Would you like to see Serena play against the men?

I don't get it when people say that Annika played really well, or proved that she can hang with the men. Would that have been true if she came in dead last, but only by a stroke, 10 strokes behind dead last, or what? She finished in what, 90th place or something? How much worse would she have had to do to not have been great, or to show that she couldn't play with the men? I would like women and men to compete all the time, as I don't think we should set up special leagues for certain groups of people, but part of competing with the men is being judged on the same scale. No one would say that the guy who finished just ahead of Annika played great, or anybody that missed he cut for that matter. If it were me, I would be pissed that everyone is giving me such low standards to live up to, just like BJK beating some 50 year old hustler like Riggs instead of playing a real mens tennis player.

 

No -- I wouldn't be interested in seeing that. Serena is badass, but she'd get it handed to her by one of the top male players -- and she knows it.

Unlike golf, where an athlete plays against the course, tennis would pit a male directly against a female. If they're both in top condition (unlike Billie Jean King playing against a 55-year-old Bobby Riggs) the male will win every time. That's just plain old biology.

Serena is the top female tennis player and a savvy woman. I think she realizes a male/female match could only hurt her prestige. I can't imagine she'd ever decide to do it. Not to mention, female tennis is in a very different place than it was 30 years ago. The WTA no longer needs a highly-hyped spectacle match to bring them viewers and noteriety.

 

I could not agree with you less. She would not dominate the way she does in the women's side, but I am willing to bet she would be a top 15 player on the men's side but would likey have difficulty in the grandslam as well as the major events which use the five set format at least until she became accustom to doing so.

You put her up against some of the top men she could hold her own and may be ablle to actually pull out the win in a tourney if she stayed on.

That situation is no way comparable to the Annika joke. She is a a great woman golfer, but only a good golfer when comparing her to the top level of play in her sport. NO ONE actually thought she sttod a chance in this tourney as a matter of fact, people would have been surprised had she made the cut (which the "average" pro male makes.

Serena I think is not far behind if not as good as the second tier men.

 

She challenged some dude ranked 70something (if I recall correctly) 5 years ago and got her ass handed to her. If anyone has access to news databases, they can look it up and post it here.

I'd like to see Anna Kornikova play against the men. I swear she'd be unstoppable.

 

You're being very silly. No way in hell she'll be close to the top 50 in the men's. She'll be lucky if she's even the top 100. Do you know why??? Because the men's game is <b>A LOT</b> faster. It's a whole nother level. Have you ever seen the elite men's match and an elite woman's match in person?

 

I thought the question here was whether Serena could win a match against a top-ranked male player -- to which I replied "no." But if we're reaching all the way down to below "second tier" male players, then yes, I believe she would have a shot at some of them.

But if we're going to pit no. 1 ranked Serena Williams against no.1 ranked Lleyton Hewitt or no. 2 ranked Andre Agassi, I don't believe she has much of a fighting chance. Here's the fastest-serve statistics from the 2002 US Open:

Fastest men's serves at 2002 U.S. Open (all matches)
1. Andy Roddick, USA, 138 mph
2. Greg Rusedski, Great Britain, 137 mph
3. Pete Sampras, USA 135 mph

Fastest women's serves at 2002 U.S. Open (all matches)
1. Venus Williams, USA, 122 mph
2. Serena Williams, USA, 117 mph
3. Bea Bielik, USA, 116 mph

I think Serena is incredibly talented, but those are some pretty big gaps in the numbers. And it's not just that the men have more power, but they play a totally different style of game -- harder, faster and more agressive.

Again, I do agree, to some extent, that if Serena took the time and trained intensively, she might be able to become a fair to moderately good player on the men's tour. But, like Annika, she has no desire to leave her top ranking on the women's tour to do so.

 

I would pay to see McEnroe vs. Serena.

 

McEnroe would kick the ever living **** out of Serena, as would the 150th ranked men's player in the game. Annika has nothing to do with this. She isn't physically "competing" against men in the same way Serena would be.

Would love to see Serena play men just to see her lose and understand what humility is. You could say the same about Venus. Both are very full of themselves and need a lesson in etiquette.


Also, remember when I was basically the only guy here who said that there are genetic differences in ethnic groups? that is, African-Americans are very likely superior athletically than whites or Asians? Someone said "well, how do you explain the Williams sisters? They're black and neither one of them are the #1 women's player." Forget the fact that although tennis is an anglo-dominated sport, two African-Americans were ranked in the top ten. Now, guess who are the two top womens tennis players? Serena and Venus? Why are they better? Because they run faster, are more athletic, hit the ball harder and are quicker.

Physical differences range are present among gender and ethnicity.

Like it or not, there are

 

I don't believe that. I think it would be an excellent match.

Guess which two groups of people are most different genetically? Both groups reside in Africa, and both groups are considered "black".

Your racial stereotypes are nonsense.

 

When she was at the top of her game, the most dominant fermale tennis player ever was asked how she would do against top male players. She replied that, depending on the style he played, she mgiht have a shot against the 100th ranked men's player in the game. If he wasn't a power player, she said, she might be able to stay in the game and hope the man in question beat himself, but if he was a power player, she just wouldn't be able to compensate/handle it. She said she knew whereof she spoke, as she practiced against top male players all the time.

I am not an expert on tennis, but I suggest that Martina Navratalova is. I'll go with her take. I would suggest that Vevus probably knows this as well as Martina did.

 

Women's tennis is much more exciting to watch then men's tennis anyways. I dont think she should waste her time trying to play a guy.

Men's tennis is badass as well, but it gets a tad bit tiring after a while. Its 140mph aces and sometimes one volley at the most.

 

Absolutely ridiculous. She would lose to any man in the top 500 easily. I have been playing tennis for 25 years and know what I am talking about. Some German guy who is probably not even in the top 1000 now (Karsten Braasch) played against Venus and Serena a few years ago (I think after drinking a few beers, too, plus, he is a heavy smoker) and easily whipped both of them 6:1 and 6:0 (I think, might have been 6:1 and 6:2, but then it was probably just because he wanted to be a gentleman).

Serena is an unbelievably athletic and gifted player for a woman, but she has no chance in hell to beat a top 100 ranked man who plays close to normal level.

 

As a sidenote, I would not mind seeing Serena and Anna Kournikova mud-wrestle, but I think Anna would need some help there...

Here is a link that mentions what I said above. Granted, Serena has gotten a lot better than that in the meantime, but Venus had already just won her first Grand Slam title, and Braasch is by no means an outstanding player or has ever been. I would even be surprised if he played at full throttle against the two ladies.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/other/ausfs03.htm

"The sisters lost in the third round of doubles, and then issued a challenge to the men, saying they could beat any ranked 200 or lower.

They were wrong. In an impromptu exhibition, No. 203 Karsten Braasch of Germany beat Serena 6-1 and Venus 6-2."

 

And here some more on how that match happened:

Still want to know what happened to Karsten Braasch (as a user inquired in your Mailbag last November)? I interviewed him recently, so read on:

"Karsten Braasch will forever be remembered as the man with the uncoachable serve, who smoked like a chimney, scared Pete Sampras at Wimbledon, and beat both the Williams sisters in the same afternoon. Braasch is a polite, intelligent man, but even at 33, his tennis days are far from over, as he's proving this week at the Mallorca Open in doubles with partner Jens Knippschild . So what is it that keeps the German going? 'I'm still having fun,' he explains.

"But how on earth did he learn that remarkable serve, which sees him run, jump and launch his body at the ball in the most bizarre fashion? 'I think everyone learns his own style,' says Braasch. 'Agassi, Sampras -- nobody taught them to play the way they do. With me it was just a normal development, and as long as it is working, it doesn't matter.'

"Sampras found out just how well it worked at Wimbledon in 1995. Returning as the defending champion for the second time, the American walked onto Centre Court for their first-round encounter, probably expecting to steamroll Braasch in about an hour. But the German played by his own rules, and with a mix of delicate chips and thunderous drives he won the second set to level matters at one apiece, and looked capable of pulling off one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history. Digging deep, Sampras prevailed, but he paid tribute to his opponent. "He's a pain to play," said Sampras.

"The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, wouldn't argue with that assessment. Their request for a male opponent at the 1998 Australian Open was met by the German, who had been on the golf course all morning. This is how Braasch remembers the day: 'They came into the ATP Office and said that they would like to play one of the men. I just happened to be in the room and they were saying that they thought they could beat someone who was ranked 200 in the world. At the time I was No. 203 and I said, "If you think you can beat me, we can go out there right now." With Serena, the score was 6-1 and then Venus came and asked to play, and I said, "If you want to play, we can play." That was 6-2. When they first came in they were looking at the media guide because they had seen someone practicing who they thought they could beat, and they wanted to know who it was. It was Francisco Clavet. When they said that, there were 10 guys on the floor. Afterward, Venus spoke to the press and said that maybe she could actually beat someone who was 350 in the world. But the thing is that I was due to lose all my points from the 1997 Australian Open the next week, so I told the press, "We can do it again next week when I am 350 if you like!"'

"Three years later Braasch has no plans for a rematch. 'I don't think it's necessary,' he says. 'I don't think after that match that you heard anything about men and women's tennis from the Williams sisters. Sometimes when I walk past them at a Grand Slam, they don't say anything, maybe they don't see me, but maybe they are a little bit embarrassed.'

"Braasch is known for having a rather unusual fitness regime to go with his unorthodox style of play. He smokes 15 cigarettes each day and he's fond of having a beer or two (he admits to having drunk a couple of 'shandies' the morning of the matches with the Williams sisters). But Braasch has shown that he can compete with the best. In a career spanning 14 years, he has racked up wins over Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl among others, and his proudest moment was playing in the Davis Cup for Germany. At 33, he won't be around forever, but retirement isn't in the cards yet. 'As long as I can still compete, and as long as people still want to watch me and don't say, "What's this old guy doing out there?" I will play.'"

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/2001/05/07/mailbag/

Also, another link said that he served at about half speed most of the time while playing the Williams sisters.