Who do you think can reach the level of Steffi Graf or Martina Navratilova?
By abhishek111
@abhishek111 (377)
India
August 17, 2008 3:48pm CST
What I feel is either of Maria Sharapova or Anna Ivanovic has the potential to reach the level set by greats like Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova in women's tennis.
3 responses
@astonmartin (85)
• India
18 Aug 08
i think either of the Williams sisters can reach their heights or maybe maria sharapova
1 person likes this
@jahrock (111)
•
22 Aug 08
Great, outstanding, world beating athletes in any sport become the absolute elite of that sport and in that time. At the moment, for example, we are just coming to the end of the era in which Roger Federer was invincible on all surfaces except clay, and now we watch to see whether Rafael Nadal, the new world Number One, can be as dominant in that sport. For the women, the level of competition is probably higher now than it was when Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova were dominant in the women's game, and the more worrying thing is the high level of injuries because of the very crowded competition circuit. That is one of the reasons why we have had so many different women at the Number One spot in the last two years, and even that spot has now gone from Anna Ivanovic to Jelena Jankovic, the other top Serbian. Only time will tell whether anybody will show the dominance of Graf or Navratilova, not because there is any lack of talent, training or application of their skills, but because the level of competition is so much higher among the top six women.
@trinihd (996)
• United States
27 Aug 08
I do not agree that there is a lack of talent, though you may be right about training and application of the skills. Nowadays tennis champions do more than just play their sport, they are all-round 'celebrities' and some, like the Williams sisters have other pursuits. Some of them do not play as often because of that so this affects their rank. I do believe they are as great as Steffi or Martina already but because of the different time and the difference in the level of competition now, their greatness is overlooked perhaps. I could be wrong, and will be happy to hear more on this to disprove my opinion. :)
@jahrock (111)
•
28 Aug 08
Well trinihd, I think we actually agree in general, and it's interesting to think back to the glory days of Steffi Graf or Martina Navratilova, and very few women were missing months of competitions because of injuries. The Williams sisters in the present game are considered among the very best players, but they have quite intentionally decided not to try to play in every competition on the circuit, because of the danger of injury or burn-out on the one hand, and also to give themselves the room to develop the other areas of their lives.
The over-riding thing, though, is that outstanding athletes are in a class of their own, and part of the fun for us as spectators, is trying to spot the next great champion, regardless of the sport. The recent Olympic Games highlighted that fact, and everybody all over the world now knows the name USAIN BOLT, while before the Olympics only a few people who had seen an outstanding young sprinter in the Junior events some years ago, had even the slightest inkling of the potential which became reality in Beijing, as he set new World Records while winning Gold medals in the 100 and 200 metre sprints, plus a third one with his team mates in the sprint relay! In the swimming pool, Michael Phelps was setting an equally impressive record, breaking seven world records while winning his eight Gold medals, another record that will probably stand for a very long time. That's the theory of it, but we will always try to find somebody who can do better, run faster, win more.
