Reply to Serena Williams defeats S Halep in 3 sets; 309 Grand Slam match wins!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What consistently amazes me about Serena is her mental fortitude. It seems like other players around her age were mentally done with the game by this point in their careers and retired. Or they had to retire because of injuries.

Serena just keeps going. She gets injured - comes back just as strong. She never stops.

I understand why people criticize her dad, but he must have done something right (along with the whole family) to keep her and to a lesser extent Venus, playing top level tennis for such a long time without suffering burn out.[/quote]

Serena and Venus often credit their longevity to the fact that their dad didn't let them play juniors and hand picked the early tournaments they would participate in.  I'm just so happy they are still playing. Venus may not be winning Slams anymore, but she is still playing at a competitive level.  Serena is just out of this world.  I was glued to the screen last night.  Halep played well, but there was nothing she could do once Serena got dialed in.[/quote]

I have a slightly different perspective on the same topic (longevity).  I think that they have played so long because they have spaced out their careers more over the years.  They have taken more time off throughout their careers pursuing various side endeavors and played fewer tournaments per year than many other top professionals.  I think this has decreased the "wear and tear" on them and allowed them to extend their physical careers longer than others.

[b]Venus has played for almost 22 years (it will be 22 years next month) and Serena has played almost 21 years (her anniversary is in about 2 weeks).  In that time, Venus has played 933 singles matches.  Serena has played 898 matches.[/b]
[b]
Compare to:
Martina Navratilova, career of 19 years, 1661 matches
Chris Evert, career of 17 years, 1455 matches
Virginia Wade, career of 18 years, 1168 matches
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, career of 19 years, 1054 matches
Conchita Martinez, career of 18 years, 1036 matches
Francesca Schiavone, career of 18+ years (not retired yet), 1036 matches
Stéphanie Foretz, career of 19+ years (not retired yet), 1025
Steffi Graf, career of 17 years, 1017 matches
Tamarine Tanasugarn, career of 21 years, 999 matches
Patty Schnyder, career of 17 years, 990 matches[/b]

These are just the match leaders for the open era (since 1975).  However, since top tennis players, play ballpark 45-60 matches a year (with a few exceptions), the Williams sisters still average significantly fewer average matches per year and have some bigger breaks throughout the year where they don't play tournaments.  I think that that lower rate of play, helps to decrease the strain on their bodies and allows them to extend their careers longer than other players.

[/quote]

Great stats. I definitely think younger players should learn from V and Rena when it comes to how many matches they play. I think Kerber has played a lot this year in comparison to Serena but Rena has a better win ratio. It sad to see so many of these players burn out after 30. [/quote]

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