Some people never learn

[Ballmachine]

I find it very interesting that so many people are willing to call Serena and Venus' careers over just because they missed some time due to injury. I have heard many of the players saying that the days that saw Venus and Serena competing for grand slam titles are over. Are you kidding me? These ladies are 23 and 22 years old! Once they get back on the tour and back into the grove, they will be kicking tail as usual.

Martina Hingis was opening up her mouth again, what a surprise right, and she was saying that even if she was healthy she wouldn't make a comeback because the game has passed her by. She used Venus as an example, saying she wouldn't want to end up that way. End up what way? In her first tournament back, Venus made the 4th round of the Australian Open, that's not bad. Martina was, and is, a self-centered piece of trash, that had no regard for anyone else but herself. I have heard many of the WTA tour players putting her down, because she actually can compete again, she has had clearance from several doctors, but she just can't cope with not being number 1. She is only 22 years old folks, this is pathetic. If she loved tennis, and not just herself, she would get back onto the court.

I got sidetracked a bit there, but my point is this: Serena will be competing for majors by the end of this year. Expect to see her in the finals of Wimbledon or the U.S. Open. Venus needs to work on her game. If she does not improve her forehand, and her serve especially, she may not win another major again, but she will still get deep, and I mean deep into most of the majors she competes in outside of the French. I find it hard to believe how quickly people are willing to right off athletes who have been out for a while. Serena and Venus will be back, and I will not be surprised at all, if Serena is back on top by this time next year.

[NoBadMojo]

ball machine at least hingis admitted the game passed her by..that is more than most would admit. she just isnt powerful enough to compete and evidently doesnt wish to pay the prices that a small in stature person like hardenne has done to be at the top in the game the way it is just now. it's her life and she can do as she likes. as far as the willliamses, their style of play and poor stroke production and on again off again returns to competition will only lead to more injuries IMO. Ed

[Ronaldo]

Maybe the Williams' have created a 6 mos schedule and never told the WTA.

[@wright]

I agree with Ed, it is quite respectable that Hingis admits that she couldn't compete anymore.

[jmckinney]

Serena and Venus will never dominate the game again. JHH and cliijsters will continue their dominance over them. Serena could not stand losing to JHH and that is why she has disappeared from the scene for a while, not so much as the injury excuse she used. As for Hingis, I would love to see her come back, she was one of the best players ever in my opinion. And at least she can admit the game is too powerful for her now. Serena should just admit that JHH has passed her by and leave for good. Women's tennis has been better with Serena gone.

[jun]

I don't know what kind of inside info you have to determine that Hingis has clearance from doctors. At least she herself says that she can't train the way she wants to..

Anyways, if you are out of tour for some time, the game is going to pass by you. It happened to Venus as well. You are just not interpretting Hingis's comment well. The game did pass by Venus, and it's going to take Venus sometime to catch up. Hingis never said "Permanently passed by"

[Rabbit]

Martina Hingis - while I do respect her for admitting the game has passed her by (I saw her interview on TTC), I also agree that she is very self-centered and probably part of her retirement can be attributed to her loss of dominance on the tour. She simply either didn't have the will, or the physicality to compete with bigger, stronger players like the Williams.

Justin Henin - is Martina Hingis crossed with Arnold Swartzenegger crossed with Rocky Balboa. She has done whatever she needed to do to get competitive. She moves better than any player on tour (IMO), has her body in such shape that she won't get hurt (Pat Etcheberry) and from a game stanpoint can play on any surface.

Serena Williams - didn't leave the game because she was "scared" of JHH. She left the game and had knee surgery for crying out loud. She is just as competitive as any woman who has ever played the game and just as self-centered as Hingis. She'll come back and she'll make GS finals. The one thing about Serena that may keep her out is injuries. Both of the Williams appear to have problems with injuries. It could just be an inherited trait, some folks do have bad tendons.

If the Williams can play 6 months of the year & still win, why not? Why put themselves through the grind of week in week out tournaments if they can just play Grand Slams and win? I don't think they can. We'll see for sure in the future.

One also has to look at their current financial status. The money in the game doesn't encourage them to compete. They have incentives in their contracts (I would suppose) and they have to meet certain basic requirements to get their endorsement money. If they have other interests outside of tennis, which they've both said they do, and they have more money than they'll ever spend, why compete on a regular basis? Both of them have been told since early on that they're the greatest that have ever stepped on court. They believe that, rightly or wrongly. They don't have to prove anything to the powers that be in tennis in their own minds. It would appear that they are more than willing to not play any venue that does not appeal to them on some level. This is evidenced by niether of them playing Indian Wells, Serena won't play in South Carolina (or wouldn't).

[edge]

If the Sistas come back and don't win within 2 years, they will burn out and leave the game, mark my works. They cannot stand be around and losing to people they used to whup.

[atatu]

Edge, The "sistas" cr-p is getting old, give it a rest. They will be back, no doubt, I think they'll be up there with Henin and Clisters, no one else is close. It's really wishful thinking to say their careers are over and to try to justify it by saying the game evolves. Yes, the game does evolve, but that doesn't mean you can't get back to the top after some time off, remember Agassi ?

[GUYANA4U]

Originally Posted by edge

If the Sistas come back and don't win within 2 years, they will burn out and leave the game, mark my works. They cannot stand be around and losing to people they used to whup.

I believe this is what Hingis said about herself shortly after she retired. I've actually decided to let Serena and Venus' tennis results do the talking. Personally I hope that they keep playing because whatever they accomplish will be in the tennis history books, but if they choose to retire, then so be it, then everyone can go back to pretending that racism does not exist in tennis. I just hope that they stick with their outside interests so that they will not end up like Martina N, old and unable to leave the tennis court!!!

[Ballmachine]

I will bet anyone on this board that Serena will win a grand slam title by this time next year. Any takers?

[jmckinney]

How much?

[The tennis guy]

Ball machine "I find it very interesting that so many people are willing to call Serena and Venus' careers over just because they missed some time due to injury. "

I don't know where you get this idea. I surfaced the same TW message board, find most people here think Serena will be very competitive against JHH but put a question mark on whether she can stay injury free for a full year, while most expressed Venus' dominating days might be over which you expressed the same sentiment in your own post. By the way, Venus lost in the 3rd round of Australia Open this year. She hasn't won more than two matches in a row in 3 tournaments she played this year. Most top players did fare a lot better immediately after they came back from long laid-off. The most recent ones include Davenport, Hingis, Graf, Seles.

It is funny to me many people like to interpret things to extreme.

"Serena and Venus will be back, and I will not be surprised at all, if Serena is back on top by this time next year." Neither do most people. It seems you don't want to say Serena and Venus will be both on top again which is what most people don't believe. I do think it is unlikely for Serena to be No. 1 if she just plays 10 tournaments a year like she did before because JHH plays so well now.

[Ballmachine]

You make some fair points tennis guy, but still many people are doubting that Serena and Venus will every be in grand slam finals again. True, Venus is more of a question mark than Serena, but I still think that we will see Venus in the finals of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon again before her career is over. Also, I really don't think that either of the Williams sisters injuries were as serious as they were made out to be. I think that their family is overprotective of them, and they do not want to see the same things that happened to Martina Hingis happen to them. Who can argue with that?

Anyway, in about 6 months I expect to see Venus, Serena, Justine and Kim in almost all of the grandslam semifinals played. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This is mine.

[Ballmachine]

jmckinney, you name the amount and I will take your bet.

[The tennis guy]

No one argued with your opinion. People are arguing about what you interpret their opinions. I interpret most fans here think both Serena and Venus would not do as well as they did before. That's fair to me. I would not bet Serena wins 4 slams in a row again, I would not bet Venus sweeps both US and Wimbledon two years in a row again.

"But I still think that we will see Venus in the finals of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon again before her career is over. " I don't think many people will argue too much about that. Tennis players are measured against their achievements in the past, unfortunately. While getting to US and Wimbledon final is big for majority of tennis professionals, but to Venus and Hingis, that would be big disappointments if that's all they could do from now on.

[Phil]

Martina was, and is, a self-centered piece of trash, that had no regard for anyone else but herself.

Hey, ballmachine, tell us what you REALLY think of Martina!

I agree-Serena will be back, and will win Grand SlamS. Not so sure about Venus, though.

[Ballmachine]

You caught me Phil. I have had a major grudge against Martina Hingis after the way she behaved in that 1999 French Open final against Steffi Graf. She showed no respect whatsoever for possibly the greatest women's player of all-time, and she never really apologized for that deplorable display.

[Phil]

Ballmachine - What can you say about Martina? She was young and dumb and a bit full of herself-comes with winning everything in sight from an early age and being encouraged to act that way.

With Graff finally healthy enough at the French in '99, Hingis ran up against an immovable force-a player who couldn't be pushed around the court or outsmarted. Hingis couldn't handle it-probably wrecked her head for the game for good.

I'm not a medical expert, but my guess is her injury wasn't debilitating enough to permanently take her out of competition-at that age, a person who's willing to put in the rehab time can recover. But she lacked the will to work her way back into physical and competitive tennis shape, only to face the prospect of being beaten by tougher competition then she ever dealt with when she was #1. She gave up-but, she can probably afford to, financially, that is.

[10s]

^Captain Obvious

and Dr Phil fan