Where does Sharapova rank amongst women of the last 15 years if she retired tommorow

deacsyoga

deacsyoga

Banned
Obviously she is far behind Serena but does she have any case to be over Henin and/or Venus due to the Career Slam? Does that even put her over Hingis who has 5 slams, and is ahead of Maria in almost every stat minus lacking the Career Slam? Is she over Clijsters and Davenport? I think currently she slots:

1. Serena
2 and 3. Venus and Henin
4. Hingis
5. Clijsters
6. Sharapova
7. Davenport

Although Davenport, Clijsters, and Sharapova could go in just about any order. Clijsters has 1 less slam and no French or Wimbledon title but has a legacy at a slam (U.S Open) which Maria has nowhere, has 3 YEC to Maria's 1, has many more Premier titles and overall titles, and swept the POY awards (aka was the true #1) in both 2005 and 2010 while Maria was neither the computer or perceived #1 of any year although she did win the WTA award only for 2004.

Davenport has 4 YE#1s but only 1 or 2 of them were deserved. She has only 3 slams to Maria's 5 and Kim's 4. She has 3 of the 4 slams, no French Open. She has only 1 YEC too, but has even more titles than Clijsters, although roughly the same number of Premier titles I believe, way more than Sharapova.

I dont see much case for Maria being over Hingis even with the Career Slam and none really to be over Henin or Venus unless she wins atleast 2 more slams probably, or at minimum 1 more.
 
Probably where you put her. There is a case for her being above clijsters but not a strong one imo.
For her to rank above Hingis/Henin/Venus she would have had be the best player a year or 2 which she never was. Her lack of consistently winning big titles throughout the year puts her around davenport level.
 
Phoenix1983 said:
I'd rank her above Clijsters.

Btw, I think you mean the best players of the last 20 years. Hingis in the last 15 years hasn't won a slam in singles! :D
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I basically meant the post Graf/Seles/Sanchez players but couldnt think of a perfect way to put it. Basically all the people fairly covered by Serena's long career.
 
deacsyoga said:
Obviously she is far behind Serena but does she have any case to be over Henin and/or Venus due to the Career Slam? Does that even put her over Hingis who has 5 slams, and is ahead of Maria in almost every stat minus lacking the Career Slam? Is she over Clijsters and Davenport? I think currently she slots:

1. Serena
2 and 3. Venus and Henin
4. Hingis
5. Clijsters
6. Sharapova
7. Davenport

Although Davenport, Clijsters, and Sharapova could go in just about any order. Clijsters has 1 less slam and no French or Wimbledon title but has a legacy at a slam (U.S Open) which Maria has nowhere, has 3 YEC to Maria's 1, has many more Premier titles and overall titles, and swept the POY awards (aka was the true #1) in both 2005 and 2010 while Maria was neither the computer or perceived #1 of any year although she did win the WTA award only for 2004.

Davenport has 4 YE#1s but only 1 or 2 of them were deserved. She has only 3 slams to Maria's 5 and Kim's 4. She has 3 of the 4 slams, no French Open. She has only 1 YEC too, but has even more titles than Clijsters, although roughly the same number of Premier titles I believe, way more than Sharapova.

I dont see much case for Maria being over Hingis even with the Career Slam and none really to be over Henin or Venus unless she wins atleast 2 more slams probably, or at minimum 1 more.
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1) Serena (23 slams - 72 titles)
2) Venus (7 slams - 49 titles)
3) Henin (7 slams - 43 titles)
4) Hingis (5 slams - 43 titles)
5) Sharapova (5 slams - 35 titles)
6) Davenport (3 slams - 55 titles)
7) Clijsters (4 slams - 41 titles)

5-6-7 are very close. Hingis I feel is clearly at #4 ahead of them because for a while even when she didn't win she was all the time at the SF, F or no.1. lol
 
Cilic would be better guide, but the women's game is far more open at the top than the men's game. So one good injury-free run might be very possible, even if unlikely.
 
70後 said:
If Hingis counts, does Martina Navratilova count?

And Seles.
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Hingis is still an active player (yes, doubles only) and is from Venus/Serena's generation; she just stopped playing comparatively early before making a comeback. Navratilova and Monica are from an earlier age.
 
Nobody has proven anything. A powerful bureaucracy under American control banned a placebo to attack Russia.

So successful was this strategy that the liberal press now blames Russia for anything and everything that goes wrong.
Deon Sanders said:
Impossible to rank her

She is a proven cheater and every single title of her career is not just questioned but invalid

So I would say maybe 8,000-9,000 range because she finally won a match or two this year after her cheating
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TennisATP said:
1) Serena (23 slams - 72 titles)
2) Venus (7 slams - 49 titles)
3) Henin (7 slams - 43 titles)
4) Hingis (5 slams - 43 titles)
5) Sharapova (5 slams - 35 titles)
6) Davenport (3 slams - 55 titles)
7) Clijsters (4 slams - 41 titles)

5-6-7 are very close. Hingis I feel is clearly at #4 ahead of them because for a while even when she didn't win she was all the time at the SF, F or no.1. lol
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Almost perfect ^
Sharpie has career slam and one more then Clijsters and 2 more then Davezport, enough to place her well ahead.
However, Kim is better then Lindsey. One more slam, in despite having babies and long break in the middle of career.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
BlueB said:
Almost perfect ^
Sharpie has career slam and one more then Clijsters and 2 more then Davezport, enough to place her well ahead.
However, Kim is better then Lindsey. One more slam, in despite having babies and long break in the middle of career.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
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I feel that Davenport had the bad luck to really play at the absolute height of women's tennis.
 
deacsyoga said:
Is this a very late April Fools joke. :D

The odds of Sharapova winning even 1 more slam is probably about on par with Berdych winning a slam at this point.
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Sharapova has probably another 25 attempts at majors, she could easily win 3 more majors eclipsing Henin and Venus.

Don't you realize that once she is back healthy there is no one stopping her ?
 
Well, if you're talking specifically about the least 15 years I'd certainly have her over Hingis, whose best years predate that point :p otherwise the only ones I'd take her over from the golden age would be Mauresmo, and probably but less assuredly Davenport and Clijsters. Not in the same league as Serena, Henin, or Hingis.

Between her and Venus I'd have it close, but Maria, like Serena has benefited from adding slams to her total in this era of mental invalids. If she had never had that career altering shoulder surgery you never know what might have been, but the same obviously goes for Venus and her health.

The two of them would for sure for me be behind those other three, but I'd be tempted to take Maria over Venus because I'd value the career slam slightly over the longevity. Those two Roland Garros titles are pretty ridiculous.

So probably 4th? 5th at worst.
 
Weren't most of Venus' best years before the 2003 season (15 y ars ago) though? I think Sharapova actually has more accomplishments since then.
 
Last 15 years? From 2002 to 2017 basically.

Venus already had a couple of slams, if we start from 2002. She had won four already, and won three more from that point.
Hingis won all her slams in the 90s. Her slam slam was AO 99.
Davenport had won her slams before then also, if I recall she won USO 98, W99 and then AO the following year.

So, not really fair comparison here. I think apart from Serena, only Henin won more slams during the last fifteen years than Sharapova.
 
Hingis' best year, 1997, was 20 years ago, but I know what the OP means. You can still do it by career, in which case:

1. Serena
2. Venus/Henin (pretty close in my view)
4. Hingis
5. Clijsters
6. Maria
7. Davenport

Pretty much that, imo.

Serena by a country mile.

Venus and Justine are close. I like Henin's slightly wider variety of big titles more, Venus was stronger at Wim/US and does have greater longevity. Pick 'em.

Martina should have completed the Grand Slam in 1997 in retrospect and I don't think she was quite the same after losing the French final '99 to Steffi when she lost her composure.

Kim next for her 3 US Opens including primarily the successful comeback and the pretty good spell 2010-11.

Maria for winning all 4 Slams and five in total. I didn't think she'd ever win the French...

Lindsay for her 3 Slams. Should have won more.
 
Yeah I realize now I should have titled it the last 20 years. I didnt want people to start including Graf, Seles, Sanchez, etc..in the discussion at all which is the main reason I used the 15 year mark.
 
Without the juice, the only thing Sharapova has proved is she cannot play two good matches back to back without failure or breaking down.

Now a confirmed drug cheat, she must be (quite rightly) one of the most rigorously tested tennis players both during her suspension and comeback ... denied the pharma she clearly cannot beat an egg.

She does not deserve to be mentioned in the same category as Clijsters or Davenport until further notice. What an insult to those two fair players.

At best, Madame Meldo is a Myskina, the only possibly drug-free slam of 2004, increasingly looks like a fluke.
 
Good point everyone on the doping factor. I ranked her strictly on her achievements which would put her atleast on a competitive level with Clijsters and Davenport. However as it is becoming increasingly clear how large a factor the doping played in her career, she probably should be clearly last of the women mentoned and possibly even considering people below that.
 
Sharapova has a Career Grand Slam, the only woman of the last 15 years to do it besides Serena, that Alone deserves her some credit and makes a 6th place finish a little bit low for her. I'd probably put her 4th or 5th, and I like her less than I like Hingis or Clijsters.
 
NastyWinners said:
Does Hingis's rank include her double's career as well?
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That depends entirely on you. Doubles and exactly what value it should respresent is always subjective. Of course one would have to consider Venus's own fine doubles career (especialy in comparision to Henin), and even Davenport and Clijsters's (in relation to each other and Sharapova) in that case.
 
deacsyoga said:
That depends entirely on you. Doubles and exactly what value it should respresent is always subjective. Of course one would have to consider Venus's own fine doubles career (especialy in comparision to Henin), and even Davenport and Clijsters's (in relation to each other and Sharapova) in that case.
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I think I would put Hingis at #2 if we include doubles which I weigh as highly as singles, with Venus at 3.

Then we get into H2H matchups as Hingis lost two majors to Davenport but, Venus beat Davenport for 2 or 3 as well. Great thread because everyone behind Serena has an argument to be put at the 2 spot.
 
NastyWinners said:
I think I would put Hingis at #2 if we include doubles which I weigh as highly as singles, with Venus at 3.

Then we get into H2H matchups as Hingis lost two majors to Davenport but, Venus beat Davenport for 2 or 3 as well. Great thread because everyone behind Serena has an argument to be put at the 2 spot.
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Well I wouldnt say Clijsters has any argument for the #2 spot, as she doesnt even have a possible argument be over Henin or probably Venus or Hingis no matter what criteria you use (even her doubles career isnt that great, although better than Henin but still nowhere near enough even for those factoring doubles highly).

I guess everyone else could, even Davenport for people who really pump up the value of year end #1s, even pretty blatantly undeserved ones like most of hers, and total tournament wins.
 
If we are going to penalize Sharapova for doping the same applies for Hingis as well. God knows what she took when she won those 5 majors.
 
deacsyoga said:
Well I wouldnt say Clijsters has any argument for the #2 spot, as she doesnt even have a possible argument be over Henin or probably Venus or Hingis no matter what criteria you use (even her doubles career isnt that great, although better than Henin but still nowhere near enough even for those factoring doubles highly).

I guess everyone else could, even Davenport for people who really pump up the value of year end #1s, even pretty blatantly undeserved ones like most of hers, and total tournament wins.
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Clijsters would maybe get the "what-if" crowd -- too bad she couldn't beat Capriati in the 01 French, what a great match.
 
NastyWinners said:
Clijsters would maybe get the "what-if" crowd -- too bad she couldn't beat Capriati in the 01 French, what a great match.
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Yeah the Selestials for instance might argue Clijsters as #2 of this group for "could have, would have, should have, might have, sort of, could sort of maybe of". Good point. :D

It is really horrible and shows what an underachiever she was Clijsters never won a Roland Garros title when Maria won two, and Clijsters CLEARLY had far more potential on clay. She underachieved in numerous ways but her lack of clay success after 2003 is the biggest of all.
 
tennisaddict said:
If we are going to penalize Sharapova for doping the same applies for Hingis as well. God knows what she took when she won those 5 majors.
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I dont remember the exact details of her 2007 doping charge, but wasnt it a recreational drug of some sort (marijuana or something). I do agree somewhat though, I think anyone who has a positive doping test, it probably should be a mark against them. Someone like Henin I strongly suspect uses PEDs but technically she was never caught, so she has to get the benefit of doubt for now. Sharapova and Hingis both failed drug tests, the other women of this group did not.
 
deacsyoga said:
I dont remember the exact details of her 2007 doping charge, but wasnt it a recreational drug of some sort (marijuana or something). I do agree somewhat though, I think anyone who has a positive doping test, it probably should be a mark against them. Someone like Henin I strongly suspect uses PEDs but technically she was never caught, so she has to get the benefit of doubt for now. Sharapova and Hingis both failed drug tests, the other women of this group did not.
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How about Serena / Venus ? I thought they also got TUE . They were not caught but the result is the same.
 
TennisATP said:
1) Serena (23 slams - 72 titles)
2) Venus (7 slams - 49 titles)
3) Henin (7 slams - 43 titles)
4) Hingis (5 slams - 43 titles)
5) Sharapova (5 slams - 35 titles)
6) Davenport (3 slams - 55 titles)
7) Clijsters (4 slams - 41 titles)

5-6-7 are very close. Hingis I feel is clearly at #4 ahead of them because for a while even when she didn't win she was all the time at the SF, F or no.1. lol
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I think this is a fantastic list here, Henin and Venus is a really tough call though.
 
TennisATP said:
1) Serena (23 slams - 72 titles)
2) Venus (7 slams - 49 titles)
3) Henin (7 slams - 43 titles)
4) Hingis (5 slams - 43 titles)
5) Sharapova (5 slams - 35 titles)
6) Davenport (3 slams - 55 titles)
7) Clijsters (4 slams - 41 titles)

5-6-7 are very close. Hingis I feel is clearly at #4 ahead of them because for a while even when she didn't win she was all the time at the SF, F or no.1. lol
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Perfect ranking. Hingis is solid at number 4 as she logged over 200 weeks as the number 1 player in the world, that says a lot about her consistency.
 
She is 6' 2" and probably literally the highest ranked of them all :p
how-tall-is-maria-sharapova.jpg

sharapova-height-comparison-4.jpg

Maria+Sharapova+Inside+2013+ESPY+Awards+W-0FJZl96cLl.jpg
 
MatsPhilander said:
If not for Serena she would be second.
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Nope. Venus likely lost out on even more through Serena than Maria did. Actually Davenport lost out on a ton via both Williams as well. She would be well ahead of someone like Henin perhaps (and over Clijsters by a ton), to which I say thank goodness for Serena and I dislike Henin even more than Maria, but that would just be flat out wrong.
 
Last edited:
Actually Davenport lost out on a ton via both Williams as well
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Disagree. How many matches did we see where Davenport dominates an opponent, then falls apart mentally?, tons. Similar to what Keys is doing on the WTA these days.

2000 USO final.
2005 Wimbledon final.

In both matches none other than Lindsay Davenport prevented herself from winning. Venus, always know what she'll bring to the fight, just hung around to benefit.
 
If you look at Slam Finals opponents of the players listed, I would place Davenport and Clijsters over Sharapova. Lindsay and Kim have more wins over much tougher opponents; Maria has one. A big one, but just one.
 
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