Other than Venus no one pushed Serena to be the absolute best possible other than Vica. She was ALWAYS making serns work. She was just unlucky being in the Serena Era. Vica is truely an amazing player and i know she has to be proud have been able to compete the way she has. I feel when you look at Vica play other players she's not as good versus when she's playing Serena, it's a completely different mindset she has. She is a competitor to the absolute maximum! And then to see that the immense amount of respect that these two have for each other throughout the years is phenomenal. And in the last us open when they played in the semi-finals in vica finally beat Serena in a grand slam match. It was true champions congratulating each other.
This rivalry is one reason why I say head to head doesn't always paint an accurate picture. Serena has a dominant head to head against Victoria Azarenka, but most of their matches could have gone either way especially their 3 matches in 2015, most notably the one they played in Madrid 2015. 4 of Azarenka's victories came in WTA 1000 finals. Serena was superior to her, but Victoria was excellent in her prime. Injuries derailed her career, and she was unfortunate to have her peak coincide with Serena's 3rd peak. I believe she could have also dominated Serena of 2005-2007.
I slightly disagree. Vika's wins or closeness in matches often have to do where Serena's level is. Too many times Serena started with her "A" game and then played her "D" game in the second set and lose it. If Serena is playing her A game throughout, she crushes Vika no matter the surface. If Serena is playing her "B" game or is fluctuating between "A-C," it can go either way but usually Serena wins. If Serena is sick or injured, it will most likely go to Vika. 2016 IW final, Serena was playing a "C" game, and lost in straights, but still managed to win 8 games. I really don't recall a match where both were playing at there best level and worried Vika would win.
@piper998877 The truth of the matter is when Serena is playing at her absolute best, no one can stand her, that's why some of her toughest rivals like Venus, Justine and Capriati have been trashed by Serena on some occasions like the 2008 Miami open quarter finals. But the truth of the matter is no one can play at their absolute best all the time, therefore playing at a lower level and losing to an inferior player is part of tennis. But in some matches like the us open 2012, Serena was playing very well especially in the 3rd set yet Victoria pushed her all the way to the end. That is what makes match ups in tennis interesting. It's likely there was something in Victoria's game that bothered her.
Azarenka was only 1 of 2 of her rivalries and that is after Venus. Truly. No other opponent had Serena play at the max except these two. Azarenka brought out the best in Serena! I always enjoyed their matches!
Serena was a beast! Mannnnnn I miss her I really miss her but I always loved her vs Vika matches!! Even tho Serena owns Vika in the H2H I still loved the intensity they bring out each other
Beating both sisters at the same tournament was never an easy task. So many had tried but only a handful could do that. 1998: Sydney International-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 1999: Sydney International-Steffi Graf 2001: Australian Open-Martina Hingis (Serena in the QF and Venus in the SF) 2002: WTA Finals: Kim Clijsters (Venus in the SF and Serena in the F) 2004: JP Morgan Chase Open, Los Angeles-Lindsay Davenport 2007: US Open-Justin Henin (Serena in the QF and Venus in the SF) 2009: US Open-Kim Clijsters (Venus in the 4th round and Serena in the SF) 2010: Italian Open-Jelena Jankovic Kim Clijsters is the only player who beat both sisters in the same tournament twice. Elsewhere, as this video says, there were so many chances to beat both of them, in most cases, Venus was beaten but mighty Serena was unstoppable
I miss REAL Woman's Tennis. Today's game is simply not up to par. There are only a few players i enjoy. And swiatek is NOT one of them... boring. She wins bcuz her opponents r easy to beat.
And one would think all 3 went on to stellar careers. Instead, one a nut case, the other a drug cheat and the last one a one hit wonder who still gets beaten by street walkers with an occasional top 20 win if they’re not having a good day lol
All that says is that they all were good tennis players, but the question is who came out on top the most consistently. That answer is Serena. So your point is what?
Serena is the only player ever to win over half of the matches she got bageled during. Even if you bagel Serena, she still more often than not finds a way to win. Absolutely amazing.
