— Jelena Ostapenko (@OstapenkoJ1997) March 7, 2018
Maria Sharapova is back. Vika Azarenka is back. Most significant of all is that Serena Williams is back. Sharapova is having a hard time getting into her groove, though there have been moments of promise, and anyway, she hasn't been dominant for a while. Azarenka is rusty, yes, but that is most likely not her biggest problem. The talented Belarusian has a history of illness and injury that is almost freakish in its manifestation, and there is no reason to think that her snakebittten days are over.
As for Serena, I expect great things from her, yes, but I don't expect tour domination. As super-human as she seems, she is--in the end--human. For a tennis player, she's old, and she just missed 14 months of play.
One could rationally expect Garbine Muguruza to step in as the next dominant player--and this could still happen-- but, for now, the Spaniard has shown us many moments of startling star power, but also many moments of failing to "be there" when it mattered. And while I think that Muguruza, a champion on both clay and grass--is still the most likely player to go on a serious roll, it isn't happening right now.
And if it never happens? I say "so what?" The tour is, in my opinion, quite interesting right now. Will Muguruza win another major this year? What about the force of nature (The Backspinner aptly calls her Latvian Thunder) known as Alona Ostapenko? When will Madison Keys take the next step? Can Venus Williams have another year like 2017? And, of course, is this going to be the year that Simona Halep holds something besides a major runner-up trophy?
And there are so many more questions! Will Petra Kvitova use her new-found strength to return to the very elite portion of the tour? When will Svitolina figure out the majors? Was the Australian Open title a one-off for Caroline Wozniacki? What will Jo Konta and Caroline Garcia show us this year? And then there's this question: What can we expect from Angie Kerber, who has revived her career in 2018?
I have my favorites just like everyone else, and I'd be very happy if they won everything. But that isn't going to happen, so I may as well sit back and enjoy the next breakthrough from one of the tour's young talents, or--maybe even more fun--relish the complete giddiness of The Ostapenko Effect.
Fans also tend to like big rivalries, and no one was more into Chris and Martina than I was, but when there isn't a big rivalry, I don't miss one. If it happens, it happens. There is so much talent on the tour, that--for me--whatever manifests is good enough.
4 comments:
What do you think of Daria Kasatkina? I used to watch tennis but stopped around 2012. A lot has changed since then I see and only in the last couple of weeks have I started watching again.
I am currently watching her against Siniakova. I like her style and she rarely looks flustered, just chilling through games.
She's very talented, in an old-school way. Or, as she put it after she won Charleston last year, "I was just playing with the brain." I look for her to gain confidence and improve this year. She has a clever game and is really fun to watch.
I agree. The two I want to keep an eye on are Kasatkina and Animisova who destroyed Pav earlier. I haven't seen that match but I read she was hitting very cleanly. Kvitova up next and I think she can beat her. Petra looked very tired last match and has played so much recently, I think it could be an upset.
Hoping Kvitova goes through, but I, too, want to watch more of Animisova!
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