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Peak Venus would destroy Peak Serenka in straight sets

12K views 128 replies 70 participants last post by  Passierschlag 
#1 ·
The closest we've seen the two at their best was at 2008 at Wimbledon, and we all know how that ended :oh:

Venus would dismantle Serenka with her backhand down the line, drive/swinging volleys, and all court play.

Serena would remain hopeless.

Does anyone else agree? (I know Virginie does :oh:)
 
#74 ·
If only you had though :awww:
This is 10 years old material. Low budget trolling to say the least. Even rabid Williams-haters such as Dslanders and Vikapowerless provide more in-depth and insightful analysis of the sisters' games that your posts.
 
#77 ·
People here are certain that Venus will defeat Serena on grass, but Serena has a 3-2 record against Venus on that surface.
So I'm sorta curious how folks can so easily draw the conclusion that Venus has grass sown up..
They are fairly equal on hardcourt 8-7 (Serena),
Equal on Clay 1-1,
And on Carpet 1-0 (Serena).

Still, with the question being "...at their peak...", it's honestly hard to say.
However, this is my belief...

Serena has the far superior mental 'desire', and simply hates to lose, regardless of the opponent.
That alone can and has won her titles against her sister; peaking or not.
Serena also has the far superior serve.
And placement trumps pace any day in my book.
If the receiver is capable of getting a racket on the ball, there is a chance of getting the ball back.
Also, Serena can handle the heavy returns far better, than Venus can handle off-paced returns.
We've seen this during their matches already.

As it is a rarity for both to be peaking when they meet anyway, ultimately both will and have suffered from playing the other during the onset of every match. That is something that absolutely has to be taken into account.
Lastly, I honestly believe that we are witnessing peak Serena at the present.
A Serena that has several gears, mixes it up, a superior serve (both first and second; PLUS camouflage), and a continual 'hunger' that rivals the best in the game. And to cap it all off, Serena has significantly reduced her UE count per game.
Conversely, Venus struggles with a first serve even when she's peaking. And neither her first nor second are consistent enough. She also can't seem to maintain her 'peak' like Serena can and has.
If we are talking about peaking, as opposed to 'zoning' Serena wins hands down.
Both are great receivers and heavy hitters, and both scramble incredibly well. Both are fast, but Serena is more explosive.
Peak Venus, I believe, possesses the better net game, though.

My vote goes to Serena.

Just my 2 cents of course.
 
#79 ·
Lol at the faster. And Sharapova is more explosive than Serena in shots, look where that got her. The big difference is Serena >>>>>>>>>>> Venus when it comes to defense, whereas Venus>Serena in offense. Being explosive doesn't work against Serena, patience is what can defeat Serena not out-hitting her. And Venus has a lot of technical glitches with her forehand and serve, whereas Serena is close to perfect with her technique.
 
#80 ·
I still can't believe ppl with these ignorant comments saying the 3x and 4x Slam winners are better or equal to Venus on every surface but grass. When Venus has 26 Hardcourt titles while Sharapova only has 27 titles in her freaking career.

Yall completely ignore facts and only talk from ignorance and perspective.

If yall say that about Venus then Heck Sharapova is better than Henin on every surface but clay, Lindsay is tied or equal to Henin on every surface but clay, but yall won't admit to tha.

Only Venus has an issue because she is the best grass court player of her era no one ever dogs Henin from being a Clay expert. Kim for being a US Open expert. but Venus gets dogged for being a Wimbledon great please give me a break
 
#87 ·
Yep gotta agree. Venus at her peak had better defense and offence. Could cover the court (up,down,across) with elegant ease and could hit winners from anywhere and suffocate an opponent from the net.

However Serena's serve is just so much more smarter and she had game plans a,b,c. That's why she wins so much of their battles, plus the fact venus doesn't get as much joy out of beating her sister as serena does lol
 
#97 ·
^ Venus might not be a "local" but she sure she ain't no Serena Williams either...

People need get back in their time machines and fastforwad to reality and present day. Once upon a time back in 00-01 that kind off thinking was acceptable but now of days if u seriously think peak Venus > peak Serena u need to be institutionalized!
 
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#105 ·
^ Venus might not be a "local" but she sure she ain't no Serena Williams either...

People need get back in their time machines and fastforwad to reality and present day. Once upon a time back in 00-01 that kind off thinking was acceptable but now of days if u seriously think peak Venus > peak Serena u need to be institutionalized!
Says you :kiss:
 
#98 ·
IMO a peak V.Williams - without the big sis psychology that she strongly has - would almost always beat peak S.Williams. But that big sis thing made it tougher.
 
#100 · (Edited)
Between the years of 1998-2002 (early half), Venus had no problem with absolutely annihilating Serena.
Between mid 2002-2003, Serena actually became more competitive, grew into her role as a professional, and began winning their matches.
Then, between 2005-2009, they split their wins, with Serena only winning 1 more than Venus in their frequent meetings.

So where precisely is Venus's "psychology" getting in her way of winning?

I wish people would actually look at the reality of their meetings and judge based on that alone, because the "psychology" myth has gotten really tired at this point. Venus may well have felt bad, but so did Serena. And Venus certainly didn't feel bad enough to throw a match when facing Serena.

Both sisters went into meetings feeling apprehensive.
But both were professionals and played their hearts out far more times than not.

To suggest that Serena felt nothing is ludicrous.

There were many many times where Serena's face showed a LOT more pain than Venus's during their matches, and I swear I wanted to turn off the TV so many times because of it. But when Venus started laying the smack down, Serena would respond and play her sister as an opponent.
THAT is the only thing a big sister can do for her little sister who is also a professional.
Venus taught Serena to check her emotions at the door when facing any opponent, and Serena learned well.
So can we please dispense with the melodramatic embellishments?
It's an old and worn out record that is no longer in vogue.
This argument has run its course over the years, but still seems to pop up when younger fans join or become new fans of this sport.
However, the conclusion remains the same, regardless of how the question is asked.

Bottom line:
Their H2H record, slam count, and number of weapons, tell any logically minded person what the real deal is.
And that is that Serena is far and away the better athlete with the most weapons, more expansive game plan, and technical abilities.
And to put the icing on the cake, Serena has been improving and embellishing her skills since turning pro.
She has grown, and Venus stopped years ago.

Personally, I believe that Venus is very much underrated.
She also is burdened with an illness that no athlete would wish upon another.
However, there isn't another active WTA player that even measures up to Venus, other than Serena, in terms of peak greatness.

Peak Venus is definitely magnificent.
But peak Serena still wins by a measurable degree, and is simply another level of magnificence.

ENJOY!!

 
#99 ·
So, now we're just gonna snatch matches that they have played well in and call it their peak, despite the year? HUNTY CHILE! I cannot.

In that case Venus vs Azarenka (was it Dubai?) would also be PEAK Venus. I can't with you heffas.
 
#102 ·
Well said, RVD..besides: the early lead that Vee had over Serena, might well have been because Serena couldn't step it up when facing Vee...because she could only see her sister, not an opponent.
 
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#119 ·
I love them both to bits and would die to see them play anywhere remotely close to their best once more ;(


Biggest difference when they were at their peaks was in their forehand (and second serve), which made Serena the better player.

Venus just couldn't dictate the play as consistently as Serena could with her forehand (which was and still is extremely versatile). Even when returning serve, Venus used to dump way too many forehand returns into the net. Both of them covered the court magnificently, making Venus run to her forehand was a safer option than making Serena run to her forehand.

Venus is faster, by not necessarily a better defender. Serena has more options with her nasty cc angles and topspin heavy shots when on the run

At the end, in a matchup like this it all comes down to who can take the charge first, and with her superior forehand and serve, he answer is Serena. Tennis is about matchups as well, and Serena matches up fantastically against hard hitters. Peak Serena win 7/10 times .

Sent via iPhone
 
#120 ·
Personally, I always believed that Venus is the better "pure tennis player" of the two, that's just MY personal opinion. However, I believe that Venus at her peak can beat basically anyone except peak Serena. In my honest opinion she even at 32 has still not overcome that mental hurdle to smack her around in matches, she always sees her "sister" on the other side of net and not another "opponent."
 
#122 · (Edited)
What's wrong? I'm more of a Venus fan than a Serena fan, but where do we start?

Both Venus's serve and her forehand have a lot more hitches than Serena's fluid game. So the second either becomes off-kilter it's error time, which can last for strings of games and even a full match.

That said peak Venus on grass is much more satisfying to watch—to me, anyway—because unlike Serena she plays a classic all-court grass game with more frequent forays to the net. Her last few Wimbledon titles delivered the kind of net-charging grass court tennis that people are often under the delusion that Federer plays. In fact it's Venus (along with Mauresmo) who held the last stand of an era of classic grass court tennis.

What any true Venus fan will tell you is that the fallibility of her game is part of the overall package and even why we love her because it's such a source of drama. She keeps you on the knife-edge rooting for her. That cliffhanger win over Davenport in the Wimbledon final was ultimate Venus, something no other player will match in terms of operatic drama.

I've always felt like that last USO encounter where Venus gifted set points galore to little sis was the ultimate turning point in their careers. I might be wrong, but Venus hasn't won a major since while Serena went on to win that very tournament and become far less meteoric and more dependable.
 
#123 ·
Great Post :worship: And I too believe that US Open QF was the turning point. The way Venus got to those winning positions in both sets really made me feel like at their best she has the goods to beat Serena especially on fast surfaces. To me she dictated play and outhit Serena more in that match than she did at Wimbledon that year. Only difference was mentally she didn't play the important points well like she did at Wimbledon.

I still believe the way Serena responed and acted after Venus' win at Wimbledon affected Venus' mentallity in that US Open match.
 
#125 ·
This match displays the closest we've seen of them near both of their peaks at the same time. Serena came out on top, but she still had to fend off a match point. I think it's safe to say Peak Vee and Peak Rena are more than likely EVENLY MATCHED!

 
#127 ·
That was not Serena's peak though. :lol:

You could tell how worn out/tired Serena was, as well as Venus. All the players looked dead that year in the WTA Championships.
 
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