Queen of Tennis again asserts her claim as G.O.A.T

Ha Ha...she is a Jehovah's Witness. What a dumbas$.

Serena is the G.O.A.T. in my book but to surpass Court's record of 24 major titles, she's probably going to need to win at least 3 majors next year + stay healthy through the end of 2017. Not impossible, but I'd say the odds are against her. Really too bad she didn't have better results this year at the Australian, French & Wimbledon. Serena vs Li Na would have been very interesting at the Australian, I think Serena could have beaten Sharapova at the French, and Serena vs Kvitova at Wimbledon could have been one of the great matches of all time. Oh well.

Steffi Graf was better. Serena is all power. She wins because no one can hit the ball as hard as she can with the same accuracy (only a few can match her power, but not with the same consistency). But Steffi had it all. Power, touch, and versatility. She was just as effective on clay as she was on grass or hard court. Serena does not compare to Steffi on clay. Serena did not win the 2013 French as much as Sharapova gave it away with her lousy serve and errors. Neither play a true clay court game.

Precious Roy wrote:

Steffi Graf was better. Serena is all power. She wins because no one can hit the ball as hard as she can with the same accuracy (only a few can match her power, but not with the same consistency). But Steffi had it all. Power, touch, and versatility. She was just as effective on clay as she was on grass or hard court. Serena does not compare to Steffi on clay. Serena did not win the 2013 French as much as Sharapova gave it away with her lousy serve and errors. Neither play a true clay court game.

Tennis is a power game. You don't get points for playing the "right way". I personally agree with you that a blend of power and finesse makes for a better more interesting game, but that's not what wins in tennis these days. Maybe if they continue to slow down the ball.

Precious Roy wrote:

Steffi Graf was better. Serena is all power. She wins because no one can hit the ball as hard as she can with the same accuracy (only a few can match her power, but not with the same consistency). But Steffi had it all. Power, touch, and versatility. She was just as effective on clay as she was on grass or hard court. Serena does not compare to Steffi on clay. Serena did not win the 2013 French as much as Sharapova gave it away with her lousy serve and errors. Neither play a true clay court game.

I disagree. Steffi Graf had a strong serve, a great forehand and excellent movement, but she chipped her backhand pretty much exclusively. When Seles came along and hit big off of both sides, Graf didn't have an answer until that German nut job attacked Seles and put her out of commission.

I believe that Serena as she plays the game today is the best women's tennis player in history. Seles before she was attacked had the potential to reach that level, but her serve still needed work. Sharapova c.2004 also had the potential to play at a similar level, but injuries have prevented that from happening. Clijsters and Henin were also very good at times, but they didn't sustain their best tennis as long as Serena has. Petra Kvitova might have the potential to really challenge Serena on grass - we'll have to see. Li Na and Sam Stosur have had moments of greatness but haven't sustained them long enough to really be in the conversation.

Women's tennis prior to Graf wasn't the same game we watch today. Credit to Martina Navratilova for being able to adapt to the modern game and win a final Wimbledon title in 1990.

I'm not going to get into an argument about who's best, but I did think it was odd how often I heard this weekend that Serena had tied Evert and Navratilova without anyone, including CBS, mentioning that Graf has more Grand Slam wins...and Court has the most, if you include all of her Australian Open titles when no one else was going to Australia. It's not exactly "Journalistic" to omit major facts just for a photo op, is it?

lpd wrote:

Queen of Tennis again asserts her claim as G.O.A.T

Also, she is black. Black => Greatest

Thanks lpd

Hmm Comments wrote:

I'm not going to get into an argument about who's best, but I did think it was odd how often I heard this weekend that Serena had tied Evert and Navratilova without anyone, including CBS, mentioning that Graf has more Grand Slam wins...and Court has the most, if you include all of her Australian Open titles when no one else was going to Australia. It's not exactly "Journalistic" to omit major facts just for a photo op, is it?

CBS did make mention from time to time of Graf having the Open Era record of 22 major titles, but I'm not sure they mentioned Court at all. In men's tennis, the distinction between the eras is quite sharp, but that's not really the case in women's since there wasn't a major women's pro tour during the amateur era.

More troubling to me are Court's ugly remarks about homosexuality - see

for a relevant article. I'd like to see pressure put on the Australian Open to drop her name from their facility, but I don't see that happening.

Justin Henin got a lot of points for playing the right way. She was on track to chase Steffi's career, but her body gave out on her. Tennis is not a power game per se. On the women's side it has become a power game because they play only three sets and it is easier for coaches and tennis academies to identify big strong players early and give them a lot of attention than to try to find someone who can really master all aspects of the game. Women should play 5 sets. That would turn it into more of an endurance game like the men's side. Longer rallies, more incentive to go to net, etc. Not a stupid smash and scream fest like the current women's game.

Her personal views on gays and gay marriage shouldn't get her name taken from The Australian Open or anything else. She is entitled to them and to speak them, just as I am for saying that the views she has as a Pentecostal minister are complete and utter BS. Pentecostals are notorious for their dramatic "experiences" with God. They are truly foolish, really. So, yes Margaret Court should be allowed to speak freely, as I am when I say, "Fvck you Margarte Court...Fvck you and your 'God'".

get used to it. wrote:

Her personal views on gays and gay marriage shouldn't get her name taken from The Australian Open or anything else. She is entitled to them and to speak them, just as I am for saying that the views she has as a Pentecostal minister are complete and utter BS. Pentecostals are notorious for their dramatic "experiences" with God. They are truly foolish, really. So, yes Margaret Court should be allowed to speak freely, as I am when I say, "Fvck you Margarte Court...Fvck you and your 'God'".

Margaret Court can say whatever she wants, but nothing forces the Australian Open to contribute to her renown and implicitly make her bigotry seem more acceptable.

Anyway, perhaps more in the spirit of your point, I'd love to see Casey Dellacqua win a major match in Margaret Court Arena and make some appropriately pointed remark about the ugliness of Ms Court's views.

Do you ever stop trolling. Please tell me that you celebrated Steffi Graf's run of titles too. Oh yeah she is Nordic looking and must be a drug cheat. But Serena with arms like a man and the bulk of man is clean. Also don't say that is the way she is built, look up Youtube and watch her first win. Or better yet look at her sister.

Drugs,Drugs,Drugs! wrote:

Do you ever stop trolling. Please tell me that you celebrated Steffi Graf's run of titles too. Oh yeah she is Nordic looking and must be a drug cheat. But Serena with arms like a man and the bulk of man is clean. Also don't say that is the way she is built, look up Youtube and watch her first win. Or better yet look at her sister.

Serena is built like her mom, Venus is built like her dad. That was true when Serena won her first US Open in 1999 and it remains true now. And yes, Serena is bigger at 32 than she was at 17. What's your point?

Also, yes, Steffi Graf was a fine player. In my opinion, Monica Seles at the time she was stabbed was a better player than Graf ever became. I think Serena now is better than Graf at her best. I don't know how Serena now would have stacked up against Seles had Seles never been attacked and had continued to progress as a player.

Precious Roy wrote:

Justin Henin got a lot of points for playing the right way. She was on track to chase Steffi's career, but her body gave out on her. Tennis is not a power game per se.

That's what happens when less physical players try to keep up with the big babes. Same thing happened to Lleyton Hewitt on the men's side. Unless you can take some of the power out of the game, it will always be that way.

[/quote]

On the women's side it has become a power game because they play only three sets and it is easier for coaches and tennis academies to identify big strong players early and give them a lot of attention than to try to find someone who can really master all aspects of the game. Women should play 5 sets. That would turn it into more of an endurance game like the men's side. Longer rallies, more incentive to go to net, etc. Not a stupid smash and scream fest like the current women's game.[/quote]

Disagree. Breaks are very rare on the men's side. Men's tennis is much worse than women's right now. Modern raquets have damaged the game and what we have now is an inherently less appealing game.

Somewhat ironically, as a squash player, modern raquets have improved our game. In the wooden racquet era, squash was a boring defensive game. The new racquets gave it an appealing blend of offense and defense.

Serena is the most muscular player I have seen in the WTA ever. It is no wonder she can hit the ball so hard. I cringe though thinking of how big (fat) she will get when her playing days are over.

Serena is also a fierce competitor. Few can match her competitiveness. She is also a gifted athlete. I want to like her, especially since her and Wozniaki are friends, and I love Caroline, but half the time Serena comes off as a "B".

I do like Venus however. Both sisters were very cocky as teenagers, but Venus seems to have genuine lost that. Serena just seems like she is masking it.

Precious Roy wrote:Women should play 5 sets.

Women should step up from the heptathlon in track to the decathlon.

In tennis, men & women should both play 3 sets. I no longer watch tennis (or baseball for that matter) on TV partly because 5 sets is too boring!

You have a point on Seles. Seles was beating Graf on all surfaces except Wimbledon until the whackadoo Gunther Plaut stabbed her.

hitting the ball with power and accuracy pretty much defines the name of the game. She's not a finesse player. What is clear is that she's among the greats of all time and that when she has been serious about the game, which was not always the case in her earlier years, she has been absolutely dominant, even with her sister to contend with. Maybe she refreshed her batteries by taking some tourneys off in those years and lasted longer on the circuit as a result, but she'd have blown well past 20 by now if not for those lapses. This late career resurgence has been incredible. Physically, she is just far superior to any other women's tennis player in history, other than Venus.