Power Struggle
Almost every child who grew up during the Hulkamania craze that swept America could remember the demandments that Hulk Hogan espoused: "train, eat your vitamins and say your prayers." The women on the WTA tour seemed to have listened to these words. From all Women's Grand Slam tournaments since the U.S. Open in 1999 to the Australian Open in 2007, eleven different women have won the 30 slams. What does this mean for women's tennis?
Improvements in technology, better coaching methods and more prize money have ushered in the new era of women's tennis: the newest power era. Sure, many of you are thinking that the power era in women's tennis has been around for a few years, but this is a different kind of power era. In the 'Sister, sister' era with Venus and Serena Williams, rarely was there a calendar year in which they did not win at least two of the slams. In fact, in the 30 slams played since the U.S. Open in 1999, the Williams sisters have won 13 of them. For a long time, nobody was able to keep up with the Williams dynasty. In the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments however, the Williams sisters won only 3 If this isn't an indicator of the new power era, then I don't know what is. The Williams sisters made their opponents cry 'Uncle' in many slams.Women's tennis has changed because the 'Joneses' have kept up; the 'Joneses' being Justin Henin, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters. The Williams sisters ushered in the renewed dominance of power-players in women's tennis in an age of rising revenues, endorsements and cover-girls, but the recent trend shows an increase in the number of quality power-players on the women's tour. Since Svetlana Kuznetsova's triumph at Flushing Meadows in 2004, 5 different power-players have won the 7 slams not won by the Williams sisters.
During the Williams dynasty, all of the Grand Slams could have started from the quarterfinals, since the top 8 women seeds normally made it through. That is no longer the case, and as Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing." Power is distributed more evenly (no pun intended) in today's WTA tour and that means bigger bucks and more sponsorship deals for the women's game. It may be a bold statement to make, but I believe that nobody likes a perennial winner in sport, if he/she is not a fan of the championship team or player. After some time the Boston Celtics, New York Yankees and the Montreal Canadiens were not well received by fans of the various sports because they kept winning en route to establishing their dynasties. The same fate was in store for the Williams sisters because of the 12 Grand Slam titles between them, prior to Serena's triumph at the Aussie Open in 2007.
For the sake of women's tennis, one may only hope that more power-players come to the fore to ensure that dynasties in women's tennis are few and far between. The up-and-coming players should listen to Hulk Hogan's demandments: "train, eat your vitamins and say your prayers." Players like Martina Hingis, a far-cry from the power-player and who seems more like a powder-puff player, can only pray.