With motivation and passion undimmed, senior players serve up a constant reminder of their longstanding greatnessVeronika Kudermetova is 26. Having spent 11 years as a tennis professional, scaling the top 10 in singles and doubles, she is not far from being classed as a veteran of her sport. And yet, still, last week in Cincinnati the No 14 was toppled by an opponent whose career long precedes her entire existence.In the year Kudermetova was born, 1997, Venus Williams reached her first grand slam final at the US Open. Now 43, her passion for the sport is so great that her motivation is undimmed. Williams trailed by a double break in both sets, 1-4 in the first set and 1-5 in...
Her performance against sister Serena was comfortably the best level she has exhibited in more than a year At the turn of the millennium as the 2000 tennis season arrived, Venus Williams was nowhere to be seen. She was the third best player in the world and just 19, but for three months she had withdrawn from all tournaments in sight, citing a wrist injury. By March, a curious rumour began to spread: people wondered if she was on the verge of retirement. The rumours soon reached her family, which they responded to by simply tossing a gallon of petrol all over the flames: “I would like to see her retire now. I would love to see her do that,”...
Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova and others seem set to ensure when the winner of 23 grand slams rejoins the WTA Tour it will be anything but dullWhen Serena Williams returns to tennis as expected in the new year, with a baby daughter, Alexis, in her entourage and a spring in her 36-year-old step, the remarkable American will find the game in a state of pleasing but predictable flux.There is still plenty to play for, not least the prospect of her surpassing Margaret Court as the most decorated player in the history of her sport – men’s or women’s, as Andy Murray might remind us – and, if Melbourne comes too soon for Williams to pull alongside the Australian’s tally of...
It’s not hyperbolic to say the game in the States is alive because of African American players like the Williams sisters and Sloane StephensThere’s been no shortage of anxiety over the future of American tennis over the last decade.Andy Roddick’s abrupt retirement during the 2012 US Open left the United States without an active men’s grand slam champion for the first time in 129 years, since the inception of what then was called the US National Championships. And while Venus and Serena Williams have combined for 30 major singles championship, 121 WTA titles and 173 finals appearances – and counting – the hand-wringing over their successor on the women’s side persisted. Related: Sloane Stephens’ win over Madison Keys warms hearts...
The United States has four women in the US Open quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years – and none of them are named SerenaThe perpetual hand-wringing over the future of American women’s tennis can take pause, at least for a few days. The false dawns of the past decade have given way to hard-won dividends and the best could be yet to come.When Madison Keys pounded a backhand winner down the line at 11.41pm on Monday night to punctuate a gritty 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-4 comeback win over No4 seed Elina Svitolina, the 22-year-old gave the United States four women in the US Open quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years – and none of them are...