Has Women's Tennis Found A Successful Trio?

The WTA Tour Championship isn’t as glamorous or widely followed as the Grand Slams, but out of the WTA tours of the year this tournament ranks just below the grand slams, both in terms of level of competition & the quality of players participating. The last week at Istanbul has offered a slice of what the best in women’s tennis can offer. Unlike the previous year, which had 8 different finalists for the 4 grand slams & the WTA championship, 2012 has had only 5 different names for this bracket of tournaments, and two out of those 5 will vie for the final hurrah of this season later today.

A 4^th round Australian Open exit and a round-1 shock defeat at the French Open had critics/onlookers suggest Serena Williams about retirement, and not being competitive enough on the circuit. Since the Paris tour things have turned upside down, literally - Wimbledon glory, Olympics gold, US Open win and in the process becoming the only player in the history (male or female) to complete a Career Golden Grand Slam in both the singles and doubles! With 15 grand slam titles she is an undoubted legend of women’s tennis and this year has been extra special for her.

Drop Singles & Focus On Doubles Only!

1 WTA & 14 ITF after 8.5 years of turning pro aren’t numbers you would associate with great players, but coming from a country like India (which isn’t reputed for tennis talent) that is a decent achievement. Though Sania Mirza may not stand anyway near the likes of Serena, Venus, she can proudly carry the tag of being India’s only player in those disciplines at the highest level. Plagued by injuries to parts of the body which are key to performance - wrist, back & knee, she is contemplating on giving up playing singles altogether. At the same time there is a big news doing rounds from her camp that she might partner Bob Bryan (no. 1 ranked doubles player) during the Australian Open of 2013!

Certain media reports suggest that Bob has confirmed the news of his pairing with Sania. A career illuminating with 12 doubles Grand Slams and 7 mixed doubles Grand Slams has a strange void - hasn’t won the Australian Open with a female partner! At 34, he isn’t getting younger and the number of chances to redeem glory at Melbourne aren’t increasing. On face value it might appear that Bob is risking a gamble partnering Sania for a tournament he wants to desperately win, for 2012 has been a forgettable year for Sania. A closer look at Sania’s doubles recent history would suggest otherwise.

Has Sharapova Under-Achieved?

Barring the grunt there is probably nothing you dislike about the tennis superstar Maria Sharapova. Oozing with glamour, backed with a career slam and standing tall as a role-model there aren’t too many things she would like to tinker with looking back. There is one thing though which a Sharapova fan, if not herself, would like change - her tennis career stats!

It could intrigue the reader that such a statement comes on the back of a French Open win and an Olympics silver medal; and rightly so. Let me try and back that with a point of view. Serena Williams has been the best player on the circuit, overall, in the last 5-6 years or so. In her 17 year old career (since turning pro) she has had 15 slams to her name across the board; has participated in 161 tournaments making it 59 finals and winning 45 out of them! She has been at the top of the rankings for 123 weeks, which is almost a third of the best (Steffi Graf with 377 weeks), yet that is almost twice the next best amongst current players.

A Mismanaged Promise

The title may suggest this write-up as a one which instructs or tries to draw conclusions, but let me clarify that neither does this piece intend to do that nor is this penned for the sake of it.

A couple of days after the incredible night of 2^nd April 2011, India & Indians were struck by Anna Hazare and his colleagues. The support was infectious, age was no bar, job status didn’t matter and most of the 1.2 billion Indians thought this was the ‘change’ everybody wanted with the Indian system. You felt that this was the moment when fantasies could realize, India would be devoid of any black money stashed abroad and life could be different. It was euphoric, it was unprecedented, it was fantastic and it was real! Today, the media has a strong influence the way and amount of stories they cover and present; as the movement came about suddenly the media didn’t have time to prepare for it. Primetime debates were occupied by unstoppable chatter about the movement, the characters involved and the legislation desired. The support strength quickly grew from a few hundreds to a few thousands to a few millions! I liked the campaigned, believed in it, but wanted to wait and watch.

India's Olympic Dream!

Over the next fortnight or so 81 Indian athletes will compete in London, a few thousand Indians will root for them at the stadiums, and about a billion in India will have overwhelming hopes pinned up! There are reasons to believe why these 2 weeks could be the game changer for sports in India - not only do we have a the largest contingent in our history, we also have athletes with realistic medal-winning possibilities. Indian participation at the Olympics now is ‘expected’ to win medals and not ‘hope-to-do-so’, the build-up has been injury-free and there is a buzz about the contingent.

There would be a few who wouldn’t want to believe the rosy side of the story, and rightly so. India has a track record of less than a medal at an Olympic, India’s highest tally is 3 at a single edition and India has participation at only 50% events that would be organized at London. Realistically we don't have too many out of the 81 with a strong medal contention. Given India’s history at the games, there would a few who would support the athletes only once they notch up numbers on the medals tally. South Africa’s sports minister bid their contingent expecting 12 medals, we are left to wonder whether Ajay Maken would really want to predict a number.

Women's Tennis Has A Few Questions To Answer!

Gilles Simon generated quite a flutter with his seemingly outrageous comments on women’s tennis. The reaction to that statement was weighed towards opposition and rejection of what Simon had to say and propose. Serena Williams went onto win her 5^th Wimbledon which has resulted in Victoria Azarenka sitting at the pedestal on WTA rankings. In the last 5 years the numero uno ranking has fluctuated 17 times between 9 players. Out of the 21 slams during that period we have witnessed 12 different champions! During th last 5 years there have been 3 occasions when the player on the pedestal didn’t have a slam to her name. Serena Williams has won the most slams during this period with 6 titles, but managed to stay at the top of the table for only 66 weeks during the last 5 years. She has been off the number one ranking for about a year and a half now.

These are too erratic stats for a sport! Either they suggest extensive close competition or too much fluctuation; those following women’s tennis would vehemently pick the latter option. Simon’s thoughts appear sexist and outrageous for the way they were articulated, but what we can draw from it is the concern of quality tennis from the women’s circuit. If anybody is suggesting lack of effort from the women players or less work more pays kind of thing, then that demands opposition as was the case with Simon’s statement.

Grass & Clay = Chalk & Cheese, eh?

Barely a fortnight separates the two, the seeded players too aren’t very different, the continent doesn’t change, yet for some reason the two non-hard court slams have a trend of producing different champions! The change of surface could be the major reason, or the suitability of certain players to certain conditions or simply a coincidence.

Let us scroll down ‘recent history’ to explore this occurrence! Since the year 2000 only thrice has the Wimbledon and French Open had the same men’s single champion - 2008 & 2010 (Nadal), 2009 (Federer). Nadal’s early ouster from this year’s Wimbledon came as a shocker, yet there have been instances of the French Open champion bowing out early at London - Gustavo Kuerten (R3 - 2000), Juan Carlos Ferrero (R4 - 2003), Rafael Nadal (R2 - 2005).

Sania's Stance Is Valid, But Can We Move On?

Fierce shot, strong return, cheeky drop shot, helpless leave and a brutal serve is what Bhupathi, Paes, Bopanna, AITA officials and Sania respectively have had to offer over the last couple of weeks; all in the verbal sense of it! The Olympics are barely a month away and at a time when India is about to send its largest contingent for tennis, here we are debating and analyzing what the players have to say about each other and about the governing body, rather than discussing their skills and potential ability to win medals. Each of the enlisted entity have had its elaborate share of washing dirty linen in public and the latest to that is India’s highest ranked ‘female’ tennis player.

So is Sania’s stance appropriate? Does that add to the muddle that has already swelled to a point of embarrassment? For starters Sania’s views are well timed and hence appear more than genuine; she spoke only after her entry into the Olympics was confirmed. If you read the entire transcript completely you will realize that her position has been well advocated, exaggerating the language only wherever it should be (the part about male chauvinism). The quotes sparked off sharp responses from many, including those who aren’t her fans, the consensus endorsing her dissent about the kind of treatment that was dished out.

Beauty & Her Crown Of Jewels!

Though she makes you switch on the mute button of your TV, though she doesn’t quite make for exemplary tennis but it would be a hard exercise to list tennis viewers who don’t like to watch her play! She’s loved by millions, emerged as teen prodigy, an advertiser’s dream and the career slam achieved at Paris splashes the cream on a delightful career.

Her tennis career has fluctuated more than the crude oil prices over the last few years, yet there is something about her which makes her fans support with unperturbed zest. A major injury hampered her potential growth as a superpower in the women’s circuit after a dream debut, but since last year you can see her getting back to where it began; both in terms of unperturbed determination to win and the brand of tennis.

The Fine Line Between Good & Very Good!

Every sport has its flagship tourney, which is meant to test the best and showcase the rest! Likewise the 4 Grand Slams provide the opportunity to top ranked tennis players to compete with the best and exhibit their skills in front of a large pool of audience. The French Open of 2012 has had each of the above-mentioned attribute: the top seeds have been tested and the fringe top seeds have had their opportunity to command applause and admiration.

Sports fans/commentators/viewers often speak up a clichéd thought - ‘may the best player win’. In every discipline you find sportsmen who are separated by a thin line of quality which defines that ‘best’ in the above statement. This week’s tennis has reiterated this fine line between the good and the very good. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic & Roger Federer are outstanding bearers of the tennis racquet, though each one of them is at a different stage of his individual career. While Nadal is almost a clay court perfectionist, Djokovic & Federer have customized their game to meet the needs. Yet a common thread that knits the 3 into a single bracket is of that their ‘never-say-die’ attitude!

Indian Sports Need Identity Not Comparison

A hat-trick of world championship in a sport that invariably everyone at some point of time would have attempted their hands at - chess, is a phenomenal achievement by an outstanding individual. No dancing around or punching the air or visible over the moon celebrations but an honourable acceptance of victory and the innocent-like, infectious smile followed. What followed in the public and media though was a sense of immense respect and quite but humble joy; alas like it has happened throughout - these sentiments made way only for the day Anand won the title.

The following day sms and online polls were asking people whether Anand is the greatest Indian sportsperson ever or whether he deserves the Bharat Ratna more than Sachin etc. TV experts and sports slots were vehemently expressing the comparison of the hat-trick win to the World Cup win by the cricket team last year. You almost get a sense of déjà vu when you try and recreate the above set of events; Sania Mirza’s endorsement deals were compared, Saina Nehwal’s popularity was compared and the list can go on.