Talk About Tennis 2.0

Yes. I said "it is starting". Iga is already 20, as opposed to Steffi when she won her first RG and then, in 1988, became the dominant player she was.
But any run of 28 straight matches, losing only one set (I think), is pretty impressive.
I say that at a minimum, she gets to 32.
She may be on a path more like Sampras. That first slam, then a couple of years hovering (for Iga, last year only) and then entering her best phase. I would not mind; I like her.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 8:04 pm Yes. I said "it is starting". Iga is already 20, as opposed to Steffi when she won her first RG and then, in 1988, became the dominant player she was.
But any run of 28 straight matches, losing only one set (I think), is pretty impressive.
I say that at a minimum, she gets to 32.
She may be on a path more like Sampras. That first slam, then a couple of years hovering (for Iga, last year only) and then entering her best phase. I would not mind; I like her.

Could we compare her to early Federer maybe? When he first won a slam and start to assert his dominance, the HoFers from that era were all waning and about to retire, and a lot of his peers just had the one slam in them, if that

Liamvalid wrote:When Steffi was dominant in the 90s, she was already a multi slam winning HoFer, Iga still has one slam to her name. I feel she is still much closer than her peers than Steffi was to hers. This hot streak is impressive, but still a little early for me to to be comparing her to people. I do like her though, more than I like most of the rest of the top ten

Yeah of course. People are comparing her to Steffi? I’m not caught up on the thread. That’s insane. She’s having a great run. Maybe it will continue but she has a lot to prove before she earns that comparison.


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When Fed began his dominance, Sampras had already retired (the year before). The current great one that has not retired (officially) is Serena, but she has really not played.
Also, Fed won his first W in 2003, and then did not look back. 2004 he won 3 (you know all this), while Iga won her first RG in 2020 and last year went blank.
You said it further up. This comparison is unfair, as this last few months is a small sample. We are forgetting that Iga lost handily at the Aussie. Of course, for all great ones there is one moment in which everything clicks. We don't know if this is it for Iga, but it has certain tones.
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I AM NOT COMPARING her to Steffi. That is too much. All I am saying is that currently, it feels like the early 90's, when it was very clear who was #1 and the sole question was who would be #2. Seles answered that question quickly and then became #1.
And in the early 90's (91-93) the dominant player was Seles, not Steffi Seles was very dominant everywhere, except W.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 8:31 pm

Liamvalid wrote:When Steffi was dominant in the 90s, she was already a multi slam winning HoFer, Iga still has one slam to her name. I feel she is still much closer than her peers than Steffi was to hers. This hot streak is impressive, but still a little early for me to to be comparing her to people. I do like her though, more than I like most of the rest of the top ten

Yeah of course. People are comparing her to Steffi? I’m not caught up on the thread. That’s insane. She’s having a great run. Maybe it will continue but she has a lot to prove before she earns that comparison.


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Not necessarily comparing her to Steffi, just trying to figure her position out really. It’s unusual to have someone this young have such a dominant spell, in such an open era, so what does this mean going forward (if anything!)

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 8:38 pm
I AM NOT COMPARING her to Steffi. That is too much. All I am saying is that currently, it feels like the early 90's, when it was very clear who was #1 and the sole question was who would be #2. Seles answered that question quickly and then became #1.
And in the early 90's (91-93) the dominant player was Seles, not Steffi Seles was very dominant everywhere, except W.

Which seems to have been forgotten, which is a damn shame.

Seems like Sakkari becoming #2 just before RG won't happen. She'll only rise to #3 with Krejcikova keeping #2 for few more weeks. Very likely she won't even play RG and if so bye bye top 10.

Some interesting moves, according to the WTA site. Bianca back into the 70's, Simona into the 20's, Ons at a career high #6.

Jabeur seems to be playing like the true #2 at the moment

JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:10 pm Jabeur seems to be playing like the true #2 at the moment

#1 player you DON'T want to draw? Iga, certainly. But # 2 has got to be Ons, which makes your point.
I just hope she is not in the same side of the draw as Swiatek.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:37 pm

JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:10 pm Jabeur seems to be playing like the true #2 at the moment

#1 player you DON'T want to draw? Iga, certainly. But # 2 has got to be Ons, which makes your point.
I just hope she is not in the same side of the draw as Swiatek.

It'd be interesting to poll the players on this one. I can believe this to be the case on clay, but not on hard courts. And even on clay, I have a feeling Ons wouldn't poll at #2.

Oh, sure. I meant just for RG next week. We have to wait for Iga to come off clay, although she did win a Wimby Jr. (if I remember well) so she is not uncomfortable on it.
But of course, all players would come up with the infamous "I don't care who I play, I don't look at the draw". They would not answer such a poll.

Ons is #2 in the race. Whether she can stay there past Wimbledon is very uncertain. I'd certainly not bet any money on it.

WTA top 10 with RG points removed

Iga Swiatek 6641
Anett Kontaveit 4326
Ons Jabeur 4150
Paula Badosa 4125
Maria Sakkari 3956
Aryna Sabalenka 3846
Karolina Pliskova 3618
Danielle Collins 3195
Garbine Muguruza 3060
Emma Raducan 2915
----
Jessica Pegula 2835
Barbora Krejcikova 2642

For the purposes of rankings there are only three Slams this year. So performance at RG becomes even more crucial.