Maybe the Williams Sisters Had it Right All Along

By Mark Hauser

Maybe there is no right or wrong way on how to handle a tennis career. It may all just be a matter of personal preference. However, there seems to be a prevailing view that if an athlete, specifically a tennis player, is not totally dedicated to playing just tennis all the time they are wasting their talent. Admittedly, at first glance -- given how competitive any professional sport is right now -- this seems to make sense. But, in tennis, more than any major sport, there is the burn-out factor. More great tennis players over the last 30 years (Tracy Austin is the first one that comes to mind and Bjorn Borg is the biggest name) have been burned-out by age 26 than any other sport. And given that in most sports, athletes hit their peak at around age 28, this would by startling if we were not so used to it.

Tennis players, like any sport where there is lots of money to be made, start practicing and competing intensely at a very early age -- and never let up -- in order to gain an advantage over their competitors. Which they do: But, at what price? Well, the price is obvious. They earn more victories and money at a young age, however, mentally and physically they break down -- at a young age.

Boxers and running backs in American football, because of the physical toll that getting hit takes on their bodies, often hit their peak before the age of 28. But, I do not see anything about tennis which would have that type of affect on its athletes. No, the toll is caused by too much tennis. Ken Rosewall made the finals of Wimbledon at the age of 39 in 1974 -- something unheard in today's tennis. I am willing to bet that he was able to this, at least partly, because he played a lot less tennis between the ages of 5 and 20 than today's stars.

The very talented Andre Agassi was not always as focused and dedicated as people thought he should have been before the age of 28. Then around the age of 28 he rededicated himself to tennis and won more majors after the age of 28 (5) than before (3). Hence, Agassi success demonstrated that a lack of burn-out and not age, is why modern tennis players fail to perform well after the age of 26. While he may have underachieved before the 28, it appears he may have made up for it by overachieving after the age of 28.

Which brings us full circle to Serena and Venus Williams. Venus, at the age of 28, defeated Serena in the finals in July to win her fifth Wimbledon (her 7th Grand Slam singles win). Serena, 26, just did her sister one better by eliminating Venus in the quarterfinals and going on to win the US Open (her 9th Grand Slam singles win). In addition, Serena regained the World #1 ranking -- something she has not had for 5 years, 1 month -- the longest gap in women's tennis history. Like Agassi, the Williams sisters have been criticized for their lack of focus and dedication. Sometimes, they appeared more interested in fashion design than tennis. As a result, they did not win and dominate as much as their talent may have allowed them. Given that Venus is very talented (perhaps as talented as any women ever on grass) and Serena is the most talented women tennis player I have ever seen -- this seems to be a fair criticism.

However, to be fair to the Williams sisters -- they have had more than their share of injuries. And there is no law (the last time I checked) that a professional tennis player has to be 100% committed to tennis all the time. Besides, isn't fashion more suited to the young than old? And maybe, just maybe, they saw the recent history of tennis and decided they wanted to well rounded and avoid the tennis burn-out. Right now, is appears to be working. Perhaps they had it right all along and we were a little hard on them. Perhaps, like Agassi, they will overachieve after the ages of 26 and 28 while their contemporaries retire due to burn-out. I am hoping and predicting they will, but only time will tell.

Mark D. Hauser

Owner: http://UltimateSportsRankings.com

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