The 2000s was
the most competitive decade for women’s tennis. An era where a number of
talented players came through together, culminating in a plethora of serious
rivalries; similar to the 1980s men’s tour when Lendl, McEnroe, Connors,
Edberg, Becker and Wilander all fought it out for top spot and major titles.
Let’s take a look at the great players and the legacy they have left, in the order of the players with the most weeks at number 1 throughout the decade.
NB: For the purpose of this article, I
will refer to legacy Tier 1, Primary Mandatory and Primary 5 as Tier 1 titles.
Justine Henin
Justine Henin is the first player to feature, the premiere player in the mid-2000s, Justine spent a total of 117 weeks as number 1 in the world. Once described as “the female Federer” by John McEnroe, Justine won seven major titles including four French Opens, two US Opens and one the Australian Open in 2004. Justine never won Wimbledon but made two finals, losing to Venus Williams in 2001 and Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.
Justine won ten Tier 1 titles in her career and two WTA championships in 2006 and 2007 in Madrid. I attended the 2007 final between Justine and Maria Sharapova and it remains the best WTA match I witnessed live. Justine won forty career titles between 2000 and 2009, forty-three overall and eighteen runners-up. Justine also won Olympic gold in Athens in 2004 defeating Amelie Mauresmo in the final. Taking her whole career into account, Justine amassed 525 wins and only 115 losses, a win percentage of 82%, which is incredible.
Justine was one of the shorter players at 1 metre 67 (5 ft 6 inches) and yet became a dominant player wowing everyone with her single handed backhand when she burst onto the scene. Justine was slightly built and with the guidance of coach Carlos Rodriguez developed a great work ethic and will to win to go with her undoubted talent. Justine refuted the notion that her forehand was her weaker shot, not too dissimilar to her hero Stefan Edberg, who was also considered to have a better backhand than forehand. Justine’s strengths were her movement, athleticism and ability to turn defence into attack. Justine’s weakness was perhaps a mental one, she was prone to the odd episode of gamesmanship in big matches. Or should that be “gameswomanship”.
Justine believed she over trained in the mid-2000s leading to long injury layoffs. However, in 2007 after her divorce, Justine hit her best form; shortening the points, going for even more winners and taking to the net as often as possible, classic old school tennis. I think one of Justine’s best achievements was defeating Serena Williams three quarterfinals in a row in 2007 at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open; not an easy task.
Justine’s overtraining may have led to her to early retirement in 2008, however, the jury is still out on why she ended so suddenly whilst still number 1 in the world. Like Bjorn Borg who also quit at a young age in 1981, Justine made a comeback in 2010 but after a few months, fractured her elbow at Wimbledon and never played professional tennis again.
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis comes in with a total of 87 weeks spent at the top. However, in reality, Martina was a non-factor for virtually the whole of this particular decade and her number 1 status was an overhang from her total domination of the tour in the late 1990s.
In fact, Martina won five major titles but they all came from 1997 to 1999. Martina made three Australian Open finals in a row from 2000 through 2002 but lost to Lindsay Davenport and twice to Jennifer Capriati. Martina did win a creditable sixteen titles including eight Tier 1 titles and also won the 2000 Masters in Madison Square Garden defeating Monica Seles in a great match (in 2000 the WTA championships was called Masters). Anyone who has watched tennis for a long time will know the authorities are forever changing the names of tournaments :-0
Overall including the 1990s, Martina won forty-three titles and a whopping eighty-six doubles titles. Martina was one of the most popular players and helped usher in the superstar era of the 2000s where for a time women’s tennis was as popular as any other sport in the world, thanks to the many rivalries which often seemed to have a touch of grudge about it. Martina knew her contemporaries were coming and, in the end, overtook her.
Martina was an intelligent and instinctive player, confounding her opponents, particularly players like Mary Pierce and Monica Seles who both struggled against her. Martina had a great backhand down the line and was technically superb at net, even if she was not very tall at 1 metre 70 (5 ft 7 inches); no doubt being a superb doubles player helped her in that department. Martina didn’t hit the ball very hard but put her opponents in awkward places with lots of angles; players like Agnieszka Radwanska would have studied Martina’s game.
However, Martina did have some weaknesses. Unlike Justine who was a similar height, Martina had no intention of hitting the gym to get stronger. Martina’s serve was not the best and proved to be very attackable against her rivals who were faster and stronger overall with better fast twitch fibres. Martina had none of these natural attributes, hence her career was going south even before she gave up in 2002 with bad ankles, which she attempted to blame on Sergio Tacchini providing poor quality sneakers.
Martina made a comeback in 2006 even winning the Italian Open but by 2007 was suspended after cocaine was found in her system during a test at the US Open. Martina protested her innocence but never played professional singles again. Martina’s demise reminds me of Mats Wilander. Mats played a very similar game to Martina and had a hard time coming to terms with the power and athleticism of players like Sampras and Becker, fading quickly after winning three slams in 1988 and being number 1 that year. Wilander also suffered with lack of motivation, injuries and tested positive for cocaine in 1995. Like Martina, Mats was also a teenage champion, winning the French Open age 17 in 1982 but burned out pretty quickly.
Martina’s burn out along with other high-profile WTA players is the reason the age eligibility rule was brought in some years ago to protect and extend players’ careers.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams incredibly is still going (fairly) strong on the WTA tour. Now a mother and elder stateswoman Serena has taken over the Martina Navratilova role, who was also a great player well into her late thirties in the 1990s.
Serena is third on this list, having spent 83 weeks as number 1 on the tour and winning thirty titles encompassing nine Tier 1 titles. Serena won nine major championships, including the “Serena Slam” from 2002 French Open to 2003 Australian Open, defeating Venus Williams every time! Serena also went on to defeat Venus in the 2003 Wimbledon final, putting paid to the nonsensical conspiracy theory by some that Richard Williams fixed the matches between the two sisters. Serena also won the year end WTA championships in 2002 and 2009 and was the natural successor to be the dominant player after Justine Henin’s sudden retirement in 2008.
Serena has the best serve of the last twenty years if not the greatest serve by a woman in tennis history. There were other great servers but Serena has been able to combine pace with spin, perhaps a Californian trait because her serve has an incredible number of similar characteristics to Pete Sampras, a player she looked up to as a youngster, including the left foot coming up and the smooth fluid motion. Serena also has a very reliable second serve with a lot of slice and kick and hits more aces than any other player I have seen in recent times.
Serena strengths encompass return of serve, a great backhand, athleticism, combined with a great will to win and competitive spirit. And let’s not forget another superb doubles player, with twenty-five career titles in doubles.
Technically I don’t think Serena has any major weaknesses at all, which is unusual for any tennis player. Serena’s problems have often stemmed from injuries at the wrong moments, and an unwanted ability to have meltdowns when the whole world is watching, especially at the US Open!
Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena’s coach since 2012 has been able to bring out the best in her game from a game plan and strategy point of view, creating an aura her opponents simply couldn’t match, improving her further from her younger 2000s version. Whilst it is fair to say Serena did most of her winning in the 2010s propelling her to a whopping 236 weeks as number 1, she was the dominant player in the early 2000s but was completely derailed by long term injuries which ruined her momentum. Without the injuries, Serena could have done in the 2000s what she did in the 2010s.
Having said that, her contemporaries did provide an overall stiffer challenge, and all of her big rivals also suffered an incredible amount of injuries, which is a theme of the 2000s.
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport comes next on this list. Lindsay spent 76 weeks at number 1 and 98 overall, including 22 weeks as number 1 in the late 1990s.
Lindsay won only one major title in the 2000s defeating Martina Hingis in the 2000 Australian Open final in just over an hour, adding to her US Open win in 1998 and Wimbledon in 1999. Lindsay was always competitive but couldn’t quite get over the line. In 2000 Lindsay lost both the Wimbledon and US Open finals to Venus Williams. And again in 2005 Lindsay lost the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals to Serena and Venus respectively; Lindsay was well set to win both finals but somehow managed to lose them. On each occasion Serena’s and Venus’ willingness to run down every ball wore Lindsay mentally when she was probably the better player.
Lindsay won twenty-eight titles in the 2000s, fifty-five in total and played in ninety-four finals, so clearly a very elite career. Lindsay also claimed eleven Tier 1 titles during this decade and won the year end WTA championships in 2001 in Hamburg, defeating Serena in a walkover.
Lindsay’s game became a blueprint for many tall players in the 2000s and 2010s. A good strong first serve, reliable second delivery, good groundstrokes and very clean ball striking. Lindsay was also a return of serve specialist by stepping in and taking the ball early. This type of game lends itself to hardcourts and Lindsay was not so strong on clay as a result. The one difference between Lindsay and the players who followed her is Lindsay was a good volleyer and won many doubles tournaments; it seems top players who came up in the 1990s were better doubles players than the current generation. Lindsay had a world class cross court forehand, reportedly taught by Robert Lansdorp in the Palos Verde area, Robert was also famous for working with Pete Sampras, Tracy Austin and Maria Sharapova.
As far as weaknesses go, Lindsay’s problem was her relative lack of movement, Lindsay would try to take that away from her opponent by getting the first strike in as often as possible but I think her losses in grand slam finals were against players who could run faster and get to her good shots. At 1 meter 87 (6 ft 2 inches), Lindsay wasn’t a player who wanted to play defence often; now and again was fine but it wasn’t her strength. Lindsay’s will to win compared to her direct rivals was also questioned, important in an ultra-competitive era that was the 2000s.
Amelie Mauresmo
Amelie Mauresmo spent a total of 39 weeks as number 1 first in 2004 then in 2006 when she won two grand slam titles in one season at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Amelie initially exploded on the scene in 1999, making the Australian Open final as a teenager, losing to Hingis. Overall Amelie won twenty-five titles in the 2000s out of forty-eight finals she participated in. That haul included six Tier 1 titles and a year-end championship in 2005 where she defeated Mary Pierce in the final from a set down in Los Angeles.
Amelie was a crowd favourite at Wimbledon where she had a very good record, playing in three semi-finals before eventually making the final in 2006 defeating Justine Henin to take the title. That match can be officially seen as the last ever serve and volley final, where in the third set both players serve volleyed consistently. However, on clay at her home major in Paris, Amelie was nowhere near as successful, never making it to a semi-final. The memo has been that Amelie and other French players succumb under the pressure of the French crowd. However, over the last thirty years, French players have done considerably better at Wimbledon than they have done at the French Open. Many French players play an all court game and grass is more suited to their game style than clay. You would expect it to be the other way round but my explanation would be that many young French players learn to play on faster indoor surfaces, and not slow red clay.
Along with Justine, Amelie had the best one hand backhand in the business, there wasn't much in it between the two players. Amelie possessed elite athleticism, a good serve and was the best volleyer of her generation by some margin. I saw Amelie play live at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2006 and she was a joy to watch, and a good contrast to the many baseliners she faced. On hardcourts Amelie served volleyed less but was still able to create opportunities and take to the net to finish points.
Whilst Amelie's strengths were considerable, unfortunately her weaknesses were also considerable. Amelie's biggest weakness for many years were her nerves, she was able to overcome them for a period from late 2005 through March 2007. Amelie's forehand where she used an extreme western grip was also an issue. It was said that players who use an extreme western grip on the forehand would be poor volleyers but Amelie bucked that trend. However, in rallies Amelie often dropped the ball short brushing up the back of the ball and looping it high, not stepping in and hitting through the ball. On grass Amelie could cover that side with good athleticism and attacking the net but on clay those short balls were destroyed by opponents like Lucie Safarova in the 2007 French Open.
Amelie suffered tremendous injuries especially with her back, forcing her to change her service motion. Also, in spring 2007 after winning Antwerp against Clijsters, Amelie suffered appendicitis and had her appendix removed at short notice, she was never the same player again, retiring in 2009 aged 30.
Despite one or two regrets here and there, Amelie can be satisfied with her contribution to the 2000s.
Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters was another popular player; every player on this list was a household name beyond just tennis fans.
Kim spent a total of 19 weeks as number 1 and won thirty-three titles in the 2000s, and forty-one overall. Out of those thirty-three titles, five were Tier 1 titles including the year end championships in in 2002 and 2003 where she defeated Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo in successive finals. Kim’s ascent to number 1 in 2004 was controversial as she became the first ever number 1 player who had yet to win a grand slam title. Ironically, Amelie Mauresmo also became number 1 for the first time later that year and found herself with the same criticisms directed at her.
Clijsters won the US Open in 2005 and 2009, whilst her other two grand slam wins came at the US Open in 2010 and the Australian Open in 2011. In 2005, Clijsters had a remarkable run, winning virtually every hardcourt tournament she entered in North America, starting with the Indian Wells / Miami double, Los Angeles, Canadian Open and the US Open. Unfortunately, Clijsters could not defend her title in 2006 due to a wrist injury and by mid-2007 Clijsters was retired at the young age of 24 to start a family.
Unlike Hingis and Henin who also made comebacks, Clijsters’ first comeback in 2009 was far more successful, not only winning two more slam titles but also Cincinnati and year end WTA Championships in 2010.
Kim’s strengths included her speed, power off the ground and athleticism. Kim possessed world class movement; her father Leo played full back for Belgium in the 1986 world cup. Kim’s best surface by far were hardcourts as her game involved a lot of timing. Kim was very good on clay, making two French Open finals but was in her element on hardcourts and indoor surfaces. I recall a match in the 2006 WTA championships where she destroyed Svetlana Kuznetsova in forty-five minutes.
Kim perhaps didn’t quite have the will to win as some of her opponents in her early years and lost a lot of big finals as a result. I also feel that Kim’s backhand was attackable and Amelie Mauresmo was one of the few players to exploit that. Kim dd not like high balls to her backhand, she struggled up there a lot. Fortunately for Kim, in the women’s game most players are not capable of hitting kicker serves so Kim ‘s weakness was not as exposed as much as it could have been. Mauresmo’s strategy of high topspin backhands to her backhand, then low slices forcing her to hit up really disrupted Kim’s rhythm, a tactic Sampras employed against Agassi for many years.
Kim’s legacy is a number of top European players now favour hardcourts above all other surfaces. In the 1980s and 1990s hardcourts specialists were often associated with North American players; as opposed to European players who grew up on clay or fast indoor carpet courts, Clijsters was the first true European hardcourt specialist.
Interestingly, at the age of 37, Kim is currently on her second comeback, but don’t expect any tangible success.
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova exploded onto the scene in 2004 when she defeated Lindsay Davenport in the Wimbledon semi-final and stunned Serena Williams in the final. Maria went on to defeat Serena later that year in the WTA championships final in Los Angeles. Maria was 17 years old.
As the decade progressed Maria quickly established herself among the elite, being a contender at all of the big tournaments at WTA and Grand Slam level. In the 2000s, Maria won Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. From 2003 to 2009 Maria won twenty titles including seven Tier 1 titles and spent 17 weeks as number 1. Taking her whole career, Maria won thirty-six titles with twenty-three runners-up, 21 weeks as number 1 and an excellent 645 wins to 171 losses.
Maria’s strengths included her height, like Lindsay Davenport she is 1 metre 87 (6 ft 2 inches) and had a significant advantage with the serve. Another Sampras disciple, Maria also employed the left foot pointing up before serving motion. Maria had one of the best backhands on tour; along with a great competitive spirit and will to win, prepared to stay on the court as long as it took to get the job done. Maria worked on her relative lack of movement a lot and improved considerably as time went on, with lots of little steps and always on her toes. That might explain her great improvement on clay, almost becoming a specialist on the surface.
Maria did have a few problems. Her volley technique was not the best and as her shoulder got worse, she was not capable of hitting an overhead of any description, letting the ball drop to hit drive volleys instead. Maria missed a lot of tennis due to shoulder problems and her serve turned from one of the best in the business to a double fault liability which was a pity. Moreover, Maria’s biggest issue was certainly Serena Williams! After winning their first two meetings, Maria never beat Serena again, as if Serena made it a mission to ensure Maria would never beat her, twenty meetings including finals in Australia and French Open.
Maria will be remembered for failing a drugs test in 2016 and handed a worldwide ban. Maria protested her innocence but you have to question why an athlete would take medlonium ad infinitum for ten years, not paying attention when the drug was added to the banned list in 2015. Ban or not, it can never be good to take something continuously as there could always be potential side effects.
Now officially retired, let’s remember what a great player Maria was in the 2000s and 2010s.
Jennifer Capriati
Statistics wise, Jennifer Capriati is by far the least successful player on this list but between 2001 and 2004 was such a contender she has to be included.
Jennifer won six tournaments between 2000 and 2004 and three of those were grand slam tournaments!! The rest of Jennifer’s fourteen titles came in the 1990s when she was a teenage phenomenon who went badly off the rails due to depression and too much expectation. It was great to see Jennifer come back strong at the start of the millennium, winning the Australian Open and French Open in 2001 defeating Clijsters in a three-set marathon; and also made the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the US Open later that year. Jennifer repeated her Australian Open win in 2002 beating Hingis for a second straight year in a crazy match. Jennifer spent 17 weeks as number 1 in 2001.
Jennifer won one Tier 1 title but repeatedly lost big finals during this period; however, she kept putting herself in the position to have a crack at the championship match. Looking briefly at the 1990s, Jennifer won the Canadian Open in 1991 and Olympic gold in 1992 where she beat Steffi Graf.
Jennifer’s strengths were her baseline game with solid groundstrokes and backhand. Jennifer had very good movement and when stretched out wide on the forehand, got good purchase on her cross-court shots. One of Jennifer’s best achievements was her rivalry with Serena Williams, Jennifer was one of the few players who could legitimately say she stood toe to toe with Serena, was not intimidated and beat Serena on multiple occasions, including the 2001 French Open and Wimbledon quarterfinals, then in the 2004 French Open and US Open quarterfinals. They played seventeen times with a ten to seven lead in Serena’s favour, much closer than anyone else who played Serena other than Henin and Hingis.
Jennifer’s’ main weakness was probably her serve, she had the Elena Dementieva problem of tossing the ball too far to the right and hitting round the ball, making her serve a liability, for instance, Jennifer served for the US Open final twice against Dementieva in 2004 and still lost. Jennifer worked hard to put herself in winning positions but once she got there would play passively, not closing the net to put the pressure on her opponents and finish vital points. It was frustrating to watch Jennifer get short mid court balls she could crush but run back to the baseline to keep the rally going then losing it. That lack of conviction resulted in her getting rattled often, taking out her frustration on officials for perceived wrong calls, Jennifer just didn’t take destiny in her own hands at the US Open in particular.
Like every other player here, Jennifer had serious injuries, in fact so serious her career was cruelly cut short by the end of 2004 at the age of just 28.
Venus Williams
Venus rounds off this list of champions. On the face of it, it seems a little surprising such a great player would be last to be featured but there is a reason for that which we will come to shortly.
Venus has had a stellar career and is still playing at the age of 40, following in the footsteps of Americans like Jimmy Connors and Pancho Gonzales. Venus has incredible numbers, seven grand slam titles in the 2000s including five Wimbledon and two US Open titles. Venus has also played in all of the major finals, including the 2002 French Open and 2003 Australian Open final where she lost both to Serena. Venus also won Olympic gold in 2000 and the WTA championships in 2008, defeating Vera Zvonareva in three sets. Venus won twenty-one titles in the 2000s including three Tier 1 titles out of a total of forty-nine titles won since the late 1990s and counting.
Venus’ strengths include a world class first serve and tremendous athleticism for a player 1 metre 85 (6ft 1 inches). Venus might be the fastest player in this list and there are some fast players here, a great will to win allied with tremendous defence. Venus’ serve is technically not the best, but she created a lot of pace, regularly getting up to speeds of 192kph (120 mph) and occasionally up to 210kph (130 mph). Venus also has one of the best backhands in the business and is very good at coming to the net off good approaches to finish points.
Venus has a great first serve but her second serve has been a liability, where she is prone to double faulting. Mainly due to the fact that Venus’ body position is not in a good spot to hit technically proficient second serves consistently. This issue possibly prevented Venus winning a lot more in her career; as the saying goes you are only as good as your second serve. Venus’ forehand could also be attackable with a few technical glitches on that shot. Therefore, a great player but by no means perfect.
So, how come Venus rounds out this list of stars? Venus spent the least number of weeks as number 1 in the world. A grand total of eleven weeks in 2001 which for a player of her ability is not a lot. I liken Venus to Boris Becker in the 1980s and 1990s. Becker is seen as one of the greats and one of Wimbledon’s finest players appearing in seven finals. Becker also won forty-nine titles and is one of the greatest indoor players and a multiple Davis Cup Winner. However, despite all of these achievements, Becker spent only thirteen weeks as number in his entire career, which happened in 1991. Venus comes into this category where it is hard to believe someone who is seen as a pioneer in changing the way the game is played could spend so little time as number 1.
Honourable Mentions
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana won two majors in the 2000s, the US Open as a teenager in 2004 and the French Open in 2009. Svetlana’s highest ranking was 2 in 2007.
Mary Pierce
Mary won the Australian Open in 1995 and French Open in 2000 plus in 2005 had an Indian summer, getting to the final of the French Open, US Open, Federation Cup and WTA Championships, unfortunately losing all of them….
