Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open, Melbourne, Main Draw - Hard

Jan · Hall of fame

Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open, Melbourne, Main Draw - Hard

tharris · Intermediate Club Player

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better final outside of having British involvement. Naomi is such an exciting talent and Petra is such a lovely woman. This is the first time since Federer's first Wimbledon title in '03 that I feel like I've witnessed a changing of the guard in the ATP or WTA.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Not really sure where this should go, but I can't remember a time when there was so much young talent that have either arrived or are arriving at the same time.

Osaka, 21 - #1, just put together back to back slams
Sabalenka, 20 - Would probably have got as many points as anyone from Eastbourne to Shenzhen 2019 and will officially enter the top 10 on Monday
Kenin, 20 - Won her first title earlier this year, at a career high 37 (prob higher after AO)
Yastremska - was obviously soundly beaten by Serena, but won a WTA title last year, 3rd round of Aussie Open, will enter top 50
Anisimova,17- Got to a WTA final last year, one of the stories of the AO
Potapova, 17 - Got to 2 WTA finals last year and won a match at the AO
Andreescu, 18 - Will have won as many matches as anyone thus far in 2019. WTA final, won a match at the AO and now into a final of a WTA 125k event - rapidly climbing the rankings
Swiatek, 17 - Had solid 2nd half of 2018, qualified and won a match at the AO and has a genuine chance of crashing the top 100 by Wimbledon to save a potential WC

Then there's the likes of Vondrousova (seems to have stalled a bit recently, but still just 19), Kostyuk (likewise, but amazingly still just 16), Danilovic 17 (won a WTA title last year) + other former juniors like Juvan, Xiyu/Xinyu, Liu, Osiugwe etc. making inroads.

It's an exciting time for the WTA and with all of these continuing their development, it's surely just going to get better.

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

tharris wrote:
I honestly couldn't have asked for a better final outside of having British involvement. Naomi is such an exciting talent and Petra is such a lovely woman. This is the first time since Federer's first Wimbledon title in '03 that I feel like I've witnessed a changing of the guard in the ATP or WTA.

Really, I still feel that Serena is Queen, it's just that she hurt her ankle when she was 5-1 up in the third.

SuperT · Futures qualifying

Helen40 wrote:
tharris wrote:
I honestly couldn't have asked for a better final outside of having British involvement. Naomi is such an exciting talent and Petra is such a lovely woman. This is the first time since Federer's first Wimbledon title in '03 that I feel like I've witnessed a changing of the guard in the ATP or WTA.
Really, I still feel that Serena is Queen, it's just that she hurt her ankle when she was 5-1 up in the third.

What's great about the women's game at the moment is the strength in depth. Any one of the top ten is capable of winning a slam and that doesn't include any of AV's list of teenagers on the rise, nor the likes of Muguruza, Ostapenko, Sharapova, Azarenka, all of whom have great pedigree. I think the days of cruising through to the latter stages are long gone, and the problem for Serena now is that she has to beat 4 or 5 top top players if she's to win another slam.

flamingowings · All-time great

SuperT wrote:
Helen40 wrote:
tharris wrote:
I honestly couldn't have asked for a better final outside of having British involvement. Naomi is such an exciting talent and Petra is such a lovely woman. This is the first time since Federer's first Wimbledon title in '03 that I feel like I've witnessed a changing of the guard in the ATP or WTA.
Really, I still feel that Serena is Queen, it's just that she hurt her ankle when she was 5-1 up in the third.
What's great about the women's game at the moment is the strength in depth. Any one of the top ten is capable of winning a slam and that doesn't include any of AV's list of teenagers on the rise, nor the likes of Muguruza, Ostapenko, Sharapova, Azarenka, all of whom have great pedigree. I think the days of cruising through to the latter stages are long gone, and the problem for Serena now is that she has to beat 4 or 5 top top players if she's to win another slam.

Yes, what used to work for Serena (playing a limited schedule and turning up for slams to win them) is definitely not helping her now because she will eventually get found out and exposed - this is what happened at Wimbledon 2018, when she had the kindest draw and then got blown away by Kerber. I also think there is psychological pressure on Serena - partly her own/the WTA narrative of motherhood and equaling/beating Court's record which won't be helping either. Lastly, and a bit like Federer, she is running on limited time due to age. She will find it harder and harder to get through and win another slam now that there are plenty of women who feel little fear when playing her and can beat her. Even if the ankle and subsequent choking away a massive lead didn't happen, Osaka would have beaten Serena.