I need to settle an argument

donfers

I have been having an argument for a while now with someone and she seems to think that if either of the Williams sisters were fully fit they would beat Conor Niland, I think Niland would beat both of them comfortably, maybe losing a few games in each set at worst.....I know this is a completely academic and trivial debate but I just want to get the view of some neutrals on here, I am Irish and male so I could be accused of having bias towards Niland but I honestly believe he'd defeat either of the Williams sisters with relative ease in a competitive environment, what do you think?

Johnmb

Several years ago they both lost to a player who was ranked much lower than Niland is now. It was just one set each, but certainly MacEnroe was of the opinion that most professional men would beat the top women purely because of the weight of shot, i.e. Niland would be well used to playing people who hit the ball as hard as the Williams', but they wouldn't be used to playing someone who hits the ball as hard as Niland (or most other professional men).

Having said that, I think Serena at least would be mentally stronger than Niland, and that could be the difference, if she was fitter with no injuries.

rjp123

You are correct. He would beat them both easily (both the williamses in their prime). Mens tennis is on a different planet to womens. Just tell your friend to watch a mens match followed then a womens - then again if they are actually asking this question they might not grasp it. I have no idea why this seems to be the only sport in the world where people seem to think the women would actually compete with the men. Most good collegeiate players would beat them. Different sport.

Monty Burnz

rjp123 wrote: »

You are correct. He would beat them both easily (both the williamses in their prime). Mens tennis is on a different planet to womens. Just tell your friend to watch a mens match followed then a womens - then again if they are actually asking this question they might not grasp it. I have no idea why this seems to be the only sport in the world where people seem to think the women would actually compete with the men. Most good collegeiate players would beat them. Different sport.

Having said that, I prefer to watch the women's game as it's less reliant on power and involves more guile. The game has changed utterly since the days of wooden racquets - an all-time great like John McEnroe would be an also ran if he were coming up as young guy these days.

Johnmb

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Having said that, I prefer to watch the women's game as it's less reliant on power and involves more guile. The game has changed utterly since the days of wooden racquets - an all-time great like John McEnroe would be an also ran if he were coming up as young guy these days.

You obviously don't watch much tennis. The top women only have power, nothing else. Plan A: hit hard, Plan B: hit harder. Henin, Hingis, and Mauresmo are the only recent exceptions who had any Slam success that I can think of. As for the likes of McEnroe, he could, and has, beat many of todays top players. By his own admission, he can no longer go the distance, he can take a set, but would struggle in the second, and would be finished if he had to play a third.

KINGVictor

He will beat both of them silly, I dont think you can compare the men's and women's game.

Serena beat Roddick when they were in their teens, I think that today she knows he would decimate her on the court.

Monty Burnz

Johnmb wrote: »

You obviously don't watch much tennis.

I've watched and played since the mid-eighties. I disagree with your points, but I can't be arsed making an argument based on how you started yours, so I'll leave it at that.

Johnmb

Monty Burnz wrote: »

I've watched and played since the mid-eighties. I disagree with your points, but I can't be arsed making an argument based on how you started yours, so I'll leave it at that.

Okay, I'll rephrase. You obviously haven't been watching much women's tennis over the last decade at the top level. It is dominated by power. Occasionally someone different wins a big tournament (Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez won 2010 Rome with a serve/volley game for example). But as for the Slams, excluding the French, when was the last time a non-power hitter won one? Exclude Henin, Hingis and Mauresmo and answer that question again. How far back have you had to go? Even Wozniacki, who is not a power hitter, has decided that to be more aggressive means hitting harder. That's the women's game, and it has been for quite some time. They are starting to catch up to the men (slowly), and some are adding a bit more of an all court game, but the are a long way from moving away from simply trying to out-hit their opponents. At least the men, while still hitting the ball very hard, don't rely on that alone to win matches, they know they can't out-hit all their opponents, and the few who do rely on power alone have very little success (at least in the big events).

Edit:
Having had a quick look to see about the Slams. Henin won the 2007 US Open. Then ignoring her and the other two I mentioned, you go all the way back to 1998 Wimbledon when Jana Novotna won. Since then, ignoring the three I've mentioned, it's been power hitters for all but the French, and even there it's only the last couple with Schiavone and Li who you could say weren't power hitters (or would you class Li as one the way she played?). The rest have been Davenport, Graf (actually, Graf, while having power, didn't rely on it alone, it was the 1999 French that she won during this period), Williams' (both of them), Pierce, Capriati, Myskina (a power hitter from what I remember, another French Open winner), Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Clijsters, Ivanovic, and Kvitova. Some had a bit of touch, but all were predominately power players, and their prime strategy is/was to hit their opponent off the court.

MisterAnarchy

There is no comparison between the top men and the top women.
The men have better technique,better footwork,more spin,more power,are faster,stronger,hit the ball deeper in the court and have more varied games .
They also dont crumble as much under pressure.

The footwork of some of the top women is appalling and their techniques are pretty poor too.
Their games are one dimensional ,just hit the ball hard .
I'd like to see them use the old wooden rackets ,they would be hitting balls all over the place.