The sister act

In the last few years, women’s tennis hasn’t produced a shining new talent.

For the first time, Roger Federer will be the defending champion at the French Open. And he will be up against a Rafael Nadal in prime form. Nadal has won everything there was to win this clay court season. He defeated Federer in the final at Madrid, where Federer had defeated the Spaniard in the final last year. Federer had then gone on to win his first French title as Nadal fell in the fourth round to Robin Soderling. Many believe that was a freak defeat, though that can be debated since Soderling did not lose in the next round, as many surprise winners tend to. He went on to play the final and had a good year overall. This time, too, he is a contender, and may meet Federer as early as the quarterfinal. If Federer gets past him to the semifinal, he may run into Andy Murray, who has a 6-5 career advantage over the Swiss. Murray himself has a tricky third-round opponent in Richard Gasquet, who once made the Wimbledon semifinal, but was suspended for part of last season after testing positive for cocaine. Novak Djokovic, too, is a contender, though his stars have not been shining very bright of late. All this will ensure that this French Open is keenly watched.

Now, wait! What about the women? Well, what about them! They will all turn up in alluring designerwear and one of them will win. If you look beyond the outfits, at the WTA rankings, you may pinch yourself. The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, are ranked number one and two in the world. They are also seeded one and two at the French. Venus turned pro in 1994, Serena the next year. They went on to dominate women’s tennis, but right now they appear to be at the top not because they are as strong as ever but because the field has weakened.

In the last few years, women’s tennis has not produced a shining new talent who would put her stamp on her era. The one player who really held her own against the sisters, Justine Henin, retired abruptly three years ago when she was number one. In her last full season, she played Serena three times at Grand Slams and won each time. Henin is making her way back now, but lost the Australian final to Serena. Kim Clijsters made a fairytale comeback after motherhood and retirement by winning the US Open, but she never really dominated the sisters even before she had retired.

Ana Ivanovic, admittedly an eye candy, seems to be picking her way back, but slowly. The same goes for Jelena Jankovic. Maria Sharapova's injuries have hurt. Svetlana Kuznetsova is the defending champion, but her defeat will not be a very big upset, given that she has won only a fistful of matches all year.

The thing is that even the top-seeded sisters are not much of a force at the French Open. They played the final in 2002, but neither has managed to get that far since.

(suveen.sinha@bsmail.in)