The (Real) State of the Womens' Game

Most "experts" claim the mens' game totally dominates the womens' game in terms of skill. The same "experts" also claim that the womens' game is uncompetitive compared to the men's.

While the first claim is somewhat accurate, the second one is probably not. In fact you could now say that the womens' game is more competitive than the mens': if we're going by the number of realistic contenders for Grand Slam glory and the no. 1 ranking.


While the mens' game has never had it better, it has become very much the Nadal/Federer/Djokovic/Murray show when it comes to rankings and Grand Slams. They are by far the 4 best players in the world. Yes, the likes of Monfils, Del Potro, Tsonga, Roddick, Nalbandian & Ferrer are capable of the odd upset, they are not consistently at the top of their game as the aforementioned names.

As we speak, Federer is taking on Nadal for a place in the Australian Open Final while Djokovic and Murray will compete for the other spot tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, we had the womens' semifinals - two smashing games in terms of competition if not quite quality - the double fault count was quite high.

Kim Clijsters was probably the form player of the Australian Open in my opinion and almost made it to the Final in her last sojourn in Melbourne. She often had the better of her much fitter and younger rival, Viktoria Azarenka in their semi but the Belarussian ultimately prevailed when it mattered.

In the other semifinal, Sharapova also showed the same nerves as Azarenka in her match-up against another tough opponent, Petra Kvitova. Sharapova has been playing very well in some tough games and with her Grand Slam experience, will be a formidable challenge for Azarenka to overcome.

But losing on Saturday will not be the end of the world for Azarenka. And losing their ties isn't the end of the world for Kvitova and soon-to-be former number one, Caroline Wozniacki.

For Wozniacki, Kvitova and Azarenka form a trio which may dominate their game in the near future, similar to Djokovic, Nadal & Federer. They're both very much in their early 20s and have already hit the top rankings. While only one of them has won a Grand Slam (Kvitova), the others are good enough to win not just one but a few Grand Slams.

And if one of them does drop out, there are a few contenders who could take their place. One of them could be Ana Ivanovic, the former world no. 1 who has had to battle injury but is definitely one of the most talented players on the WTA circuit. And Sharapova of course who with her pedigree can still dominate the game which she looked like doing following her stunning Wimbledon win in 2004. Sabine Lisicki, impressive in her defeat to Sharapova, is another quality player.

Forget about Serena Williams who is on the way downward now, with injuries starting to take their toll. Likewise Jelena Jankovic. Clijsters is also retiring too so she's out of the picture from next year.

Li Na, Sam Stosur, Radwanska, Kirilenko, Hantuchova are a bit like Ferrer, del Potro, Tsonga, Nalbandian - they can beat the very best on their day but I don't think they can do it all the time.

Speaking of someone who could have made it, Nicole Vaidisova.

Remember her? The now 22-year-old Czech was no. 7 in her "boom" years in 2006-07 - she made the semifinals at Melbourne and Roland Garros during that time. I remembered her being hailed as the next star. Then she disappeared - she suffered glandular fever and the natural loss of form. It turns out she retired in 2010 citing a lack of interest and is now married to Radek Stepanek - 11 years her senior.

I think if the cards had fallen for Vaidisova, she would have been right in the fight for the number 1 ranking, competing with now Czech numero uno, Petra Kvitova.

Anyway in conclusion, the women's game is stronger than ever and has probably become far more appealing to watch just for the fact it's quite hard to tip a result. And the quality is getting better. Perhaps labelling the women's game inferior to the mens' might even sound sexist.

After all, tennis was the first sport in the world to truly embrace its women participants equally as the men and is probably the highest profile sport for women now. Surely the women would have long caught up by now.