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Why Roger Federer and Pete Sampras should fear Venus and Serena Williams
The sister are in a league of their own when they are on court, and they could give their male counterparts a run for their money.
by Abe Battjes on 28 March 2008
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It’s hard to imagine many tennis players being able to take down the likes of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, especially when they were playing in their prime. But there are a few likely candidates who have what it takes, and they aren’t even on the ATP Tour. I'm looking at the WTA tour.
Serena and Venus Williams may be women competitors, and most would assume that they wouldn’t be able to conquer two of the greatest players of all time. But despite their gender, the powerful sisters have what it takes.
Some may argue that neither of the sisters compere to Federer or Sampras when it comes to Grand Slam victories. For the most part these four players are fairly even in most aspects. But Serena has been able to accomplish something that Federer hasn’t, by winning the French Open to complete a career Slam.
Rankings can’t be a huge factor either, because all four players have at one time in their career ranked No. 1 in the world. Do they all know how to compete on the various surfaces? In the past, the four players have struggled on clay, and produced their best tennis on grass.
Comments (38)
on March 29, 2008 on March 29, 2008
Dumbest thing I've ever read. Next.
yeah right...and they are also the uglieeeeest faces on tour...lol
by vince on March 29, 2008
good article...i think your right on certain points, after all venus and serena are uber talented...im afraid the world will never see that, because they are so infactuated by putting the williamses down...the comments made by richard i think are true, tennis never really appreciated how amazing serena and venus were, they had to fight through so many expectations, if they were winning people said that tennis was boring, yet if they lose they accuse them of losing their power, which is absolutely bollocks...venus and serena will always be the best thing that happened to tennis, coz they came from adversity especially for a sport like tennis where only the higher ranked people in society think its their game...well take a look at wimbledon...they won 6 of 8 theyve competed in...go williams sisters...
by Andrew Smith on March 29, 2008
This is very well said. They work half as hard as everyone else and still win more. These are two of th greatest athletes in the world.
by DeNNy on March 29, 2008
ok first of all SERENA AND VENUS ARE BETER LOOKING THEN U..whO ever wrote that is a fricken loser they wouldnt say that to venus or serena's face cause the sisters would kick their arse!!..anyways I LOVE THEM but no I dont think they could beat roger federer they would play an awesOme match againgst him BUT not beat him unless he he forfet!!... they would ace any man ANY MAN but I guess they would lose in a match!! I LOVE U SERENA AND VENUS ii cant wait to see you win more grandslams doubles AND singles!!
by Brian Wright on March 29, 2008
by Abe Morgans on March 29, 2008
All I have to say, especially about the Williams sisters easily beating Federer at Wimbledon.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-7-2001-3246.asp CIGARETTES, BEATING THE WILLIAMS SISTERS, AND LIFE ACCORDING TO KARSTEN BRAASCH From ATP Karsten Braasch will forever be remembered as the man with the uncoachable serve, who smoked like a chimney, scared Pete Sampras at Wimbledon, and beat both the Williams sisters in the same afternoon. Braasch is a polite, intelligent man, but even at 33, his tennis days are far from over, as he proved last week at the Mallorca Open in doubles with partner Jens Knippschild. So what is it that keeps the German going? "I’m still having fun," he explains. But how on earth did he learn that remarkable serve, which sees him run, jump and launch his body at the ball in the most bizarre fashion? "I think everyone learns his own style," says Braasch. "Agassi, Sampras - nobody taught them to play the way they do. With me it was just a normal development, and as long as it is working, it doesn’t matter." Sampras found out just how well it worked at Wimbledon in 1995. Returning as the defending champion for the second time, the American walked onto Centre Court for their first round encounter probably expecting to steamroller Braasch in about an hour.But the German played by his own rules, and with a mixture of delicate chips and thunderous drives he won the second set to level matters at one apiece, and looked capable of pulling off one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history. Digging deep, Sampras prevailed, but he paid tribute to his opponent. "He’s a pain to play," said Sampras. The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena wouldn’t argue with that assessment. Their request for a male opponent at the 1998 Australian Open was met by the German, who had been on the golf course all morning. This is how Braasch remembers the day: "They came into the ATP Office and said that they would like to play one of the men," said Braasch. "I just happened to be in the room and they were saying that they thought they could beat someone who was ranked 200 in the world. At the time I was No. 203 and I said: "If you think you can beat me, we can go out there right now." With Serena, the score was 6-1 and then Venus came and asked to play, and I said, ‘if you want to play, we can play’. That was 6-2." "When they first came in they were looking at the media guide because they had seen someone practicing who they thought they could beat, and they wanted to know who it was. It was Francisco Clavet. When they said that, there were 10 guys on the floor." "Afterwards, Venus spoke to the press and said that maybe she could actually beat someone who was 350 in the world. But the thing is that I was due to lose all my points from the 1997 Australian Open the next week so I told the press "OK, we can do it again next week when I am 350 if you like!" But three years on he has no plans for a rematch. "I don’t think it’s necessary," he says. "I don’t think after that match that you heard anything about men and women’s tennis from the Williams sisters. Sometimes when I walk past them at a Grand Slam, they don’t say anything, maybe they don’t see me, but maybe they are a little bit embarrassed," he said. Braasch is known for having a rather unusual fitness regime to go with his unorthodox style of play. Generally smoking 15 cigarettes each day, and fond of having a beer or two (he admits to having drunk a couple of ‘shandies’ the morning of the match with the Williams sisters) Braasch showed that he could still compete with the best. In a career spanning 14 years, he racked up wins over Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl among others, and his proudest moment was playing in the Davis Cup for Germany. At 33, he won’t be around forever, but retirement isn’t on the cards yet. "As long as I can still compete, and as long as people still want to watch me and don’t say ‘what’s this old guy doing out there?’ I will play," he said.
by quionnea coombs on March 29, 2008
Some of these comments are to the point of loser status and some of them are just hurtful. You can critize their game without being racist or sexist. You should be ashamed of your self. You're the epidome of what mr. Williams is talking about when it come to race but u took it to another level with your comments about sex. Wow. Ur a disgrace to tennis!
by Darren Wong on March 29, 2008
No serious tennis fan, let alone tennis commentator would suggest that either of the Williams would have a shot against Fed ANYWHERE, let alone Wimbledon. They have powerful serves,... for girls, at about 120 mph, their fastest serves are nearly as fast as Federer's faster serves, but definitely aren't better. Federer can handle serves coming at the 130-140 mph range, so he wouldn't exactly be intimedated by 115-120 mph serves. I don't think the Williams would do so well against Fed's serve. I like womens tennis, but biologically, even the Williams just aren't strong enough to compete with the top men. And don't even joke that they could out-work or out-finesse Fed, because he is the finesse king, and the Williams don't care to work nearly as hard as Fed, otherwise they would both have more slams than they currently do. Its just plain physics. The Williams sisters would have trouble playing with the Robby Ginepris and Ranier Schuettlers, let alone any of the top men. But really I'd love to see them try... but maybe they should try to beat Andy Roddick first, before going after the big fish.
by sunny swetank on March 29, 2008
who the hell is this? "Serena or Venus could easily defeat Federer at Wimbledon" - man, u need to see your a pyschiatrist
they both together wont be able to take a set off federer
by Zwé Mbhele on March 29, 2008
I am shocked at how racist nd sexist some people can be..i am from south africa where we struggled with apartheid nd i still take pride in calling any white man my BROTHER..look the article brings up gr8 points..Serena nd venus are spectacular..realistically they wouldn be able 2 beat any top 10 male player..nd they're favourite so i'd love 4 them to do it..wit serena its not bout pace on her serve its placement..so yeah they'd do well but not win..nd thanx 2 everyone who actually appreciates wat da sista's have done..we're what keeps them going!!Nd whoever said dey ugly sure has high expectations because they are BEAUTIFUL!!!
by Joe on March 29, 2008
Yeah, sorry but this artcile is pretty stupid. A fairer comparison would be to Martina N. , and both of the Williams sisters combined will never equal her totals. Plus they're both bad sports.
by acbc on March 29, 2008
more than five years ago, when the Williams were in their prime and winning all the grandslams, they claimed they would beat any man outside, that is OUTSIDE of the worlds top 200. Karshton Brash at the Australian open took them up on it. he was outside the top 200 at that time and beat them both, one after another and it was 6-1, 6-2; this after having played 18 holes of golf, drinking some beers and smoking a pack of cigarettes. this was reported in an issue of Tennis Magazine with a picture of Serena shaking the hands of a man that can't even hope to win a set against Federer!! Get your facts straight before you make such ridiculous claims.
by Chirag D on March 29, 2008
Well I thought the article was good, but misplaced. Federer is being hailed as possibly the best natural talent the tennis world has ever seen and it is for a good reason. Serena and Venus are exceptional athletes and sportswomen, but as strong as they are.. it's unfair to expect them to compete with the top men. It's a biological fact that they cannot match them for strength and endurance. And you could hardly say Federer lacks talent, could you?
by steve on March 29, 2008
"The sister are in a league of their own" Aside from having a a typo in the first sentence, this is silly. They aren't. Martina Navratilova completely dwarfs them in her accomplishments. Not even close. No comparison. She was in a league of her own. For them to be in a league of their own they would need to be far and away ranked number one two. What a ridiculous thing to say in the first sentence.
on March 30, 2008 on March 30, 2008
that is the most rediculous thing i've ever heard....do you actually get paid to write for this site?
by robert fendez on March 30, 2008
the most ridiculous article I have ever had the displeasure of wasting time reading. The spoof/satire articles on tennis make more sense. I can't believe a supposedly serious website lets this garbage be printed.
by noel david on March 30, 2008
couldn't agree more with robert frendez.a pete will still whitewash the two sisters and i'd be surprised if their points tally reached double digits against roger.what flight of fancy!!get yourself examined.u need major help.
by xyz ray on March 30, 2008
I think writer seriously need mental check up !!!
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