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Shaka
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Shaka
I wish the pickleball organisers the best of success. But right now, it seems to be the tennis equivalent of Formula E; just as many Formula One racing drivers who didn't make it in Formula One racing had to step down in profile and try to get into Formula E, so also are we seeing tennis players who are no longer at or near the top, going into pickleball. It's actually a good thing for pickleball, because every sport needs big names to help promote it, even if those names are ones that used to be bigger in the past.
21-12-2023 22:52
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Shaka
Why is it unfair for Karolina to compare both eras? Of course it's not unfair. She's a professional tennis player who has played in both eras, for years; therefore, if anybody is qualified to compare, she definitely is. She's allowed to have an opinion of her work colleagues, and to compare their results, without it being seen as unfair. We all have opinions of our work colleagues as to who we want to work with more, who we think is easier to get along with, who works hardest, etc. We should allow Karolina the same rights. Also, the game has NOT evolved beyond the speed and power of the past era; in fact, the opposite is true. There are plenty of hard-hitters today, especially at the top of the game; probably more than before. Look at Sabalenka and Rybakina; nobody would describe either of them as lacking in speed or power. There are also Haddad Maia, Samsonova, Qinwen Zheng and Jelena Ostapenko. Have you seen newcomer Mirra Andreeva play? In the past, we had counter-punchers like single-handed backhander Carla Suarez Navarro, Angelique Kerber, Radwanska, Mauresmo, Henin, Schiavone, Zvonareva, the returnees Svitolina and Wozniacki, and so many others. Hard-hitters Sabalenka and Rybakina would (on hard courts) blast most of these players off the court, even in their primes. Let's also not forget Iga Swiatek who hands out bagel sets almost as if she's handing out actual, real bagels. She won 22 bagel sets in 2022, and 23 in 2023. You can't play that well, that often, without being a hard-hitter even on clay. Ashleigh Barty was very successful, but she didn't hand out bagel sets as often as Iga Swiatek has, especially to players in the top 50 of the game. For context, Serena Williams' highest number was 25 bagel sets in 2013. The women are hitting harder than ever. They also have more money (both prize money and endorsements), longer careers, better nutrition, health care, training, equipment, bigger teams, you name it, than they used to. As a consequence, all types, including hard-hitters, will actually be able to stay at the top for much longer, making today's era even better for the hard-hitters than past years. Serena Williams touched both eras, and doing this (alongside not over-playing) helped extend her career and thus her fame. Also, Karolina put most of the blame where it should be; on the shoulders of the WTA. Nothing controversial about that, since it's their job to manage and promote the women's game. She's allowed to have an opinion on that as well, especially when you review the news reports of the things that went wrong during the WTA finals of 2022 and 2023. With all the current types of players, the WTA should be doing a better job of promoting the sport. To add to that, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams WERE indeed huge, compared with tennis players of today. Williams was huge because of her incredible achievements and winning records in singles and doubles, and Sharapova in part because of hers and in part because the media invested a lot of energy trying to pretend there was a rivalry between her and Serena, even though the head to head was Serena 20 wins, Maria 2 wins. None of this is unfair for Karolina to point out; both women have retired, but surely our memories can't be that short. It's possible that in the past, the WTA relied too much on the mainstream media writing about Serena, Venus and Maria (i.e. their personal lives as well as their sports careers), to realise that the sport itself needed to do most of the heavy lifting in promoting new stars; and when these 3 players started to pull back, people were surprised at how much marketing needed to be done by the sport itself.
21-12-2023 22:34
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Shaka
I wish the pickleball organisers the best of success. But right now, it seems to be the tennis equivalent of Formula E; just as many Formula One racing drivers who didn't make it in Formula One racing had to step down in profile and try to get into Formula E, so also are we seeing tennis players who are no longer at or near the top, going into pickleball. It's actually a good thing for pickleball, because every sport needs big names to help promote it, even if those names are ones that used to be bigger in the past.21-12-2023 22:52
+1
Shaka
Why is it unfair for Karolina to compare both eras? Of course it's not unfair. She's a professional tennis player who has played in both eras, for years; therefore, if anybody is qualified to compare, she definitely is. She's allowed to have an opinion of her work colleagues, and to compare their results, without it being seen as unfair. We all have opinions of our work colleagues as to who we want to work with more, who we think is easier to get along with, who works hardest, etc. We should allow Karolina the same rights. Also, the game has NOT evolved beyond the speed and power of the past era; in fact, the opposite is true. There are plenty of hard-hitters today, especially at the top of the game; probably more than before. Look at Sabalenka and Rybakina; nobody would describe either of them as lacking in speed or power. There are also Haddad Maia, Samsonova, Qinwen Zheng and Jelena Ostapenko. Have you seen newcomer Mirra Andreeva play? In the past, we had counter-punchers like single-handed backhander Carla Suarez Navarro, Angelique Kerber, Radwanska, Mauresmo, Henin, Schiavone, Zvonareva, the returnees Svitolina and Wozniacki, and so many others. Hard-hitters Sabalenka and Rybakina would (on hard courts) blast most of these players off the court, even in their primes. Let's also not forget Iga Swiatek who hands out bagel sets almost as if she's handing out actual, real bagels. She won 22 bagel sets in 2022, and 23 in 2023. You can't play that well, that often, without being a hard-hitter even on clay. Ashleigh Barty was very successful, but she didn't hand out bagel sets as often as Iga Swiatek has, especially to players in the top 50 of the game. For context, Serena Williams' highest number was 25 bagel sets in 2013. The women are hitting harder than ever. They also have more money (both prize money and endorsements), longer careers, better nutrition, health care, training, equipment, bigger teams, you name it, than they used to. As a consequence, all types, including hard-hitters, will actually be able to stay at the top for much longer, making today's era even better for the hard-hitters than past years. Serena Williams touched both eras, and doing this (alongside not over-playing) helped extend her career and thus her fame. Also, Karolina put most of the blame where it should be; on the shoulders of the WTA. Nothing controversial about that, since it's their job to manage and promote the women's game. She's allowed to have an opinion on that as well, especially when you review the news reports of the things that went wrong during the WTA finals of 2022 and 2023. With all the current types of players, the WTA should be doing a better job of promoting the sport. To add to that, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams WERE indeed huge, compared with tennis players of today. Williams was huge because of her incredible achievements and winning records in singles and doubles, and Sharapova in part because of hers and in part because the media invested a lot of energy trying to pretend there was a rivalry between her and Serena, even though the head to head was Serena 20 wins, Maria 2 wins. None of this is unfair for Karolina to point out; both women have retired, but surely our memories can't be that short. It's possible that in the past, the WTA relied too much on the mainstream media writing about Serena, Venus and Maria (i.e. their personal lives as well as their sports careers), to realise that the sport itself needed to do most of the heavy lifting in promoting new stars; and when these 3 players started to pull back, people were surprised at how much marketing needed to be done by the sport itself.21-12-2023 22:34