This loss should make her more humble

[Smart]

I don't think Prime Henin was better than Serena, but Serena's late career surge has obviously been aided by a terrible lack of competition.

Simona Halep has been solidly ranked #2 for a year now. Her men's analog is (at best) David Ferrer, and he's never gotten anywhere near #2.

 

[Liberal Icon]

serena is one dimensional, justine has the greatest "all court" game of all time.

2007, both in their prime, 3 slams, 3 different surfaces, justine wins all 3. beats both serena and venus on their home turf at the us open. that says it all. justine retired in 2008 ranked #1. hardly a shellacking.

"any true tennis observer?" lol. i have @ 50 tennis trophies sitting in my spare bedroom. you wouldn't get 2 games off me icon.

Serena is one-dimensional? And you claim you have 50 tennis trophies sitting in your spare bedroom? In their prime Justine was better than both Williams? That is as comical as it comes.

 

[Liberal Icon]

I don't think Prime Henin was better than Serena, but Serena's late career surge has obviously been aided by a terrible lack of competition.

Simona Halep has been solidly ranked #2 for a year now. Her men's analog is (at best) David Ferrer, and he's never gotten anywhere near #2.

Simona Halep like many followers of tennis know from different eras benefits from injuries and retirement to seasoned players. Everybody and his grand mother know that had Monica Seles not been stabbed by a deranged Steffi fan Steffi's story would have been completely different. Both Vika Azarenka and Maria Sharapova who all alternated as No.2 were besieged by injuries.

 

[Liberal Icon]

Does PF stand for professional football?

Stands for Politics Forum, sorry about that.

 

[gb2]

Are you serious? So you are bringing in the past. Most true tennis observers acknowledge that she has no peers when she is on her game and needs no excuses especially when you look at unforced errors. You don't win 21 grand slams in this era by being a slouch.

Yes I am serious. My response was to the title of the thread.
Maybe you didn't connect the dots.
Her accomplishments have nothing to do with my post.

 

[gb2]

Everybody and his grand mother know that had Monica Seles not been stabbed by a deranged Steffi fan Steffi's story would have been completely different.

Now who's bringing up the past?....hmmmm.

 

[Hs0022]

Everybody and his grand mother also have better grammar than you Liberal Bacon. Oh yeah had Monica not been stabbed then Steffi would have stuck around longer to get closer to the record that Court set and not retired at #3 at the top with nothing else to prove. The Golden Grand Slam my friend. That is what Serena needs to achieve to come close to Steffi. And I think the boat may have sailed for your darling oversized princess.

 

[Hs0022]

If not for the lack of any true competition Serena woukd notecen be in the equation for an argument for GOAT. She is cleaning up after the likes of Clijsters and Henin retired.

 

[desert heat]

If not for the lack of any true competition Serena woukd notecen be in the equation for an argument for GOAT. She is cleaning up after the likes of Clijsters and Henin retired.

clisters is going to have a couple more kids then comeback and win the open again.

 

[nuraman00]

clisters is going to have a couple more kids then comeback and win the open again.

That would be fun.

Or if she could win the FO.

She was so close in 2001, and made the Finals again in 2003.

 

[nuraman00]

I'm also not convinced that Seles would have maintained her pace.

There have been great players who have 2-3 great years where they win a lot of majors, but can't sustain it over a 6-8 year period.

Maybe she would have, maybe not, but it wasn't a guarantee.

Same with some of her wins against Graf between 1991 - 1993. Graf was 3-2 in that span (with 2 of Seles wins coming at majors). But rivalries sometimes work with one player winning a few in a row, then the other player winning a few in a row.

Seles was also beating top seeds after her return. It's not like she was washed up. She was beating Jana Novotna (#5) and Conchita Martinez (#4) in straight sets at the 1995 USO, with 3 of those sets being 6-2.

She beat # 4 Conchita Martinez again at the 1996 USO in straight sets.

She was the # 3 seed at the 1997 FO, and got to the SF. Good result. Lost a tight 3 setter to Hingis.

She was the # 2 seed at the 1997 USO. If she had been playing poorly, she wouldn't have been seeded so high. Got to the QF.

She was the # 6 seed at the 1998 FO and beat # 3 Novotna and # 1 Hingis. Lost in the Finals to Sanchez-Vicario. But again, playing well and beating top seeds.

Also had some decent runs and could beat some top players after that. But 1996 - 1999 were her best after her return.

 

[desert heat]

I'm also not convinced that Seles would have maintained her pace.

There have been great players who have 2-3 great years where they win a lot of majors, but can't sustain it over a 6-8 year period.

Maybe she would have, maybe not, but it wasn't a guarantee.

Same with some of her wins against Graf between 1991 - 1993. Graf was 3-2 in that span (with 2 of Seles wins coming at majors). But rivalries sometimes work with one player winning a few in a row, then the other player winning a few in a row.

Seles was also beating top seeds after her return. It's not like she was washed up. She was beating Jana Novotna (#5) and Conchita Martinez (#4) in straight sets at the 1995 USO, with 3 of those sets being 6-2.

She beat # 4 Conchita Martinez again at the 1996 USO in straight sets.

She was the # 3 seed at the 1997 FO, and got to the SF. Good result. Lost a tight 3 setter to Hingis.

She was the # 2 seed at the 1997 USO. If she had been playing poorly, she wouldn't have been seeded so high. Got to the QF.

She was the # 6 seed at the 1998 FO and beat # 3 Novotna and # 1 Hingis. Lost in the Finals to Sanchez-Vicario. But again, playing well and beating top seeds.

Also had some decent runs and could beat some top players after that. But 1996 - 1999 were her best after her return.

seles was not only stabbed, but also lost her father. she kind of lost her center after she came back and lost to graf at the USO.

 

[nuraman00]

seles was not only stabbed, but also lost her father. she kind of lost her center after she came back and lost to graf at the USO.

Good quotes about that here:

Monica Seles puts home on market, and reflects on tennis career - Real Estate


“My dad’s cancer was the biggest blow,” she said. “You think of your dad as being bulletproof. While he was battling that, I was battling my own eating addiction. He couldn’t eat, and I would eat for 10 of us. The combination of that put me into brutal depression, and on top of that I gained a lot of weight, and it started affecting my job and I started to get a lot of rough comments from people.

“When I took a break from my stabbing, I was 19. There was a heavy, heavy four or five years there” in the late 1990s. “It was pretty foggy.

“One thing that helped was getting back on the court and being on a schedule. I needed a schedule. My own depression, how I dealt with it was to not depend on anyone else. I wanted the tools to take care of it myself. You have to take care of yourself; no one else will.”

 

[nuraman00]

Another article:

Monica Seles - More Pain