Patrick Mouratoglou discussed impact of Serena Williams : "SHE CHANGED TENNIS"

[Sunny014]

Patrick Mouratoglou has discussed the impact that Serena Williams has had upon tennis as she celebrated her 40th birthday this past weekend.

Mouratoglou believes that both Serena and her sister Venus not only changed it on the court but also from a commercial angle as well.


“She changed tennis,” he told Agence France-Presse.

“She brought an athletic dimension that there was not there at all, she opened the doors, with her sister Venus, to a whole generation of players because it was a white sport.

“She invented tennis intimidation because she has a presence that makes others fear her. For a very long time, it was impressive.

“She also brought the business to women’s tennis. Before her, the business was very small and with her it became huge because she has such an aura, she has become such a marketing object, too, that huge contracts are possible for the players.”

Source : https://tennisuptodate.com/wta/patr...hDpRDch9o0fuy1ZQowIZ0s-eliipz1hoK6rrh_LD5vftc

 

[travlerajm]

He seems to be on a self-serving mission to pump up Serena’s legacy.

 

[Sunny014]

He seems to be on a self-serving mission to pump up Serena’s legacy.

Maybe he has a point here.

Serena did bring some intimidation factor into the women's game .... ?

 

[Sunny014]

Even Roger Federer once called Serena the GOAT

Federer calls Serena the best ever

Agreed, Rog. Agreed.

www.espn.com

 

[Sir Weed]

Mourattieri.

 

[Sunny014]

Federer brought class and elegance into the Men's game.
Serena brought raw power and intimidation into the women's game.

Both seem to be the perfect candidates for GOAT to me.

 

[dtl_lover]

Well, Serena certainly had a massive impact on tennis..doubt anyone disputes that.

 

[Sunny014]

I think in terms of impact Serena, Navratilova and Jean King are supreme.

Others come after them.

 

[Kralingen]

“She brought an athletic dimension that there was not there at all, she opened the doors, with her sister Venus, to a whole generation of players because it was a white sport.

“She invented tennis intimidation because she has a presence that makes others fear her. For a very long time, it was impressive.

This is facts.

can't name any black women's tennis players before the Williams sisters, at all. Zina Garrison, maybe?

but it wasn't about their race, peak Serena is the most dominant athlete in comparison to the field ever. men's or womens. She was scary in a way no one else could be.

Mouratoglou believes that both Serena and her sister Venus not only changed it on the court but also from a commercial angle as well.

“She also brought the business to women’s tennis. Before her, the business was very small and with her it became huge because she has such an aura, she has become such a marketing object, too, that huge contracts are possible for the players.”

This is not facts.

Weren't Hingis and Kournikova rockstars in the late 90s before the Williams' really broke out? I mean having a GOAT level player be American certainly helped there but Anna K + Hingis deserve as much credit as the Williams do.

 

[Sunny014]

This is facts.

can't name any black women's tennis players before the Williams sisters, at all. Zina Garrison, maybe?

but it wasn't about their race, peak Serena is the most dominant athlete in comparison to the field ever. men's or womens. She was scary in a way no one else could be.


This is not facts.

Weren't Hingis and Kournikova rockstars in the late 90s before the Williams' really broke out? I mean having a GOAT level player be American certainly helped there but Anna K + Hingis deserve as much credit as the Williams do.

If we point out Anna+Hingis then Sharapova is much bigger than all of them.

But Serena as a role model for female tennis players bought into a lot of commercial value as well ..... not sure what Hingis has done..... she is overrated....

 

[gadge]

He's right. the williams started the modern power tennis on the WTA. US open final between them was the first time women's final was put on prime time.

I don't think anyone denies their impact on the game.

 

[BlueB]

This is facts.

can't name any black women's tennis players before the Williams sisters, at all. Zina Garrison, maybe?

Evonne Goolagong

 

[gadge]

If we point out Anna+Hingis then Sharapova is much bigger than all of them.

But Serena as a role model for female tennis players bought into a lot of commercial value as well ..... not sure what Hingis has done..... she is overrated....

and you think no player has hingis as a role model? different players idolize different players and develop their games. (osaka - serena, sloane,bianca - clijsters, halep - henin, barty - evon, bencic - hingis)

Hingis was a tennage phenom and was a huge star back in the day. People still bring up hingis despite her winning only 5 slams because of how smart she was on court hanging in with players who hit twice as hard as her. She also brought a lot of interest in the doubles department after she made entry to doubles.

 

[Sunny014]

and you think no player has hingis as a role model? different players idolize different players and develop their games. (osaka - serena, sloane,bianca - clijsters, halep - henin, barty - evon, bencic - hingis)

Hingis was a tennage phenom and was a huge star back in the day. People still bring up hingis despite her winning only 5 slams because of how smart she was on court hanging in with players who hit twice as hard as her. She also brought a lot of interest in the doubles department after she made entry to doubles.

Yeah, Hingis has some fanatics as well, I agree

@Jason Swerve rates Hingis as the best and calls her Martinka

 

[Sunny014]

I was reading about battle of the sexes in Tennis
Sounds interesting

Battle of the Sexes (tennis) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MeatTornado]

“She invented tennis intimidation

Ok.

 

[clayqueen]

Mouratoglou can see the writing on the wall that Serena may not get the 24th slam to equal Margaret Court let alone pass her so he is on a damage limitation exercise to cement her legacy. This proves that using the slam count as the yardstick for GOAT is a nonsense because the fact that Court has one more slam than Serena proves nothing.

 

[R. Schweikart]

Patrick Mouratoglou has discussed the impact that Serena Williams has had upon tennis as she celebrated her 40th birthday this past weekend.

...
“She brought an athletic dimension that there was not there at all, ...

“She invented tennis intimidation because she has a presence that makes others fear her.

“She also brought the business to women’s tennis. Before her, the business was very small ...”

You just have to look at overweight Serena of today and pictures/videos of Steffi Graf at 39/40 (or even Navratilova at 39/40). Then you know who the athlete was/is.

Serena intimidated opponents because they never could be sure that a Serena in her rage would not shove a ***** ball down their ***** throats:
"I'm going to get you in the locker room for that. You don't know me." "(to the umpire) She better not come to the net again." "I'm from Compton, you know." (Serena Williams to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez after she cheated in 2009 French Open 3R)
"You'll pay for that." (Serena Williams when Maria Sharapova hit her with an overhead smash in the 2007 Australian Open final)
Steffi Graf, however, had a true presence - an effective killing machine who could turn important matches around (won 4 slam finals when her opponent had serve for the match!).

Steffi Graf was regularly among the top 50 most-earning sports persons, as the only woman. Did Serena manage to do this?


Hopefully Morontoglou will be gone very soon as well.

 

[Sunny014]

Mouratoglou can see the writing on the wall that Serena may not get the 24th slam to equal Margaret Court let alone pass her so he is on a damage limitation exercise to cement her legacy. This proves that using the slam count as the yardstick for GOAT is a nonsense because the fact that Court has one more slam than Serena proves nothing.

Every King/Emperor is not equal, there are kings of small provinces, there are kings of tribes, there are kings of huge landmasses who invade other countries and are called emperors

So in that same vein, Court's dominance cannot be compared with Serena's, Serena is like Alexander the great and Court is like some King Kamehameha of Hawai ....

 

[Sunny014]

You just have to look at overweight Serena of today and pictures/videos of Steffi Graf at 39/40 (or even Navratilova at 39/40). Then you know who the athlete was/is.

Serena intimidated opponents because they never could be sure that a Serena in her rage would not shove a ***** ball down their ***** throats:
"I'm going to get you in the locker room for that. You don't know me." "(to the umpire) She better not come to the net again." "I'm from Compton, you know." (Serena Williams to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez after she cheated in 2009 French Open 3R)
"You'll pay for that." (Serena Williams when Maria Sharapova hit her with an overhead smash in the 2007 Australian Open final)
Steffi Graf, however, had a true presence - an effective killing machine who could turn important matches around (won 4 slam finals when her opponent had serve for the match!).

Steffi Graf was regularly among the top 50 most-earning sports persons, as the only woman. Did Serena manage to do this?


Hopefully Morontoglou will be gone very soon as well.

As expected

Nobody mentioned that forgotten Graf till now until you arrived

Dude, Serena is superior, just accept it.

 

[R. Schweikart]

Even Roger Federer once called Serena the GOAT

Federer calls Serena the best ever

Agreed, Rog. Agreed.

www.espn.com

Federer didn't.
Here is what he actually said: "...and then she became one of the greatest, if not the greatest tennis player of all time."

What about "if not the greatest" didn't you understand?
So "one of the greatest" even "if not the greatest".

 

[Sunny014]

Graf is not even as influential as Billie Jean King who did not get intimidated by Riggs who had beaten Court, she came and beat him like a boss.

What is Graf's impact ???

 

[MurraysMetalHip]

He seems to be self-serving.

Fixed.

 

[R. Schweikart]

I think in terms of impact Serena, Navratilova and Jean King are supreme.

Others come after them.

Fans world-wide apparently thought and think otherwise.
For instance this Wimbledon poll 10 years ago:

Wimbledon tournament poll 2011:
The Results - Favourite Wimbledon Player
ROGER FEDERER: 25%
RAFAEL NADAL: 13%
STEFFI GRAF: 10%
ANDRE AGASSI: 6%
BJORN BORG: 6%
PETE SAMPRAS: 5%
JOHN MCENROE: 4%
STEFAN EDBERG: 3%
BORIS BECKER: 3%
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA: 3%

Steffi Graf the most popular player of the 20th century - male or female! (Her husband also well-liked, BTW)
Navratilova far behind as second-most popular woman player.
King and Serena not mentioned.
Steffi was the "first global superstar" (Billie Jean King, November 2017)

That's the way it is, sorry.

 

[R. Schweikart]

This is facts.

can't name any black women's tennis players before the Williams sisters, at all. Zina Garrison, maybe?
...

Ever heard of Althea Gibson, you joker?

 

[NoleFam]

He's saying "she did this" and "she did that" but it was really Venus that paved the way. Venus was the 1st to sign a huge contract and Venus was the 1st between to the two to dominate. She laid the blueprint and Serena was able to watch that, and took it and ran with it. I mean I get what he's trying to say but Venus was just as instrumental in changing the game as Serena was, but he's kind of implying it was all Serena.

 

[R. Schweikart]

and you think no player has hingis as a role model? different players idolize different players and develop their games. (osaka - serena, sloane,bianca - clijsters, halep - henin, barty - evon, bencic - hingis)

Hingis was a tennage phenom and was a huge star back in the day. People still bring up hingis despite her winning only 5 slams because of how smart she was on court hanging in with players who hit twice as hard as her. She also brought a lot of interest in the doubles department after she made entry to doubles.

Hingis never was popular.
Just watch the FO 99 final you you can see what people thought of this *****le.

 

[Kralingen]

Ever heard of Althea Gibson, you joker?

yeah but she was like,, late 50s I believe? That's 40 years with hardly any racial diversity in women’s tennis (yes I know about Goolagong and Date)

so it definitely was a big deal for the Williams sisters to break through in the way they did.

 

[NoleFam]

Hingis never was popular.
Just watch the FO 99 final you you can see what people thought of this *****le.

Hingis was very popular and interesting, and I even watched her 1997 run. Seeing a 16 year old girl do that was crazy and out of this world. She was very unique and brought a lot of interest in tennis. Now she was arrogant and sometimes let her mouth get her in trouble, but she was popular.

 

[R. Schweikart]

Graf is not even as influential as Billie Jean King who did not get intimidated by Riggs who had beaten Court, she came and beat him like a boss.

What is Graf's impact ???

No player in the history of the sport drove more fans to women's tennis than Graf. In Europe, in Asia, almost everywhere.
Especially Indians were crazy for her - a beautiful blonde, dancing on the court, and with powerful and elegant strokes.

She made all those millions of macho hetero football fans watch her and not being ashamed at all to admit that they like WTA tennis!
Try to tell people in a football stadium today that you also love women's tennis. But be wary, you won't like the reaction....
However, we may be on the cusp of history repeating itself with Emma Raducanu.

 

[R. Schweikart]

Hingis was very popular and interesting, and I even watched her 1997 run. Seeing a 16 year old girl do that was crazy and out of this world. She was very unique and brought a lot of interest in tennis. Now she was arrogant and sometimes let her mouth get her in trouble, but she was popular.

Any polls from back then?

 

[Sunny014]

Kids, Teens and people in 20s today don't know Steffi, even ones in 30s have all started watching Tennis from williams sisters
Whatever impact Graf had in 90s is definetly over, she is merely a footnote in Tennis history in terms of impact.

 

[NoleFam]

Any polls from back then?

Probably not but I do remember her being on the cover of some mainstream US magazines.

 

[Steffi-forever]

This is facts.

but it wasn't about their race, peak Serena is the most dominant athlete in comparison to the field ever. men's or womens. She was scary in a way no one else could be.

That is only your opinion, not facts. Graf, Navratilova, Federer and Djokovic have higher statistics in their peaks years then Serena.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

Oh, please. Not this.

 

[Steffi-forever]

Graf is not even as influential as Billie Jean King who did not get intimidated by Riggs who had beaten Court, she came and beat him like a boss.

What is Graf's impact ???

Graf had a huge impact on tennis! She was the most popular player in the 90s.

 

[R. Schweikart]

Kids, Teens and people in 20s today don't know Steffi, even ones in 30s have all started watching Tennis from williams sisters
Whatever impact Graf had in 90s is definetly over, she is merely a footnote in Tennis history in terms of impact.

Then why does Steffi still win GOAT polls?
Even in the USA (!)??

US tennis fans voted for Steffi Graf as “greatest of all time“ at “tennis.com“ (November 2018):

GOAT Vote: Steffi or Serena? 'The Ten' went one way; you went another. | Tennis.com

<p><strong>Watch the second episode of <em>The Ten—Wom

www.tennis.com

I have some Austrian and German polls, too.
But you won't like them either....

 

[Sunny014]

That is only your opinion, not facts. Graf, Navratilova, Federer and Djokovic have higher statistics in their peaks years then Serena.

Serena Williams has 2 NCYGS in 2 different decades.

That is Dominance stretched across 20 years

 

[R. Schweikart]

Probably not but I do remember her being on the cover of some mainstream US magazines.

The German Reichskanzler (actually an Austrian) was on the TIME cover several times in the 1930s.
So that means nothing.

 

[NoleFam]

The German Reichskanzler (actually an Austrian) was on the TIME cover several times in the 1930s.
So that means nothing.

If you make the Time cover, that actually means something and is kind of a big deal.

 

[Sunny014]

Graf had a huge impact on tennis! She was the most popular player in the 90s.

Agassi was the most popular tennis player in the 90s

Also Monica Seles is the only female tennis player in the last 30-35 years to have made more than male tennis players in an year, in 2 years she did this, no other female has done that even once

Source : Forbes

 

[R. Schweikart]

Serena Williams has 2 NCYGS in 2 different decades.

That is Dominance stretched across 20 years

Steffi also won a "NCYGS", in the 90s. But Steffi fans don't talk a lot about such minor accomplishments.
Because she won the Golden Slam in an earlier decade (80s).

 

[Kralingen]

That is only your opinion, not facts. Graf, Navratilova, Federer and Djokovic have higher statistics in their peaks years then Serena.

That’s because of their tennis skills and tactics though. Not what I’m talking about.

In terms of athleticism and power Serena was on another level even to Rafa.

 

[Sunny014]

Steffi also won a "NCYGS", in the 90s. But Steffi fans don't talk a lot about such minor accomplishments.
Because she won the Golden Slam in an earlier decade (80s).

Serena's NCYGS was separated by more than a decade gap, that is how you win in 2 decades

Plus Serena did not have any asterix ( *Gunter ) next to her NCYGS

 

[Sunny014]

That’s because of their tennis skills and tactics though. Not what I’m talking about.

In terms of athleticism and power Serena was on another level even to Rafa.

Hmm, not sure about that.

Rafa is the ceiling of athleticism across all genders in Tennis, nobody can go higher, 13 frenchs in 16 years, it is complete ownage of 3 generations every single year, it is like he had 3 different peaks of 4-5 years each

 

[R. Schweikart]

Serena's NCYGS was separated by more than a decade gap, that is how you win in 2 decades

Plus Serena did not have any asterix ( *Gunter ) next to her NCYGS

Serena has a much bigger asterisk next to her resumé - she won two thirds of her slams in the Wozniacki/Azarenka era, with only mugs as opposition.
Until age 27 she won only 8 slams (Steffi 21!) against quite strong competition (sister, Belgians, etc.). Only when they all were gone (or ill in Venus's case) Serena could vulture tons of slams.

 

[Steffi-forever]

Steffi also won a "NCYGS", in the 90s. But Steffi fans don't talk a lot about such minor accomplishments.
Because she won the Golden Slam in an earlier decade (80s).

He constantly change his arguments. When Djoko fan talked about his NCYGS, he said that means nothing, but now he changed his tune again!

 

[Sunny014]

He constantly change his arguments. When Djoko fan talked about his NCYGS, he said that means nothing, but now he changed his tune again!

FALSE....... I am not changing arguments...... I will explain why.



NCYGS is still not a big deal for me, you brought in peak level of wining slams by trying to equate Graf's 88-96 run on par with Federer's 03-09 run but that is not a valid comparison as per me !!!

Reason ???

Federer did not have an asterix of Gunter next to his name like Graf has, he bulldozed everyone in his path and he accepted the defeats to Nadal without any Gunters to aide him..... But Graf's 93-96 dominance would not have come if Seles was not stabbed, so Graff is only dominant for 88-90 period as per me .... after that her superior arrived....

Secondly, Federer's peak ended and his post peak from late 20s was cut short by 2 young next gen ATGs, Graf did not have any such after Gunter removed Seles for 3 years and yet Graf was finished anyway, so I don't see any exceptional dominance at her peak...... !

Serena has been brute force for 2 decades and her NCYGS coming 12 years apart only proves that she has been very powerful for a very long time.

 

[Sunny014]

If you want to talk of dominance at peak for ladies, then this is what you call dominance

Dominating singles and doubles all simultaneously for years and years, this is real power....She did this in the presence of a GOAT candidate Evert who was of same age group.

Exceptional hand eye co coordination from Navratilova

 

[Sir Weed]

The TTW debate club in full force. 'MON!