2012 Olympic Games Women's Draw

Serena Williams during the 2012 Olympic Games

I am excited to talk about the women’ side of the tournament. It has ended a while ago now and of course, we all know that Serena Williams won. And she did it with manner! The main question that everybody has been asking in the last few months is: what separate Serena from everybody else???

I mean, let’s look at the Olympic tournament alone. The final is the shortest we have seen in years, with Sharapova, who is the current #2 in the world, winning a very lonely game in just over an hour with a  6/0 6/1 score. And if we go back to the semifinals, Serena crushed current #1 in the world, Victoria Azarenka 6/1/6/2. Her hardest set she had was 6/3 and one of the most impressive stats: she lost 17 games in the whole tournament. How more dominant can you be?!? So the question I will try to answer today is what makes her so unique and so much better than her competition right now?

First of all, something really obvious… her physique. Just by looking at the muscle mass, we can already imagine what kind of power can come out of this body. Oh boy can she crush that ball! That’s already a huge advantage. But she doesn’t only use her power, that’s what makes her a 14-time Grand Slam winner, and a gold medalist at the Olympics. She uses her head and can see the court really well.

I used to be pretty skeptical about Serena’s game but the more I see her play and the more I’m amazed. I used to not really like her as a player and all she was using was her arm. But I have to admit, I’ve become a lot more fond of her as a person and as a player.

I was working at Bank of the West Classic a month ago, and we were all amazed that after winning Wimbledon, she took the plane the next day, came back to the US and played. Even when she could barely open her eyes because of the jetlag, she was a step ahead of her opponents. Why? Because she can see the court in a way that not many players can. She understands how to use the angles but most of all she has all the shots in her game. And against what a lot of people say, she runs balls down and has a much better defense than a lot of people think.

One of my main problem with her before was that I thought she didn’t have anthing else than power. But that’s where I was wrong. She can do it all. She has her serve (best on the circuit, and definitely challenging some of the men’s serves), her arm, she has some touch when needed (yes, I have seen her dropshot more than once!), she can cross court to throw off her opponent, and more than before, she comes to the net if she has the opportunity (she is not a 3 times gold medalist with her sister Venus for nothing!).

And that’s one thing that, for example, I’ve never seen Sharapova do. Of course, with her career, she has a lot going for her. But, I haven’t really seen her come to the net, and I really don’t feel that if she can’t overpower her opponent, she can change her game. Let me know if I’m wrong, but I have been watching her since she came out at Wimbledon in 2004, and I haven’t seen any change her strategy if things don’t go her way. But that’s where I changed my opinion about Serena!

I think that’s enough elements for today, but I thought this could open a great conversation about women’s tennis and what some of the players are missing when playing Serena. I hope to hear from a lot of you and I look forward to your comments!

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