Konta’s chance to fill the Serena void
Serena Williams taking maternity leave will be felt by many in the women’s game, but one thing it will not affect is maria sharapova’s hope of gaining a French Open wildcard.
‘serena Williams and maria sharapova are two unconnected cases. We’re staging a Grand slam, not a casting,’ said French Federation President Bernard Giudicelli yesterday.
The roland Garros wildcard decision will be made in the middle of next month, with Wimbledon having to make their stance clear sometime in early June.
Beyond the bombast of the French tennis supremo there are more lingering questions. How damaging will it be for women’s tennis to lose its leading star, possibly for good?
and who will can take advantage of what is now the most wide open — or perhaps weak — field at the top of the game for years?
according to andy murray, Britain’s Jo Konta, already ranked no 7 in the world, is definitely among those good enough to fill the void.
and margaret Court, the australian legend who is one Grand slam title ahead of 35-year- old Williams on 24, was weighing in on all related matters.
Court, 74, won three of her big titles in 1973, after giving birth to her son Daniel. ‘Coming back after Daniel i had one of my best years. But, at 31, i was quite a few years younger than serena,’ she told reuters in australia.
‘i think you’ve got to know physically what you can do. it will depend whether she still feels like doing it. it depends who’s coming through, too.
‘There’s not the depth in the women’s game like there is in the men’s. it’s not good for women’s tennis, which is a shame.’
That is unlikely to please tennis’s gender vigilantes, but some of the statistics surrounding the top of the women’s game right now are startling. With Williams indisposed, there are only five Grand slam titles held among the whole of the active top 10 — two for angelique Kerber and svetlana Kuznetsova and one for Garbine muguruza.
This will change when sharapova’s doping ban expires next Wednesday, as her haul of five majors will double that amount. suddenly it does not look too fanciful to think she could even add to her tally, given her pedigree. remarkably, of the last nine women’s Grand slam winners only three will be active.
The WTa have undoubtedly been unlucky is that their new Grand slam winners either retire soon after a big triumph — think marion Bartoli and li na — or simply fade away in the wake of it, which happened with ana ivanovic, samantha stosur and, most recently, muguruza.
‘it’s like they have one win and they think “well, that’s it”. They’re made. it’s a bit sad in many ways,’ said Court.
as at the recent miami Open, Konta has already shown that she has the measure of most top10 rivals when at her best, and murray sees the possibility of her claiming the sport’s biggest prizes in the next few years.
‘Obviously she has got a good chance of doing it,’ he said. ‘it’s been pretty much 18 months where she’s played at a level where she’s in the top seven or eight players in the world. i’m sure for all of the women that with serena out it’s going to be tough to predict. if Jo steps her game up there’s no reason why she can’t get close to the top.’
Commenting on Williams’ pregnancy, Konta told BBC sport: ‘i think it’s great news. massive congrats to her. Obviously she has been very dominant and that’s just testament to what an amazing player she is. But i think there will be a lot of girls who will be competing very hard for those titles. i will try to be one of them.’
it was late on Wednesday that Williams’s publicist confirmed her pregnancy, saying that the baby was due in the autumn but pledging that the seven-time Wimbledon champion will be back next year. Yesterday Williams posted a picture from mexico, captioned: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’
Of course it is early days and any comeback decision will be entirely her choice. But you would not expect her to make any immediate retirement announcement — it would not be in her commercial interest apart from anything — and we will have to wait and see what 2018 brings.
The most recent comparable case is that of former world no 1 Victoria azarenka. she gave birth in December last year and has announced plans to return in July. she will have been out for seven months and on a like-forlike basis that makes it hard to see Williams — nine years older and with chronic knee issues — coming back much before next year’s Wimbledon.