General / Guy McCrea / 06 February 2010 / 1

In the Williams sisters and Justine Henin, women's tennis is fortunate to have three legends of the game currently on tour. But would any of their attributes be a component of the ultimate female player from the Open era? In the first of a two-part series, Guy McCrea investigates.

The Serve

The opening and arguably most important shot in the sport. Martina Navratilova's wicked lefty service provided the platform for her hugely successful net game. The nine-time Wimbledon singles champion had a terrific ability to produce that biting ball at break point down.

But this ultimately has to be a toss-up between the Williams sisters who have revolutionised the women's game with their powerful deliveries. Serena's serve is characterised by a superb ball toss which means very little can go wrong with her motion. But of the two, I will plump for Venus Williams, (currently trading on Betfair at around [4.8] to win Wimbledon again this summer) whose booming first serve has been the catalyst behind her five Wimbledon singles crowns. The greatest grass court player of her generation owns the record for the fastest serve recorded where it matters, in the main draw of a Slam - a 129 mph effort at the 2007 US Open.


The Return

Martina Hingis' superb defensive return of serve helped the Swiss compensate for the lack of power in her game. The former world number one had all the shots in the book and used plenty of changes of pace on return and in the rally to keep the server guessing. Her sliced backhand return was particularly delightful. A great example of a more attacking returner is Monica Seles, who made up for her lack of natural movement around the court with wonderful hand-eye coordination. Even the best servers found it a very tough task to ace Seles - who looked to dominate immediately from the return.

I choose Chris Evert though - who's incredibly accurate return of serve was the best of her generation and aided the former world number one to a record seven French Open singles titles. The American took the ball unbelievably early on-the-rise, to take control of the rally and counter some of the greatest serve and volleyers of the Open era: Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova.


The Forehand

Serena Williams ([3.15] favourite to retain her Wimbledon title) again features because of the prodigious power of her forehand. When it's on (as it was at this year's Australian Open) her forehand is just too strong for opponents to handle. Further back both the all-time Grand Slam singles title record holder Margaret Court and former French Open champion Sue Barker also possessed superb forehands - characterised by beautiful clean striking of the ball.

But the winner here has to be the 'Fraulein Forehand' Steffi Graf. Hers was the most destructive groundstroke ever seen in women's tennis. The German built her entire game on the shot and it was the main reason behind her dominance - 22 Grand Slam singles titles including the (unmatched by any player, male or female) 'Golden Slam' of 1988.


The Backhand

Without doubt, the trendsetter of the two-handed backhand was Chris Evert. The American used it to employ a powerful baseline game off both wings. Her shot also inspired generations to do the same (including Monica Seles) and is arguably the reason why it's now the overwhelming backhand of choice on the WTA Tour.

But in truth, this is the least difficult decision of all to make. Everyone who has had the pleasure to watch Justine Henin ([5.6] to win Wimbledon) will understand why! She has quite simply the best backhand ever witnessed in the women's or the men's game. The petite Belgian's single-handed strike is a remarkable triumph of technique, timing and touch.

Net Game

Now - sadly - a dying art in the women's game, with so many players content to simply bludgeon the ball back and forth from the baseline. Perhaps Henin can rekindle it as she attempts to win that elusive Wimbledon title - although it is highly unlikely that the Belgian will ever change to a wholly serve-volley strategy. In recent times, Hingis had one of the best net games, with terrific volleying technique and soft hands around the forecourt. But the net game had its greatest number of exponents in the seventies and early eighties. Margaret Court and Billie Jean King were aggressive net-rushers with superb speed, while Evonne Goolagong had one of the best backhand volleys ever seen.

Martina Navratilova was the most successful serve-volleyer in the history of the women's game though, and as such gets my vote. The Czech-American simply knifed her volleys every time and displayed outstanding reactions at the net. Her many match-ups with Evert - with the contrast of styles involved - provided top-quality entertainment

So here then is the first set of attributes of my ultimate female player:

Serve - Venus Williams
Return - Chris Evert
Forehand - Steffi Graf
Backhand - Justine Henin
Net Game - Martina Navratilova

You might not agree with them all, but I hope you accept that she would be pretty tough to beat!

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1. Barbara | 11 February 2010

   I can't believe you give the serve to Venus Williams over Serena Williams. Venus's service motion is unnatural and inconsistent,powerful yes. She may have posted the fastest serve, but Serena can count on her serve and probably has posted more aces. Serena's serve draws weaker returns which sets her up for more consistent, aggressive service games. Serena takes care of her service games better, more naturally. Don't get me wrong, I love Venus Willims' game, but I think you got it wrong on the serve department

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