General / Simon Mundie / 26 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Simon Mundie is distinctly unimpressed by the top players in the women's game.

It's fair to say that men's tennis is in the middle of a golden era at the moment, with not one but two all time great players topping the world rankings, contesting classic Grand Slam finals with enjoyable regularity. Just behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are a further two personalities who have every chance to establish themselves as all time greats, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, followed by several others who should push them hard over the next few years including the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro, as well as old crowd favourites like Andy Roddick.

The same can't be said for the women's game unfortunately, which is in a lull the likes of which hasn't been seen for many years. Indeed, women's tennis far outshone the men's game in the early 2000s, when the top spots were occupied by the likes of Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters and the Williams sisters. Those players had different strengths and personalities, and contested several great matches in the big events.

Contrast that with the situation as it is now, and it's clear that the current crop of players at the top of the game are simply not in the same league. They do not have the same strength of personality, their play lacks variety and it is difficult to see which of them, with the obvious exception of the Williams sisters, are genuine winners of the top order.

Of the current top five, only Serena and Venus have won any Grand Slam titles, and the whole situation is summed up by the fact that the world's number one ranked player, Dinara Safina, is still better known for being the younger sister of Marat Safin than for her on court exploits. Could you possibly imagine the same ever being said for the likes of Navratilova, Graf, Seles or even Hingis?

Safina was recently asked about the situation and replied thus: "I'm still his younger sister. It doesn't matter. When I walk around I still hear the crowds, saying: 'Oh, this is the sister of Marat.' I think I'm going to be his little sister for ever." If she were to actually win a slam, and prove she was a worthy number one, she might be surprised that fans recognise her on her own merits.

While Safina is number one on the rankings computer, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who genuinely believes she is the best tennis player in the women's game. That accolade goes to Serena, with Venus holding an advantage on grass having dominated Wimbledon in recent years. It was Serena though who destroyed Safina in this year's Australian Open final 6-3 6-0 in under an hour: the worrying thing about that result was that it wasn't really a huge surprise, and even the crowd seemed resigned to a damp squib of a match as early as the third game, considering their murmurings of discontent.

To be fair to Safina, she is relatively new to the upper echelons of the game, so could yet prove her detractors wrong. But what of the other 'top' players?

Jelena Jankovic has been ranked number one in the world, despite having regularly disappointed at the big events. She lacks a killer shot and even when at the top of the game, she would have to hope one of the Williams sisters is having an off day to really stand a chance. Jankovic did run Serena relatively close in last year's US Open final, but Serena was inhibited by what had been a lean few years up until that point, as she dedicated much of her time to other distractions . The fact that she could turn her attentions away from the game as she and Venus did, and still return to the pinnacle of the game without too much bother speaks volumes.

Ana Ivanovic is another case in point. She made her Grand Slam breakthrough at the French Open last year, and looked set to dominate. Since then she has suffered a quite alarming collapse in form and confidence, with rumors of on-court panic attacks amongst other things. She entered Wimbledon last year as top seed, but was trounced in the third round by Jheng Zie, looking miles from the best the game had to offer.

The two Serbs though are far from alone as, besides the Williams, there are no outstanding players in the top 20. Part of that stems from the lack of variety in style of player: no one seems capable of anything other than grinding from the baseline. No great players from the past have been so one dimensional as the current crop, nor so mentally fragile.

So is there any hope for the immediate future of the women's game outside of the women's game? A swift and full return from injury for Maria Sharapova would be a welcome boost, as she is a born winner who can live with the Williams sisters. Clijsters' supposed return to the professional set-up could prove interesting, and you have to keep your fingers crossed that Henin, who proved that variety and intelligence is more than a match for brute baseline force, has a similar change of heart.

What does all this mean to the bettor? Well, it does at least mean this year's French Open is wide open. Serena rightly starts as favourite at [5.8] despite clay being far and away her worst surface, followed by Jankovic at [7.4]. You can get last year's winner Ivanovic at [8.8] while next in the betting is 'world number one' Safina at [9.8].

One to watch out for in terms of value however is Elena Dementieva ([11.5]). Another serial underachiever, she is one of the best baseline grinders, and if she keeps her serving yips under control, could finally grab a big one. And let's be honest, with the exception of the Williams sisters, the competition isn't exactly fierce.