justineheninhoogenbandfan said:
The womens game is a big collection of nerves, I dont care if it has alot of variety or not(which IMO it doesnt even anymore then the mens). Even though I like Justine she has shown herself to be a cascade of nerves this year, she could have won all 4 slams this year had she stayed strong mentaly(well and minus the illness in Australia, but she still was nervous big time in that final, even aside from the illness). Mauresmo is still a big bundle of nerves, she is much mentaly tougher then she used to be, give her credit for that but still huge problems with nerves. Sharapova might be mentaly tough but boring one-dimensional game. Clijsters admits to wanting to make friends more then win alot of big titles, and seems content with her 1 slam. Serena has made great progress in fitness for only 2 months so hopefully she keeps doing it and is setting the standard for these other women eventualy. Right now mens tennis>womens tennis without a doubt though.
Federer and Nadal set the standard in mental toughness for any of the women to match. I dont mean that to be sexist, there was a time Graf and Seles and Sanchez together would have set a standard for any of the men, minus Sampras, to match in terms of mental toughness.
So basically, Davey, you've said that it's a big bundle of nerves even though it's not really because you went on to give reasons and signs of improvement. The question was not nerves, it was variety.
I know that I have a different perspective, but I remember a time when there was great variety in the men's game. I remember a time when S/V players did battle with baseliners. That was a great time in tennis. Today's game resembles little more than a ping pong match with the players standing on the table. Roger Federer is an exception because he can come to net, and for that ability, he's touted as a genius. Federer, as evidenced in his match against Blake, can be driven from the net. He can and does resort to the same tactics as 99% of the ATP when he feels pressure, the notable exception being Taylor Dent.
Today, the men's game is all about working inside out cross court forehands until you can open the court up enough to hit a down the line winner to your opponent's forehand side. You see it in 99% of the matches played. The other night Blake/Federer was an exceptional match. Notice the word excetional, because Blake when under the most pressure, attacked the net relentlessly. The Youhzny/Nads match was great, but it was drama more than tactics or strategy that made it so. Youhzny was zoned, something you don't see often unless you followed tennis in 1984 and watched McEnroe basically go through the year zoned.
To recap, this discussion is about vareity, not athleticism. The men's game has that hands down. The men can hit the ball harder, run faster, and jump higher just like the old PF Flyer commercial promised. They can and do routinely use more of the court. There serves have more direction, spin, and power. However, the women, have more variety of tactic and strategy IMO among the top players than the men. There are baseline juggernauts, but even as you have admitted Henin, Mauresmo and I would add players like Jankovic are moving forward and playing more all court games.
