse by staying up half the night.
Don't mind who wins though maybe Cilic, just for Goran.
Well what a weird female Grand-slam year that was. 8 different finalists, 8 different nationalities, and when all said and done the best player reaffirmed herself as the best, after an indifferent year.
Have to say, felt very mixed, and I would like a bit more consistency next year. Variety is good, and we had thrilling first weeks in all the Slams, but in the end that meant the second weeks were often dull. Three people won their slams without meeting a top-10 player (Petra and Li Na didn't beat one all year in all comps, yet anyway), in the other one she met one, which was probably the match of the year. Yet without upsets she'd have been out by then. I think Serena would have won whomever she met BTW, such was her form before and during the USOpen, but we might have had a match against Petra or Ana.
So I love the randomness, but tone it down a bit next year please;-)
Oh and Kvitova will remain the only person born in the nineties to win a slam, either Wta or ATP:o
Slight cheat though, as Kei was born December 29th 1989.
I made a refernce to this. I wasn't arguing that it makes the current era weaker necessarily but some could. I did balance that by saying the current era may have greater strength in depth.
Sampras is just one player. Lendl, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, etc had to contend with each other quite often.
I agree, however, that it's all just speculation. Also, as you say, the others all suffered GS defeats at their peaks to comparative non-entities while Federer didn't.
I don't see why not. She's 24. In recent years, apart from Kvitova and Azarenka, most women GS winners have been in their late 20s.
Certainly there's no disgrace in losing to Serena in a GS final.
Ordinarily we shouldn't expect a 32-year old woman to still be as dominant as Serena still is. However, I would speculate that it is theoretically easier for a woman to win GS's at her age than a man., especially looking at the current men's game. It's amazing that Federer is still able to get to the odd semi-final and final.
Also, I would say of Serena that her GS record this year was poor except for the US and that might be a sign of things to come. I.e., we should not expect more than one GS win per year from now on. She obviously likes the US Open though.:)
I don't expect her to reach 22. My prediction is 1-2 more slams at most.
My thoughts too. I think he might find getting to 10 tricky, same way Serena did getting to 18. But if he does get to 10 I think that will be it.
Yes. I'd say 20 tops.
I'm sure CBS is thrilled with this men's final today...
I don't mean to be cruel to the finalists, but it does seem more of a fourth round match than the final.
As for CBS, their ratings won't be sky high tonight....... not really the final they desired!
I agree with this. The big names are the ones who pull the casual viewers in, because they know who they are for a start
I am looking forward to it, I really hope Kei wins.
According to Ben Rothenberg on twitter, he says there's no Croatian media at the Open and another tweeter posted that Cilic matches (or any matcheso the US Open) aren't even shown in Croatia