The power vacuum in women’s tennis
Men’s tennis appears to be stuck in a time warp, said Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail. Between them, the veterans Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have “carved up” all four of this year’s Grand Slams, taking two each – with Nadal crushing Kevin Anderson on Sunday to claim the US Open title. In women’s tennis, by contrast, the youngsters are cleaning up. Since April, when a pregnant Serena Williams announced that she was going to miss the rest of the season, the three Grand Slams have “thrown up three different winners aged 24 or under”: Jelena Ostapenko, Garbiñe Muguruza and Sloane Stephens, who won the US Open last week. The 24-year-old American’s victory made her one of the “most unlikely winners of recent decades”: just six weeks ago, following a long absence while she recovered from foot surgery, she had dropped down to No. 957 in the world.
In Williams’s absence, the more experienced players on the tour had a chance to “capitalise”, said Stuart Fraser in The Times. Yet no one has been consistent enough to be considered “a new dominant force”. In the past four months, three different players have held the No. 1 ranking – Angelique Kerber, Karolína Plíšková and now Muguruza – but “never by virtue” of having won the most recent Grand Slam. Stephens certainly made “a significant breakthrough” last week, but Williams won’t feel threatened by her – nor by anyone else in the sport.