davey25
Banned
How would you rank the Open Era 3 time slam singles winners for women, excluding Capriati who is not in the same class as these players and was already demoted to being a part of my "2 slam champion" thread. Here is how I would rank them:
1. Lindsay Davenport- 55 career singles titles and only 3 slams in singles? Sometimes fate is unfair. In the case of Lindsay it certainly was. Much of her good years coincided with the enigmatic Williams sisters playing at their peaks, both very bad matchups for her as they can match her power and overall hitting off serves, returns, and grondies but far exceed her mobility and natural self belief. She was almost certainly denied the 2004 Wimbledon title by a rain delay, the 2004 U.S Open title by an untimely injury in her semifinal with Kuznetsova. The 2005 Wimbledon final saw her miss out after serving for a straight sets win, dropping a 4-2 serve game from 40-15 in the 3rd set, and missing out on a match point, all while dealing with a flare up of an old back injury midway through the 3rd set. She also had the misfortune to miss out on 2 additional slam victories which went to her pigeon Capriati due to a bad timed injury forcing her withdrawal- 2001 French Open (where she would have completed her career slam) and the 2002 Australian Open. 4 year end #1s as well, though some of them are dubious. Still really a better player than a 3 slam winner, and easily out in front of this group.
2. Ann Jones- This very talented 60s player from Britian was first and foremost a clay court specialist who won 2 French Opens and reached numerous other big clay court finals. However she still managed to win Wimbledon by beating King and Court back to back. It was surprising she mostly dissapeared from the tour at that point, including not playing the U.S Open later that year which she was seeded #1 for. Despite her age of 31 it seemed she was really coming into the best form of her life.
3. Maria Sharapova- honestly I hate her game but I cant in good conscious rank her lower than Wade. I even thought of ranking her #2 over Jones but decided against it. For about 4 years Maria Sharapova was both a quite winning and very consistent player. She managed 3 slams starting at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and ending with the 2008 Australian Open Championships. She won all with some bigtime wins- Davenport and Serena to win Wimbledon 04, then World #1 Mauresmo and Henin to win the 06 U.S Open. The dominant World #1 Henin in the quarters, and Ivanovic and Jankovic who would both be #1 that year in the semis and finals, on the way to the 08 Australian Open. She was also very consistent that whole time, losing to the eventual champion in 5 slams between her 04 Wimbledon and 06 U.S Open titles. In total reaching the semis or better in a total of 10 of those 15 slams (not counting 2 additional losses earlier to the eventual winner), winning a WTA Championship title and reaching another final, and winning and being a finalist in multiple tier 1 and tier 2 events on tour. If her best is already well behind her due to injury as many feel it is, the biggest knock against her will be longevity. Only a 4 year span at the top before being done in by injuries. Also of note she owns an impressive 5-1 career head to head vs Davenport, still IMO the best of the 3 slam winners. Most of their meetings where when Davenport was still playing fairly well, ironically while most of Maria's wins are tough 3 setters sometimes snatching victory frm the jaws of defeat, the one Davenport win was a double bagel.
4. Virginia Wade- Another 3 slam winner from Britian, coming on the scene at the tail end of Jones's career. Still IMO she is behind Jones. She was an excellent player but was never someone people thought could become the #1 player in the World, nor was she ever really part of the biggest rivalry at the top of the womens game even if for brief periods she might been ranked as a computer #2 (not sure on that). Her most impressive title was by far the U.S Open in 68 where she beat Jones on the way to the final, and then stunned the tennis World with an easy win over the then undisputed #1 Billie Jean King. Her Australian Open title in 72 featured a good win over Goolagong in the final, but an otherwise usual depleted field. Her Wimbledon victory in 77 was highlighted by her big win over Chris Evert in the semis. Her head to heads vs all of Evert, Court, King, Goolagong, and Navratilova are lopsidedly bad in her favor although most of her matches with Martina were in her 30s and past her prime (not that it would have likely made much difference when all those others I mentioned owned her).
BTW if I had included Capriati I was going to put her last anyway.
1. Lindsay Davenport- 55 career singles titles and only 3 slams in singles? Sometimes fate is unfair. In the case of Lindsay it certainly was. Much of her good years coincided with the enigmatic Williams sisters playing at their peaks, both very bad matchups for her as they can match her power and overall hitting off serves, returns, and grondies but far exceed her mobility and natural self belief. She was almost certainly denied the 2004 Wimbledon title by a rain delay, the 2004 U.S Open title by an untimely injury in her semifinal with Kuznetsova. The 2005 Wimbledon final saw her miss out after serving for a straight sets win, dropping a 4-2 serve game from 40-15 in the 3rd set, and missing out on a match point, all while dealing with a flare up of an old back injury midway through the 3rd set. She also had the misfortune to miss out on 2 additional slam victories which went to her pigeon Capriati due to a bad timed injury forcing her withdrawal- 2001 French Open (where she would have completed her career slam) and the 2002 Australian Open. 4 year end #1s as well, though some of them are dubious. Still really a better player than a 3 slam winner, and easily out in front of this group.
2. Ann Jones- This very talented 60s player from Britian was first and foremost a clay court specialist who won 2 French Opens and reached numerous other big clay court finals. However she still managed to win Wimbledon by beating King and Court back to back. It was surprising she mostly dissapeared from the tour at that point, including not playing the U.S Open later that year which she was seeded #1 for. Despite her age of 31 it seemed she was really coming into the best form of her life.
3. Maria Sharapova- honestly I hate her game but I cant in good conscious rank her lower than Wade. I even thought of ranking her #2 over Jones but decided against it. For about 4 years Maria Sharapova was both a quite winning and very consistent player. She managed 3 slams starting at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and ending with the 2008 Australian Open Championships. She won all with some bigtime wins- Davenport and Serena to win Wimbledon 04, then World #1 Mauresmo and Henin to win the 06 U.S Open. The dominant World #1 Henin in the quarters, and Ivanovic and Jankovic who would both be #1 that year in the semis and finals, on the way to the 08 Australian Open. She was also very consistent that whole time, losing to the eventual champion in 5 slams between her 04 Wimbledon and 06 U.S Open titles. In total reaching the semis or better in a total of 10 of those 15 slams (not counting 2 additional losses earlier to the eventual winner), winning a WTA Championship title and reaching another final, and winning and being a finalist in multiple tier 1 and tier 2 events on tour. If her best is already well behind her due to injury as many feel it is, the biggest knock against her will be longevity. Only a 4 year span at the top before being done in by injuries. Also of note she owns an impressive 5-1 career head to head vs Davenport, still IMO the best of the 3 slam winners. Most of their meetings where when Davenport was still playing fairly well, ironically while most of Maria's wins are tough 3 setters sometimes snatching victory frm the jaws of defeat, the one Davenport win was a double bagel.
4. Virginia Wade- Another 3 slam winner from Britian, coming on the scene at the tail end of Jones's career. Still IMO she is behind Jones. She was an excellent player but was never someone people thought could become the #1 player in the World, nor was she ever really part of the biggest rivalry at the top of the womens game even if for brief periods she might been ranked as a computer #2 (not sure on that). Her most impressive title was by far the U.S Open in 68 where she beat Jones on the way to the final, and then stunned the tennis World with an easy win over the then undisputed #1 Billie Jean King. Her Australian Open title in 72 featured a good win over Goolagong in the final, but an otherwise usual depleted field. Her Wimbledon victory in 77 was highlighted by her big win over Chris Evert in the semis. Her head to heads vs all of Evert, Court, King, Goolagong, and Navratilova are lopsidedly bad in her favor although most of her matches with Martina were in her 30s and past her prime (not that it would have likely made much difference when all those others I mentioned owned her).
BTW if I had included Capriati I was going to put her last anyway.
