Women’s tennis has been quite inconsistent this year. Ever since Serena Williams stepped down from her first-place podium, the other women’s tennis players have been struggling to claim the throne.
Last Saturday, Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 23 in women’s tennis, surprisingly beat Ons Jabeur, ranked No. 5 in women’s tennis, in the Wimbledon final 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. While everyone had been rooting for Jabeur to win, it was surprising that the 17th seed of the Wimbledon tournament claimed the title. Nevertheless, Rybakina had an amazing performance at Wimbledon, beating former Grand Slam champions like Bianca Andreescu and Simona Halep.
What was even more surprising than this, is the third round defeat of a Polish player who was on a 37 win streak. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was beaten 4-6, 2-6 to Alize Cornet. Before this, Swiatek had been unbeaten since February and won six tournaments in a row. No female tennis player had won this many matches in a row since Martina Hingis who also had a 37 win streak in 1997.
“I know I didn’t play good tennis. I was pretty confused about my tactics,” said Swiatek in an article from SPORTSTAR. “For sure, it wasn’t a good performance for me.”
When we finally see a worthy opponent to Williams’ reign, she loses to an unseeded player in the third round. However, I am positive that Swiatek will learn from her mistakes from Wimbledon, and come back even stronger in her next tournament. She has a solid, kick serve, an aggressive forehand, a strong backhand, and great at-the-net skills. Once Swiatek is able to master all of these strong components, she will be unstoppable.
Other than Switek, it seems like no champion, after Serena Williams, is able to consistently win Grand Slam tournaments. Naomi Osaka, four-time Grand Slam champion, fell out of the public’s favor in 2021 when she announced to social media that she would “not do any press” during the French Open. Since then, her openness about her battle with mental illness and depression has sparked outrage from people who criticize her as being too weak.
Of course, her reasoning of protecting her mental health is completely understandable and valid. Unfortunately, a majority of the public and members of the tennis community still do not fully understand the magnitude of mental illness, often citing it as an excuse not to play.
It seems like the hype for certain players is constantly changing, with the public pouring all of their likes and dislikes into one player at a time before quickly moving onto the next. This kind of fan behavior can be hard on the players’ mentality during matches, causing them to perform better or worse than their normal ability.
Links: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/sports/tennis/wimbledon-elena-rybakinarussia.html
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/tennis/iga-swiatek-knocked-out-of-wimbledon-2022-alize-cornet/article38508158.ece
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/french-open-2021-outrage-disgusting-naomi-osaka-twist-213106474.html
Last Saturday, Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 23 in women’s tennis, surprisingly beat Ons Jabeur, ranked No. 5 in women’s tennis, in the Wimbledon final 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. While everyone had been rooting for Jabeur to win, it was surprising that the 17th seed of the Wimbledon tournament claimed the title. Nevertheless, Rybakina had an amazing performance at Wimbledon, beating former Grand Slam champions like Bianca Andreescu and Simona Halep.
What was even more surprising than this, is the third round defeat of a Polish player who was on a 37 win streak. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was beaten 4-6, 2-6 to Alize Cornet. Before this, Swiatek had been unbeaten since February and won six tournaments in a row. No female tennis player had won this many matches in a row since Martina Hingis who also had a 37 win streak in 1997.
“I know I didn’t play good tennis. I was pretty confused about my tactics,” said Swiatek in an article from SPORTSTAR. “For sure, it wasn’t a good performance for me.”
When we finally see a worthy opponent to Williams’ reign, she loses to an unseeded player in the third round. However, I am positive that Swiatek will learn from her mistakes from Wimbledon, and come back even stronger in her next tournament. She has a solid, kick serve, an aggressive forehand, a strong backhand, and great at-the-net skills. Once Swiatek is able to master all of these strong components, she will be unstoppable.
Other than Switek, it seems like no champion, after Serena Williams, is able to consistently win Grand Slam tournaments. Naomi Osaka, four-time Grand Slam champion, fell out of the public’s favor in 2021 when she announced to social media that she would “not do any press” during the French Open. Since then, her openness about her battle with mental illness and depression has sparked outrage from people who criticize her as being too weak.
Of course, her reasoning of protecting her mental health is completely understandable and valid. Unfortunately, a majority of the public and members of the tennis community still do not fully understand the magnitude of mental illness, often citing it as an excuse not to play.
It seems like the hype for certain players is constantly changing, with the public pouring all of their likes and dislikes into one player at a time before quickly moving onto the next. This kind of fan behavior can be hard on the players’ mentality during matches, causing them to perform better or worse than their normal ability.
Links: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/sports/tennis/wimbledon-elena-rybakinarussia.html
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/tennis/iga-swiatek-knocked-out-of-wimbledon-2022-alize-cornet/article38508158.ece
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/french-open-2021-outrage-disgusting-naomi-osaka-twist-213106474.html
