I find 2004 Miami open and 2007 Australia open finals more impressive. In 2004 she just came back from knee surgery. In 2007 Australia open she destroyed a player who dominated Kim Clijsters in the semi finals and also beat Justine Henin in straight sets at the us open. She did it despite being ranked 81, out of shape and nowhere near her best. At the 2012 Olympics games, she was playing at the peak of her powers, and no woman past or present would have beaten her that day.
But in 2012 she also lost to people like Makarova and Razzano is slams, players no one has ever heard of. The 2012 Olympics seem to have been quite a fluke with most of her opponents having extraordinary bad days.
@@carrerau7138 The Olympics weren’t a fluke, lol. That would suggest her opponents were outplaying her and that she was still able to come up with the win, which wasn’t the case. She tapped into something holy and murked every single player in her draw. She was focused, fit, and believed the gold would be hers. Her 2012 season pre-Patrick was also still quite impressive despite those losses. He just renewed her belief that she could be the best; and she is.
@@tywannmarkham A season in which you lose in two slams against giants like Makarova and Razzano in early rounds is certainly not GOAT stuff. Yes, Serena could play great tennis in important tournaments (slams, YECs, Olympics). But in contrast to other ATGs she also very often was able to bomb in such tournaments. Don't forget that even in her slam winning years (1999-2017) she lost a staggering 15 (!) times before the quarters in slams. Navratilova and Steffi only 4 times each, Evert only ONCE.
@@cherylmaxwell1156 Serena played 81 slams in total. 62 in 1999-2017. Of which she won 23, made the finals 6 times, the semis 5 times, the quarters 13 times. But as I said she lost 15 times before the quarters. So even in her slam winning years she made the finals only in 29 of 62 attempts. That's why many experts and fans don't include her in the top tier of all-time greats like Court, Evert, Navratilova, Graf.
@@carrerau7138 based on your comment 95% of players would be journeywomen lol Errani is former number 5 in the world, reached a Slam final, won 9 titles including Dubai premier, qualified twice for WTA finals and this is just for singles...in doubles she was (and still is) an elite player winning the Golden Grand Slam...I would say go watch football and take several seats hahaha
The 2007 Australian Open Final was my gold standard - thought it was the most perfect woman’s match I had ever witnessed. Need to go watch 2012 Olympic Final now.
@@cde575 Seles would have peaked at age 25-31, denying Serena most of her 1999-2005 slams. Whereas Steffi was usually better than Seles who only won a lot in the early 90s because of the Graf Blackmail Scandal (which also made Steffi having a 1-7 win/loss streak against Sabatini of all people!). Without that scandal and without her premature career end a few weeks after having turned 30 years old Steffi would have won about 30-35 slams easily.