‘Reward’ for Williams sisters
The success of American women at this year’s US Open is nothing less than a reward for the Williams sisters’ inspiration to the younger generation, according to former world No 1 Mats Wilander.
Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys and CoCo Vandeweghe all qualified for the semifinals, virtually guaranteeing that all 23,771 seats in Arthur Ashe Stadium will be occupied on Thursday and again for Saturday’s final.
Serena Williams missed the tournament as she was expecting her first child.
“It’s the resurgence of American tennis, even though on the men’s side John Isner and Sam Querrey had a chance to go to the semis or the final and they screwed it up,” Wilander, who is in New York as an analyst for Eurosport TV, said in his daily chat with Reuters on Wednesday.
“Querrey still got to the quarterfinals, but with the women it’s like an awakening of American tennis with Serena not being here. Obviously, Venus is pulling everyone alongside her.”
Asked to elaborate on the reasons why the younger generation is blooming, the Swede said he thought the Williams sisters had served as an inspiration for the likes of Vandeweghe, Stephens and Keys, who are all in their early to mid-20s.
“They all came after the Williams sisters. They are about 13-14 years younger than Venus and 10-11 younger than Serena. Serena and Venus were 17-18 when they started winning,” Wilander said.
“Keys, Stephens and Vandeweghe were very young and impressionable at that time. That’s what makes the difference for them between playing soccer, tennis or whatever these girls do..
“You have to be young enough, and usually it’s 10 years later that you see the benefits or the reward of a superstar like Serena or Venus. That’s when you get that inspiration.”
According to Wilander, the renaissance of US tennis is a blessing for the sport.
“I think it is huge. It’s really important when you see the size of these events and the number of tournaments that are played in America on both tours,” he said.
“Also with the number of people playing here. It’s huge for tennis, the fact that new American faces have shown up during this tournament.”