Players on the tour as no longer fearing Serena Williams as much as they once were, according to former world No.1 Chris Evert.
Williams hasn’t played a competitive match since winning the Australian Open after giving birth to her first child in September. The 36-year-old currently has 72 WTA titles to her name, including 23 grand slam trophies. Her recent absence from the sport has resulted in an open 2017 season. This year three players has held the No.1 position at some point (Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza) and the grand slam events has been won by four different players.
Some have criticised the lack of consistency on the tour, but Evert has insisted that this season has seen an elevation in players form due to Williams’ absence. Allowing them to be more competitive.
“I think that this whole year, the level has gone up because Serena hasn’t been dominant and the other players have all felt that they had a shot at it, at the number one ranking,” Evert recently said, according to AFP news.
“I think that because of that challenge, they have improved in the physical and the mental part of it because they’ve all had a shot at it and they’ve pushed each other and that’s why there have been so many different winners. So I think the level will have improved by the time Serena comes back.”
At this week’s China Open in Beijing, four out of the top eight seeds failed to win their opening matches (Muguruza withdrew due to illness). US Open champion Sloane Stephens is yet to win a match in Asia after suffering back-to-back first match defeats in Wuhan and Beijing.
The mixture of results could provide Williams with a gap to swiftly find her footing when she returns to the tour early next year. Though questions remain about how the American will cope with balancing motherhood as well as playing on the tour. A issue raised by Evert, who has questioned how she will handle the situation emotionally.
“There’s so many things we don’t know about Serena, how it’s going to feel to her being a mother coming back, is it going to distract her, is it going to motivate her more?” She said.
“Or how being a mother emotionally will pull at her and will it take her away from tennis? There’s so many elements here that we don’t know about Serena and her comeback,”
Inevitably, when Williams does return to the tour, she will be headline news around the world. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, she has won at least one WTA title every season since 2007. It remains to be seen what happens when she returns to action, but she might face the prospect of not being able to intimidate her opponents with the power of her play.
“I think the other players have gotten better and I think they’re not going to be as intimidated when Serena comes back.” Concluded Evert.
Williams is hoping to return to the tour in time for the start of the Australian Open in January.
