Future of Women's Tennis

At the end of 2009, after getting married and giving birth to a baby, Kim Clijsters came out of retirement, received a wild card and proceeded to win the US Open singles title. Then at the beginning of 2010, Justine Henin also announced her come-back and as of the 22nd of January, has already defeated 5th seed Elena Dementieva in the Australian Open. The Williams sisters, formidable and almost unstoppable ten years ago, is now entering the new decade still at the top of their games. And now, there's rumours that having just served her 2 years suspension, Martina Hingis may also be on the come-back trail.

With so many come-back queens, it is often hard to see where women's tennis is going in the future.

My previous statement may come as no surprise to any tennis fans who have been following women's tennis for the last couple of years. The previous set of players including all these come-back queens are still dominating the courts. Three of last year's Grand Slams went to the come-back queens and as of now, Serena Williams is still World No. 1 - 8 years after the first time she claimed that position. This either says Serena is a formidable player or that the rest of the competition just isn't good enough. The truth is, it's probably a combination of both.

The current set of players including Ana Ivanovic, Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic play matches without any consistency in their form. We have already seen some players such as Safina and Jankovic hold the World No. 1 position despite not winning a single Grand Slam singles title. The outcome of their matches doesn't even depend on their opponent, simply their form on that day. When they're in the zone, they can win against the toughest of opponents. On their off-days, they are their own worst nightmare on court. We all saw how Safina lost in the final against Serena 6-0, 6-3. Serena didn't even have to do anything powerful or aggressive, Safina was doing the losing all on her own. Also, Maria Sharapova, the glamour girl of tennis and winner of the Australian Open in 2008, was ousted out in the first round of the tournament this year.

As for the future set of players, well, it's anybody's guess. Melanie Oudin has shown tremendous potential but again, consistency is an issue for the American teenager. Laura Robson, the British hope for the future, also needs to continue gathering experience if she is ever to have a hope against the formidable players of today.

My guess is that the future of women's tennis will only solidify when there are players that can consistently defeat the greats such as the Williams sisters and the Belgian powerhouses. Because that's the only way these players will retire for good. Otherwise, they'll continue to dominate women's tennis and snag a couple of Grand Slams on the way.