Which decade had weakest overall competition amongst women

Which decade had weakest overall competition amongst the women


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I had a thread about the best competition, now which decade do you believe had the worst competition overall amongst the women.
 
For me it was between the 80s and 2000s. For me I picked the 80s though since while 2006-2009 has been the worst womens field in history 2000-2005 was actually reasonably good. For the 80s only 1980-1981 and 1989 had decent fields.
 

GameSampras

Banned
thats tough... Probably the 80s IMO.. But I tell ya I enjoyed watching the WTA in the early 00s as well. Some great tennis was played during that time
 
thats tough... Probably the 80s IMO.. But I tell ya I enjoyed watching the WTA in the early 00s as well. Some great tennis was played during that time

Yeah it is amazing how much the WTA has fallen off as the decade went along. Earlier on it was very entertaining and competitive. Even when Serena was so dominant in 2002-2003 it was a very tough field, but Serena was a monster back then, 3x what she is now.
 

GameSampras

Banned
Yeah it is amazing how much the WTA has fallen off as the decade went along. Earlier on it was very entertaining and competitive. Even when Serena was so dominant in 2002-2003 it was a very tough field, but Serena was a monster back then, 3x what she is now.

Oh I know it.. It essentially gone from very good competition in the early 00s overrall, to hands down the worst field of WTA players tennis has ever seen.. If you would have told me 7 or 8 years ago, that the WTA would be in the condition its in I would have never believed it. How the mighty have fallen.

Even Serena or Venus, who practically passed their prime and pretty crappy today, not even in shape, serena overweight, and playing part time basically is still dominating slams. Amazing. Essentially, Serena and Venus should not even be the top contenders today if you actually have a great field around them.
 
Oh I know it.. It essentially gone from very good competition in the early 00s overrall, to hands down the worst field of WTA players tennis has ever seen.. If you would have told me 7 or 8 years ago, that the WTA would be in the condition its in I would have never believed it. How the mighty have fallen.

Even Serena or Venus, who practically passed their prime and pretty crappy today, not even in shape, serena overweight, and playing part time basically is still dominating slams. Amazing. Essentially, Serena and Venus should not even be the top contenders today if you actually have a great field around them.

So right. Even 5 years ago I would have NEVER imagined the WTA suddenly in the sad state it is in now. Everything just came crashing down at once- Henin retiring out of nowhere, Clijsters retiring after nowhere, Sharapova always injured these days, everyone else retiring/getting hurt or getting old, the promising players of earlier in the decade regressing and past their best tennis by their mid 20s, no good new players panning out, the Williams not nearly as good anymore. It sucks.

Hard to blame the sisters, especialy Serena though. She probably looks at the sad sack field around her and why should she bother to put in any more effort. If you can treat tennis like an 8th hobby, eat however you want, probably not practice, and win 3 of the last 4 slams hey why not. Who can blame her for that approach really, LOL!
 

suwanee4712

Professional
For me it was between the 80s and 2000s. For me I picked the 80s though since while 2006-2009 has been the worst womens field in history 2000-2005 was actually reasonably good. For the 80s only 1980-1981 and 1989 had decent fields.

Why would 1989 be a decent year and 1982, 1984-1987 would not?

For me, 1988-1990 were transition years with the comings and goings of great players, some well past their prime and some on the verge of, but not yet hitting their stride.

In 1982, you still had Martina and Chris playing at a high level. Jaeger's game was maturing and becoming more aggressive. The only sore spot was that Tracy and Hana missed significant time with a back injury that would plague both for a while to come. But both were still effective. The ending to that year with the Australian and the Toyota Championships provided suspense as to who was really #1 with both Martina and Chris coming up with huge wins.

1984 and 1986 were probably Martina's two best years. She may have dominated them, both we give Graf a lot of credit for dominating in similar fashion as she did in 1989 without criticizing the field. Chris was still winning slams, Hana was competing at a high level in both years. In 1984, she couldn't beat Chris. And in 1986, she couldn't beat Martina. But she was beating everyone else. Sukova made an impact in 1984 and was one of the most consistent competitors of 1986. Steffi and Gaby were not mature yet, but already making considerable waves. Not unlike how Seles was in 1989.

1985 was another year that ended with drama. Chris and Martina traded French and Wimbledon titles. Hana upset the apple cart at the US Open by beating both. And the #1 ranking was again on the line at the Australian with Martina having to beat both Chris and Hana in 3 sets to win the title and the ranking.

And 1987 was a rare year at any period of time in womens tennis where you didn't know what was going to happen. Steffi dominated early. But Martina came through against her at Wimbledon and the US Open. Chris didn't win a slam, but played two great matches that year in Houston and at Wimbledon vs. Martina. Hana didn't have a comlpete year after she was injured, but still managed to beat Martina in Australia.

If I was to rank the best years of the 1980's, I would put 1989 somewhere towards the middle, and well behind years like 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1985. Those years would stand up well in any decade.
 
Why would 1989 be a decent year and 1982, 1984-1987 would not?

Pretty simple. Graf and Sabatini both began their primes in 1988, Sanchez really came into her own in 1989, Seles wasnt prime of course but came on the scene in a big way in 1989. Navratilova only played well in the slams in 1987 but crap (for her standards anyway) everywhere else, and was way off form in 1988, but played her last great tennis in 1989.

As for 1982 Austin was suddenly a complete shadow of her 1979-1981 self due to injuries and basically you remove prime Austin you remove any depth in the womens game behind Evert and Navratilova (and to a lesser extent Jekyl and Hyde Hana) until the next generation emerges. Hana also wasnt as good in 1982 as she was in 1980 and 1981, and Evert began to fade slightly starting in 1982 until her final resurgerence in mid 84-mid 86.

I guess 1985-1986 were not too bad either. 1982-1984, 1987, 1988 were all very weak overall.
 
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suwanee4712

Professional
Pretty simple. Graf and Sabatini both began their primes in 1988, Sanchez really came into her own in 1989, Seles wasnt prime of course but came on the scene in a big way in 1989. Navratilova only played well in the slams in 1987 but crap (for her standards anyway) everywhere else, and was way off form in 1988, but played her last great tennis in 1989.

As for 1982 Austin was suddenly a complete shadow of her 1979-1981 self due to injuries and basically you remove prime Austin you remove any depth in the womens game behind Evert and Navratilova (and to a lesser extent Jekyl and Hyde Hana) until the next generation emerges. Hana also wasnt as good in 1982 as she was in 1980 and 1981, and Evert began to fade slightly starting in 1982 until her final resurgerence in mid 84-mid 86.

I guess 1985-1986 were not too bad either. 1982-1984, 1987, 1988 were all very weak overall.

Since when do players have to be in their prime to be worthy competition? Steffi and Gaby were not asked to carry womens tennis when they weren't in their prime. Like all other greats outside of their primes, they are a part of the supporting cast, not the stars. At least in an era where there were already 3 legit stars at the top. How many times in the 90's did we ever have 3 legit stars at once after 1992? Almost never.

It's the same with an injured Tracy and Hana. Their injuries kept 1982 from being like 1980 and 1981 which are probably 2 of the best womens tennis years ever from a depth standpoint. When those are your peripheral players, that's still a strong year for womens tennis. It's not like having Steffi by herself being supported by Aranxta and Conchita. Had either Martina or Chris been taken out of the game, Tracy and Hana would've been winning more slams too.

The 90's had zero suspense after Seles was stabbed. It was an upset for players like Aranxta just to take Steffi into a 3rd set. Had Steffi not been struggling with her own back problems, and at certain times sheer boredom from a lack of a real challenger, do you think Aranxta with her backboard of a game would've won anything worth mentioning? She would've been the Michael Chang of womens tennis, and Conchita would've been a slamless Jose Luis Clerc. As far as I'm concerned, the 90's is the "what could have been" decade of womens tennis.

We watched completely different eras of tennis is all I can say.
 
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