Serena Williams Wins Again: Why Women's Tennis Is Double-Faulting

Serena Williams has a lot of things going for her: looks, strength, money and a great doubles partner. 

The things she lacks? The answers are simple: A good personality and some competition. 

Without going into all the details surrounding her outburst some time ago, her actions were uncalled for, unprofessional and furthered stereotypes placed on American tennis players from fans from other countries.

This attitude might get a pass in popular sports like soccer and the NFL but not in a women’s league of a somewhat unpopular sport (based on television ratings).

Women’s tennis needs help getting ratings, and it doesn’t need its top player to give fans a reason to reach for the remote. 

Women’s tennis has become more of a gathering of pretty females than a sport. This is evident by coverage on the Internet.

There are more slideshows of women’s tennis players in short skirts and low-cut tops than articles analyzing their play. 

Setting that issue aside for a moment, the second problem for Serena is that she has literally no other competition than her own sister. Serena’s finals opponent was a woman who just came out of retirement. 

I bet the Williams’ high school neighbors didn’t know they were watching a preview of the only important women’s tennis matches for the next 10+ years. 

Not long ago, people complained that Venus and Serena were too dominant and were hurting the sport’s popularity.

It’s a sad day for women’s tennis when now most people would prefer a battle between the sisters in the final over Serena beating another random women’s player who will fall down the rankings over the course of the following year. 

There was a period of time when it seemed like 90 percent of the top 10 players in the WTA rankings were injured. 

“I’m definitely concerned about it,” WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott said some time ago, but not much since then has changed. 

When all of the identifiable players are sitting out with injuries, do casual fans even know who to cheer for? 

It seems like women’s tennis players (except for a few) are becoming more like glass cannons. We are witnessing women with more power in their game, but we are seeing an increase of injuries throughout the roster. 

Martina Hingis, who was a huge fan favorite, disappeared off the scene at the very young age of 22, after operations on both ankles. 

Not to take anything away from the sport of tennis, but I’m sure one can find something better on television than watching the same arrogant woman smacking balls past women one has never heard of.