martinezownsclay
Hall of Fame
In what order would you rank these 4 players. Some points on each.
Davenport:
-A pretty amazing 4 Year End #1s. She in fact has more Year End #1s than she has slam titles. It should be noted though of those years, only 1998 was she widely regarded as the best, although you could make possible arguments for 2004 and 2005 too. She did not win a single Player of Year award in 3 of her 4 YE#1 years of 2001, 2004, 2005, and in 2001 she ended the Year #1 slamless over 2 seperate 2 slam winners- Venus and Jennifer Capriati. So some would argue her YE#1s is a skewed stat. And the only year of the 4 she won a slam was 1998, her other 2 years winning a slam were not in Year End #1 years.
-55 Career WTA singles titles
-For those who value doubles at all, 3 doubles slams, and 13 doubles slam finals. A lot like her singles career she was a perennial bridesmaid often in doubles.
-3 slam singles titles, all in a relatively short span from 98 US Open to 2000 Australia. 7 total slam finals.
-1 WTA Championship title, and 1 Olympic Gold in singles.
Clijsters:
-4 slam singles titles, 3 of them US Opens. All her slam titles are hard court slams.
-3 YEC titles.
-Although she has no YE#1s, she virtually swept the Player of Year awards in 2005 and 2010 both (Wozniacki I think got 1 award for 2009 only), and was generally seen as the real #1 both years.
-Has only 20 official weeks ranked #1.
-41 career singles titles
-rarely played doubles, but still has 2 doubles slam wins.
Sharapova:
-Her biggest achievement is being 1 of only 9 women in history to complete the Career Slam.
-5 slam singles titles, equal with Hingis for most of these 4 women.
-Just like Clijsters, never a Year End #1.
-Unlike Clijsters was never generally seen at years end as the best player either though. Reflecting this fact, she also has barely any Player of Year Awards, her only one being the WTA Player of Year for 2004, where the Player of Year awards were spread out amongst many women.
-Has 36 WTA singles titles.
-Has no noteable doubles achievements.
-Olympic silver in singles.
Hingis
-3 Year End #1s. Like Davenport, some have been questioned by the public, particularly her 2000 one where Venus finished the year winning 2 slams and ended at #3, and Davenport ended the year with a slam win and 3 overall slam finals, along with consistent tournament results, and finished #2. Hingis without a slam and only 1 slam final still finished at #1. None as criticized as Davenport's 2001 Year End #1 however.
-An astonishing 209 weeks ranked at #1. 5th most all time. Interestingly Davenport despite more YE#1s, has only 98 weeks ranked at #1. Davenport and Hingis are both far above Clijsters and Sharapova in all #1 ranking stats.
-5 singles slams, including 3 in her dominant 1997, which was by a huge margin the best single year any of these 4 women had.
-2 Year End Championship titles.
-43 singles titles, 2nd most of these 4 women, after only Davenport.
-Outstanding doubles career. 13 womens doubles slam wins, and 7 mixed doubles slam wins.
So who would you rank best and worst of these 4. I personally think Hingis is easily #1, even with Maria's Career Slam.
After Hingis I have a hard time ranking them though. I think Clijsters probably should be behind Sharapova, excluding Maria's PED usage. I can see an argument for Davenport to be above both Clijsters and Sharapova, between them, or behind both.
Davenport:
-A pretty amazing 4 Year End #1s. She in fact has more Year End #1s than she has slam titles. It should be noted though of those years, only 1998 was she widely regarded as the best, although you could make possible arguments for 2004 and 2005 too. She did not win a single Player of Year award in 3 of her 4 YE#1 years of 2001, 2004, 2005, and in 2001 she ended the Year #1 slamless over 2 seperate 2 slam winners- Venus and Jennifer Capriati. So some would argue her YE#1s is a skewed stat. And the only year of the 4 she won a slam was 1998, her other 2 years winning a slam were not in Year End #1 years.
-55 Career WTA singles titles
-For those who value doubles at all, 3 doubles slams, and 13 doubles slam finals. A lot like her singles career she was a perennial bridesmaid often in doubles.
-3 slam singles titles, all in a relatively short span from 98 US Open to 2000 Australia. 7 total slam finals.
-1 WTA Championship title, and 1 Olympic Gold in singles.
Clijsters:
-4 slam singles titles, 3 of them US Opens. All her slam titles are hard court slams.
-3 YEC titles.
-Although she has no YE#1s, she virtually swept the Player of Year awards in 2005 and 2010 both (Wozniacki I think got 1 award for 2009 only), and was generally seen as the real #1 both years.
-Has only 20 official weeks ranked #1.
-41 career singles titles
-rarely played doubles, but still has 2 doubles slam wins.
Sharapova:
-Her biggest achievement is being 1 of only 9 women in history to complete the Career Slam.
-5 slam singles titles, equal with Hingis for most of these 4 women.
-Just like Clijsters, never a Year End #1.
-Unlike Clijsters was never generally seen at years end as the best player either though. Reflecting this fact, she also has barely any Player of Year Awards, her only one being the WTA Player of Year for 2004, where the Player of Year awards were spread out amongst many women.
-Has 36 WTA singles titles.
-Has no noteable doubles achievements.
-Olympic silver in singles.
Hingis
-3 Year End #1s. Like Davenport, some have been questioned by the public, particularly her 2000 one where Venus finished the year winning 2 slams and ended at #3, and Davenport ended the year with a slam win and 3 overall slam finals, along with consistent tournament results, and finished #2. Hingis without a slam and only 1 slam final still finished at #1. None as criticized as Davenport's 2001 Year End #1 however.
-An astonishing 209 weeks ranked at #1. 5th most all time. Interestingly Davenport despite more YE#1s, has only 98 weeks ranked at #1. Davenport and Hingis are both far above Clijsters and Sharapova in all #1 ranking stats.
-5 singles slams, including 3 in her dominant 1997, which was by a huge margin the best single year any of these 4 women had.
-2 Year End Championship titles.
-43 singles titles, 2nd most of these 4 women, after only Davenport.
-Outstanding doubles career. 13 womens doubles slam wins, and 7 mixed doubles slam wins.
So who would you rank best and worst of these 4. I personally think Hingis is easily #1, even with Maria's Career Slam.
After Hingis I have a hard time ranking them though. I think Clijsters probably should be behind Sharapova, excluding Maria's PED usage. I can see an argument for Davenport to be above both Clijsters and Sharapova, between them, or behind both.