Well it’s a less than stellar field for this season’s ‘Fifth Slam’ year-end championships – no Serena or Justine and yes, Sharapova who along with Clijsters represent the creme de la natural creme.
Just about.
No this is not an out of date hack still clinging on to the players of the last decade and refusing to embrace the current top crop. And the lack of these names shows a refreshing strength in depth in the womens game not seen for a notable period. But the on-off nature of some of these gals will mean a probable dip in quality for such an illustrious event.
Clijsters, Zvonareva and Wozniaki (although she becomes one of the latest Slamless no.1’s) represent the best gifted here, and Vera has made a strong start. But it will be intriguing to see if the dogged but hardly reliable Shciavone and the unfit Jankovic and Dementieva can put up a real fight and give us the kind of season ending tennis Serena and co regulalrly provide.
All Things Tennis 