Poll - The perfect tennis player 2020
If you could make a perfect athlete out of all the players currently on the WTA tour - what would she look like? We asked around. And heard a lot from Serena.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 22, 2020, 09:06 pm
It's the good old game: there is basically no perfect tennis player. Those who shine on the defensive often have no winning strike at hand. The best footwork has little to do with the effectiveness of the serve. And so we asked a panel of experts which hits from the WTA circus would be the best additions to a perfect menu.
And this is what the panel looks like that thought about the tennisnet survey. First of all, the experts who have stood on the court themselves and have shown great achievements there. Or still show: Barbara Rittner (Head of Women's Tennis at DTB), Michael Kohlmann (Head of Men's Tennis at DTB), Barbara Schett-Eagle (former top ten player, now Eurosport presenter), Jürgen Melzer (two-time major champion in doubles, soon to be ÖTV sports director), Lars Uebel (head of competitive sports at the TennisBase in Oberhaching), Alexander Peya (double ace on the way back), Christopher Kas (ex-professional, currently coach of Peter Gojowczyk), Tobias Summerer (ex-coach of Florian Maier, currently trainer at BTV).
The following specialists from the circle of journalists took part: Andrej Antic (editor-in-chief tennisMAGAZIN), Christian Barschel (tennisMAGAZIN), Doris Henkel (FAZ), Gerald Kleffmann (SZ), Jörg Allmeroth (Allmeroth Media), Marcel Meinert (Sky), Paul Häuser (Sky), Oliver Faßnacht (Eurosport), Sebastian Kayser (BILD), Stefan Hempel (Sky), Moritz Lang (Sky), Christian Schwell (clay court gods), Florian Regelmann (spox.com), Florian Goosmann, Nikolaus Fink (tennisnet) , Michael Rothschädl (tennisnet) and Jens Huiber (sportradio360).
The result? And please: The perfect tennis player in 2020
Serve: Serena Williams (USA)
The clearest result of all the categories asked right at the beginning. Even Roger Federer had respect for the US legend's first service before meeting Serena Williams for the first time at the Hopman Cup. Serena won 73 points, followed by Karolina Pliskova (39 and Naomi Osaka (14)). Sabine Lisicki (5), Petra Kvitova (5), Aryna Sabalenka (4), Madison Keys (3), Garbine were also mentioned Muguruza (3), Ashleigh Barty (2) and Elena Rybakina (1).
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Forehand: Serena Williams (USA)
A well-groomed one-two punch is worth a lot to women too. To win the point with the forehand - in this discipline too, Serena is most trusted by the panel. However, Serena's (35 points) lead over second-placed Naomi Osaka (27) is extremely narrow. Ashleigh Barty (14) came third in the survey. The list of other forehand specialists is long: Bianca Andreescu (11), Iga Swiatek (10), Aryna Sabalenka, Petra Kvitova, Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova (5 each), Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka , Aryna Sabalenka, Jennifer Brady ( 2 each) and Simona Halep (1).
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Backhand: Serena Williams (USA)
In this respect, too, the following applies: If Serena is right on the ball, nobody will play more precisely and faster on the WTA tour. That earned her 34 points in the survey. Second place goes to Simona Halep (23) ahead of Victoria Azarenka (18). Ashleigh Barty (12), Naomi Osaka (10), Bianca Andreescu, Sofia Kenin, Petra Kvitova (each 4), Angelique Kerber (3), Belinda Bencic, Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina and Cori Gauff (each 2 ).
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Defensive: Simona Haleb (ROM)
This result would probably have looked a little different in 2016: At that time Angelique Kerber had worn down her opponents with her resilience. Kerber still occupies a top position in our survey four years later, with 34 points, very close behind Simona Halep (45). Elina Svitolina (11) follows as third-best defender, Sofia Kenin and Bianca Andreescu (10 each) are almost on a par with the Ukrainian. Ashleigh Barty (5), Alizé Cornet (3), Belinda Bencic, Caroline Garcia (2 each), Kiki Bertens and Naomi Osaka (1 each) were also mentioned.
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Volley: Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
The nice thing about women's tennis is that the best singles also regularly compete in doubles. So also Ashleigh Barty, who has lost her partner Julia Görges through resignation. Barty, however, leads miles in the ranking of the best volleyball artists with 58 points. Kristina Mladenovic (12) and Barbora Strycova (7) follow in front of Serena Williams (5). The further order of the experts: Taylor Townsend (4), Coco Vandeweghe, Venus Williams (3 each), Karolina Muchova (2) and with one counter each Petra Kvitova, Su-Wei Hsieh, Kirsten Flipkens, Elina Svitolina, Laura Siegemund, Sam Stosur and Katerina Siniakova.
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Footwork: Simona Halep (ROM)
Those who defend well have to be able to walk well. Which is why the final result of our survey, Simona Halep (49 points) ahead of Angelique Kerber (28), does not come as a surprise. Bianca Andreescu (9) comes next, closely followed by Sofia Kenin (8). It continues with Maria Sakkari, Kiki Bertens (4 each), Sloane Stephens, Ashleigh Barty (3), Alizé Cornet, Iga Swiatek (2 each), as well as Petra Martic, Elina Svitolina, Lauren Davis, Garbine Muguruza and Sara Errani with each one point.
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Mental strength: Serena Williams (USA)
Well, Serena's career achievements (46 points) have also been incorporated. Naomi Osaka (26) has just shown this year that nothing can upset her. Neither does Bianca Andreescu (9) at the US Open in 2019. Ashleigh Barty (6), Iga Swiatek (5), Angelique Kerber (4), Venus Williams (2), and finally Simona Halep and Cori Gauff follow with a mention
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