1 in 8 men think they could score a point on Serena Williams in a tennis match

She's got to get an unforced error at some point, right?

I don't think it's impossible that an average tennis-playing man could steal a single point in a whole game.

I, as a non-tennis playing man, would get zero points.

Yeah she is unlikely to go 48 points without making an error.

The best players only win slightly over half of points.

Ranking Player Points Won/Total Win Percentage

1 Andy Murray 1738/3244) 53.6%

2 Novak Djokovic (1500/2832) 53.0%

3 Stan Wawrinka (1857/3603) 51.5%

4 Roger Federer (1921/3526) 54.5%

5 Rafael Nadal (2711/4927) 55.0%

6 Milos Raonic (1426/2705) 52.7%

7 Marin Cilic (1611/3072) 52.4%

8 Kei Nishikori (1793/3402) 52.7%

9 Dominic Thiem (2485/4784) 51.9%

10 David Goffin (2616/5008) 52.2%

- - AVERAGE 53.0%

I would think it should be higher.

The #1 boys tennis player at any HS with a halfway decent tennis program would mop the court with Serena.

This is not just my opinion. It's essentially a direct quote from John McEnroe back in the day, in reply to some idiot asking him how Serena and Venus would do if they played on the men's tour.

We are talking about normal men, 1 and 8 men don't even play tennis competitively.

99 of 100 runners here think they could run a fast ultramarathon.

So I am not surprised if men think they can beat Serena Williams.

Highly trained female athletes in any sport can beat 99% of males. For example, Athing Mu recently ran 49.68 for 400 meters. Outside of the male track athletes, who probably are about 1% of the male population, and perhaps a few other pro athletes in soccer, American football and basketball, few, if any, of the rest of the male population can run better than 49.68.

It's a different game... wrote:

The #1 boys tennis player at any HS with a halfway decent tennis program would mop the court with Serena.

This is not just my opinion. It's essentially a direct quote from John McEnroe back in the day, in reply to some idiot asking him how Serena and Venus would do if they played on the men's tour.

He didn't say that.

He said that Serena Williams might be #700 in the men's ranking. Which might be true. After all he is an expert in Tennis.

The John McEnroe of ultrarunning wrote:

It's a different game... wrote:

The #1 boys tennis player at any HS with a halfway decent tennis program would mop the court with Serena.

This is not just my opinion. It's essentially a direct quote from John McEnroe back in the day, in reply to some idiot asking him how Serena and Venus would do if they played on the men's tour.

He didn't say that.

He said that Serena Williams might be #700 in the men's ranking. Which might be true. After all he is an expert in Tennis.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/27/15879520/john-mcenroe-serena-williams-greatest-controversy

Yes, he did. I heard it live.

She may double fault a service point.

A match of tennis is very different than a game! A match of tennis is usually best out of three sets, or even best out of five sets! A game of tennis is the first to win four points, winning by 2!

It would matter a lot who got to serve if it was only a game. Even a guy with a decent serve as a recreational player would have a chance to win a point

Obviously if she was serving she would have a big chance to be anyone but a very skilled player without letting up a point

But in a match you're talkin about having to win 48 points so yeah obviously people are going to get a point here or there

I played a decent amount of tennis 15-20 years ago but running has taken over since. I wasn't that great even back then but I am pretty sure I could take a point in a match. No doubt she would blank me 6-0 & 6-0 but we are talking one point over a whole match. I would probably just swing to win every time and eventually hit one and hope she makes a mistake.

The language is maybe somewhat vague so that could confuse people. 1 point in a "game" (i.e. one person serving the whole time and you play to 4). If you can serve then you have a shot at an ace. If you can't serve you have a shot at a double fault (if you're not serving). No way 1 in 8 males pull that off. If it's one point in a "match" then it becomes a lot more likely. Still unlikely 1 in 8 could do it. But if you're taking the survey at a tennis club then maybe it's possible.

blue 7 wrote:

Highly trained female athletes in any sport can beat 99% of males. For example, Athing Mu recently ran 49.68 for 400 meters. Outside of the male track athletes, who probably are about 1% of the male population, and perhaps a few other pro athletes in soccer, American football and basketball, few, if any, of the rest of the male population can run better than 49.68.

Exactly.

How many hobby joggers on this board could compete with any of our elite females? Some moran might think because they were fast once in PE they would have a chance at winning any distance until reality sets in.

The first several hundred men in the tennis rankings are amazing players. I doubt if Serena would beat any of them in a match.

High school boys would all lose to her, unless that high school boy was a budding Roger Federer.

A lot of college team guys would lose to her, too, but the elite guys would beat her.

Most of the guys who start for college teams couldn't make the top 750 on the pro circuit.

Steffi Graf was ranked #124 when she was 13 years old. That 13 year old would have won a lot of boy's state titles in high school.

It’s inconceivable that I couldn’t win a point off her, in fact I’d put the over-under at like 10 points. I’ve played with a lot of D1 male tennis players, they’re not as good as Serena but pretty solid nonetheless (I won a tiebreak 7-5 against a guy who qualified for NCAAs a couple times). I serve as hard as about any woman in the game and all I’d have to do is go for broke (maybe serving 25%) but she’s not going to get back many 115 mph serves down the line or spinning out wide on the deuce court. I wouldn’t win many rallies but I could go for broke there too and again my hitting out on a forehand is as hard as pretty much any WTP player.

Hobby Jogger Fanny Pack wrote:

blue 7 wrote:

Highly trained female athletes in any sport can beat 99% of males. For example, Athing Mu recently ran 49.68 for 400 meters. Outside of the male track athletes, who probably are about 1% of the male population, and perhaps a few other pro athletes in soccer, American football and basketball, few, if any, of the rest of the male population can run better than 49.68.

Exactly.

How many hobby joggers on this board could compete with any of our elite females? Some moran might think because they were fast once in PE they would have a chance at winning any distance until reality sets in.

No, not “exactly.” The question isn’t about beating Serena or winning a match. It’s about scoring a single point in an entire match, which has 48 points assuming a 3 set match in which she wins the first two sets.

This would be equivalent of being able to run about 8m at Athing Mu’s pace for 400, or about 16-17m of her 800, which is only a touch faster than 60s/400 pace. Can about 1 out of 8 adult American men all-out sprint 16m at 60s/400 pace? I’d still say no, and it’s probably not close.