Can we all agree that no matter who we prefer, Martina and Venus played entertaining matches against each other. Martina was my favourite and Venus got the upper hand at the end but never destroyed her. Martina was for me much more a fighter than people think, she had to work for every points and often found a way to make her opponent hit mistakes. Matches against Davenport were also super entertaining. It was a fantastic era for women’s tennis, you can just see the difference the stadiums were full back then. Thanks to all those ladies, no matter which one we rooted for, we should be thankful to them all!
I love that Lioness roar Venus did at the winning serve, so fitting. 😆😆 I'll tell you, I love the young Venus when she played, such confident 😌 and personality back then. I love it. 😆
Not to mention Prime Venus court coverage, arguably the best side to side mover and her ability to change direction and eat up the court with her long legs, we’ll never see anything like it again
@@Sonsbitchesall And that’s exactly why Serena often pulled out the woman card. Sometimes the black card too! People can see right through that, and it’s one of the qualities that made her unpopular to people who were just interested in watching a tennis match. She needed to realize that her behavior was called out, regardless of her skin color or gender. Probably her biggest shortcoming.
I just watched her match with Graf in the 1999 QF’s, and the improvement in Venus’ game in just one year is very impressive. She’s so much faster here, for example.
That match was definitely my favourite match of the 99 Championships. Shame it was only the QF. Steffi did say Venus was a definite future winner and she was proved right very quickly. :)
Well, in that 99 QF against Graf, don't forget Venus had that huge outburst abt that line call, I've never seen her get so worked up over a line call. Graf used that to her advantage as she sensed how upset Venus was. Graf eeked out that 3-setter win over Venus. I really think that close line call made a difference in the result.
Hingis had a history of coming from behind to beat Venus, happened at the previous U.S. Open. Hingis was so smart, she always figured out a way to win even against bigger, more powerful players. Not this time. Psychologically, this match was a huge rock off Venus's chest as she finally figured out how to beat Hingis in a grand slam setting and finally win her first grand slam title. This match was also the turning of the tide in their storied rivalry.
She also never tried to gain more physical power. She kinda worked with what she had, but that's it, which wasn't nearly enough against more power players like Venus.
I wouldn't say either of them qualified as serve and volley players. Only sporadically did either of them truly serve snd volley. They both had more of an all court game and both were very good at the net.
Venus and Serena brought unbelievably added value and excitement to tennis and made Africans worldwide notice the sport..They set the standard of power strokes which has evolved the game irrevocably.. The are legends..
Mmmmmmm, not really...Racket designers made power play evolve.. That's why literally everyone is now a power player..I would like them to go back to the old school rackets
@markmorris7123 they still elevated the game through power play and grew the sport exponentially bc it was more exciting to watch their style. everyone plays this way bc they grew up watching them and yes the technology improved.
It is really amazing how Hinigs achieved so much with much less power than the William sisters or others. Excellent defensive work, smart play, using her chances, making very few errors, having every shot in the book.
Extraordinary for someone who wasnt much of an athlete. had every skill the game could offer. the williams sisters on the other hand had both skill and unbelievable athleticism
@@regworld1167 Exactly her last grand slam was the 1999 Australian Open. Even before Davenport won her first Wimbledon (her 1st slam was 1998 US Open). But Hingis could have won 2000 and 2001 Aus Open against Capriati. She was so so close. The 2001 final she was ahead most of the time.
@@regworld1167 not really. Hingis has a great record against Serena and Venus and Sharapova. Your argument is hella weak and really illogical. B8g hitters or not, Hingis was clever and played the game her own way no matter how strong her opponent was. In tennis, brain trumps brawn. See Roberta Vinci vs Serena or Su Wei vs Muguruza or Radwanska vs Sharapova. Power isn't everything and it's not what gave Serena or Venus the edge against players. Their serves are more of a weapon than their power.
@@brandonaldaymachuse6669 once they hit their primes, she could do nothing with them. From 1999-2005 Hingis was 5-9 against Venus. Her wins came earlier when Venus first got on tour.
This match really showed how much trouble Hingis could be in against power players when her strokes lacked depth. Venus picked her apart on short balls.
Amazing to see how good Martina Hingis was here, taking the match so far against an opponent physically so of another level. Almost all of Venus winner are driven by bigger, faster, stronger, while Martina uses grace, perseverance and almost magic
I know what you mean, but it’s not that amazing. Hingis had the most gifted hands and mind that have ever existed in women’s tennis. She is always amazing to watch. Definitely the female version of Federer.
Wow it's as if Venys us just all power and no brains. What about the sift touches the wide serves and put aways the drop shots. The moving Martina side to side. Is this it strategic and tactic? If these girls were white the praises would be never ending.
It's not only you, but this narrative that the williams sisters just mindlessly muscled/forced their way through matches is kinda exaggerated and almost disrespectful. Yes they were athletic but they were also just better players overall, who were more consistent and mentally stronger
The Williams sisters deserve far more credit than that. Anyone needs perseverance and skill to get 7 slams or 23 slams, and they had lots of it. But I agree that hingis was a joy to watch
HINGIS one of the best if not the cleverest despite lacking of height and power in her ERA... she's fun to watch🙂 and Williams fanatics will never agree on that.
Hingis had the highest tennis IQ. She’s also the player who’s had the most success against both Williams sisters overall. Their matches were often epic.
williams' fans have no problem saying hingis was super clever on court. it's just obvious. she didn't have exceptional athleticism so that was her primary gift. not sure why you'd think we'd have difficulty stating the obvious
Boy what a blossoming smile from V. Her day in day out at the practice finally culminated into winning against a formidable competitor. As of Hingis I never saw her tired or gasping for breath after long rallies, How much effort she must have been putting to be in that shape with that unique smile to boot.
They can make but who wants to lose? It’s pure dynamics- whatever makes you win will prevail. You can’t win battles by just being skillful and have a terrible weak serve. No amount of artistry will save you from getting smashed on your weak serves.
@@vcetaditya henin didn't have a weak serve and having powerful ground strokes doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a ball basher. you can add more layers on it.
Hingis’ forehand is ultimately what let her down in her career. Her slight topspin just wasn’t enough and it just sat up for her opponents to kill. Had she found a way to make it a weapon she would have won twice as many slams and wouldn’t have essentially been run out of the game.
Agreed. Even when she was inside the baseline she could hardly generate pace for a proper put away with the forehand. It also didn't help that her second serve was always weak and hit safely.
The only things that Hingis lacked was height, speed and muscular strength. She probably had the highest tennis IQ in the history of the sport. Her hands were impeccable.
The new generation of players grew up Williams-proofing their games. Now there arent as many aces or swinging volley winners at the net, if at all. And now there are more frequent early-round exits. They’re very lucky to have emerged on the scene at the time that they did. Neither one of them will ever win anything again but i hope they never retire so the young players will take turns beating up on them
Venus could have won this easier from the net. She had phenomenal net skills and her quickness, athleticism, and reach made her nearly impossible to pass.
Kind of weird when you think about Venus and Martina’s grand slam record: Martina led 4-2, with three easy wins (1997 USO, 1998 RG and 2001 AO, the latter being an absolute drubbing) and one tough win at the 1999 USO. In contrast, both of Venus’ wins were nail biters, this and the 2000 USO semi, in which she won both events. I mean weird because people often act as though Venus and Serena were thrashing her left, right and centre, which when you look at it really wasn’t the case.
You also have to consider that a lot of their matches were played when Venus and Serena were teenagers and not yet half of the players they would become. Martina basically quit when Venus and Serena hit their stride. I think she was retired by 2002. She would have suffered the same fate that Davenport, Sharapova, and Capriati faced. Martina got dismantled by Serena in the 2001 U.S. Open semis after she had changed her game to play more aggressive. It didn’t work, and it seemed like she threw in the towel from that match on. Martina was a teenage prodigy but she didn’t have the racquet head acceleration to compete with the power players once they became more consistent.
Those 1997 and 1998 matches mean very little in the grand scheme of things and we all know Venus didn't show up in that 2001 match. 1997 was Venus' 1st US Open. Hingis would have been thrashed by them had she played them more in 2002, 2003, etc.
@@jacksongreene3687 True. Martina was already starting to lose to other power players who were less talented than the Williamses in 2001/2002 (Hantuchova at Indian Wells in the Final '02 comes to mind). She was starting to get bullied and it was affecting her serve percentage and shot selection. It was headed down hill. I don't think she had the stomach to lose more big matches to the Williamses. She couldn't stand them back then.
Yes her wins over Martina were more routine, but interestingly she only leads their head-to-head 7-6. Martina leads Venus 11-10 so the two balance each other.
These battles between the Williams sisters and Hingis were so much fun! You would expect Hingis to be outmatched and overpowered, but that simply wasn't the case.
Hingis played the game really well even it though she had no obvious big weapons and no big muscles. What she had was really good court craft; she almost looked like she was just sashaying around the court. But, her record spoke volumes about her abilities--five Grand Slam singles titles, thirteen Grand Slam women's doubles titles, winning a calendar-year doubles Grand Slam in 1998, and seven Grand Slam mixed doubles titles; for a combined total of twenty-five major titles. I miss the Swiss Miss; there's no one like her in the women's tour now. The closest is Caroline Wozniacki.
I love this match too.. I love watching Roger, Patrick, Nadal, Jo, Hingis, Steffi, Navrotilova, Cligesters, n J.Henin, Sharapova, Serena..more than the others. They have more technique n variety than the others n they produce excellent Artistry in their game play. I simply love this game. The Most versatile game ever invented, I think. 😀 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rHn5Kked9N0.html
@@Demetri450 You obviously don't know about Real tennis.. Hingis, Steffi, Evert, Henin, Serena, n my favourite Kim, all belong to technically advanced tennis players.
@@Demetri450 you will make a very poor coach, Bud.. Hingis has great serve (which is more than decent) n awesome endurance for a Grand Slam at such a young age. Is it Martina Hingis , Navratilova, Henin, n Steffi, u r talking about..? 😂 Because they are all technically gifted n advanced players, which are referred by tennis coaches as models, for theadvancement of their pupils tennis skills.
Venus couldn't hit a down the line forehand that well these days. Might have been a confidence thing. I think it helped Hingis to hang in a few more matches but once Venus found all the angles of the forehand there wasn't much of a match I think this is why Serena beat her more easily than Venus. Serena used her forehand better
The 00' forehand had more safe spin on it. The current version of FH was due to the wrist injury which eventually ruined her backhand, so she had to compensate for it with much more swing but less margin. Her backhand was unwatchable after 2009, but so lethal that it was her major weapon before.
It's imposible yo keep saying that Graf, Seles, Sánchez Vicario, Sabatini era was better than the 2000's..... Come on dudes, these girls took tennis to another level.
Davenport NEVER beat Venus in a Grand Slam Finals. The slight comments Venus had to go through at the hands of Hingis and Davenport. I am just so happy that Venus is much more accomplished both on and off the court that they could even be. Venus allowed her tennis to do the talking. V power all the way
Martina had a way of absorbing power really well although you tell it wasn’t really her preferred style of play. Its a shame she didnt adapt her game the way the belgian girls did . She would have fared better against all the power hitters of the time.
Their best match to me. Another great were 99 GS Cup and 99 Masters. Here, VW so relentless and MH too weak on her serve and became tired in the most of the last set.
It was true in the beginning that the match was completely on their racquets and their losses were more due to them committing more unforced errors because they were forcing the play on weaker players. That is no longer true now. Williams-proofed.
I notice everytome the williams sisters play the comments and commentators are also about how they can be beaten and if the otger player does this or that. The ball is coming back quickly and with spin or angles not much tome as in the past tomplan a specific return shot...praise the girls for a change.
Like most of their matches, you see highlights with mostly Venus winners, thinking Venus probably winning easily until you look at the score. The video doesn’t show all of Venus unforced errors.
Because a Hingis's way of making a life on a tennis court was her ability to make her opponant hit errors and its not very impressive for a highlight video
But that is actually the point of tennis, to try and force your opponent to make errors. Before the big hitters and tennis technology got better that's how the vast majority of matches were played.
@@chrisarmelseyibayebek4977 Forced errors are OK and part of tennis strategy. Waiting for unforced errors is lazy tennis and these players are referred to as "pushers". "Just get the ball back in play and wait for an error". This makes for boring tennis. Hingis was not really a pusher because she played based on her shots that would cause the other player to get in a very defensive position and then hit a winner. She played several strokes ahead depending on her success at placing the ball on the court properly. This type of game was difficult to maintain against Venus or Serena, but it was partially successful in the early matches.
Novotna's commentary was not really insightful as V. Wade, more about on-the-surface stuff and J. Barrett had to compensate at times. But she had a surprisingly sweet voice and did not try to overanalyze or make stuff up, just like pleasant background music.
The reason why Venus is a ‘lost chance’ to be the greatest is because : 1. She relies solely on her power, where as Hingis and Serena use more of their brain to outdone their opponents. This is also the case in her match against Sloane Stephen in the 2017 US open semis final 2. Venus is a one dimensional player. If we look at Serena’s game, since her partnership with Patrick, we have seen Serena forehand has more shape and spin, where as Venus continues to use her power to overpower her opponents. When she can’t over power them, we see her game breaking down. 3. Venus has changed her tactical style post her Sjogren syndrome, but I feel like it is too late. She is no longer as strong and fast as her younger days and her recent use of more spin on her FH will not do much either
Agreed. While I think Venus is strategic and definitely exhibited some touch in her career. It’s nothing compared to her sister, and definitely not even close to Hingis.
Je n ai pas vu tout le match Mais martina a pour moi pas assez joué court croisé Elle a joué la filière de Vénus En ne la déplaçant pas assez Qui aime reculer puis avancer Alors pour un grand gabarit C est l Enfer Sans parler des amorties dommage Martina est guerrière elle gagne souvent des rallyes De fou Elle se bat elle n est pas seulement très talentueuse
Hingis was so fortunate with timing. Seles stabbed, Graf injured and Williams sister at beginning of their career. They soon totally destroyed her and exposed her weaknesses.
Il tennis di Martina Hingis è arte. Non importa la sconfitta. Il fatto che Venus per batterla dovesse morire in campo, nonostante il suo strapotere fisico, il suo servizio da uomo, e il suo rovescio, dimostra quanto Martina, tennisticamente, le fosse nettamente superiore!
The Williams sisters destroyed Hingis tennis career. She was so distraught, she turned to the 'white lady' (cocaine)for comfort. Both sisters were never tested positive for drugs.
Martina was a respectful player but Williams was making animal noises all the way through. Off putting, disrespectful but what else would you expect from the cheating sisters.
