[it-girl]

Originally Posted by justineheninfan

I think with Serena at her very best Martina would have alot of trouble with her power. She never faced that kind of power in her prime, and by the time she started facing it with Graf and Seles she was mostly past her prime so it is hard to guage how she would have handled it. However the power of Graf and even moreso Seles was challenging for her. Serena overall has more power than either Graf or Seles. Her will to win is unmatched by almost any women in history, and I think her nerve is stronger than Martina too.

+1 Well said.

[Matt01]

Originally Posted by jrollaneres25

Maybe on his serve, but Serena would win games against Nole. Serena's Serve rivals the men. No One on the men's side serve with the precision Serena uses. And Serena serves just as fast as Nadal. So she would give even a top 10'er a run

Serena can't even win games against Karsten Braasch.

[Sam L]

Originally Posted by Matt01

Serena can't even win games against Karsten Braasch.

That was years ago. Wasn't that in 1998?

Serena of 2002 definitely would've beaten some male players.

[doujyr]

if they played with wooden racquets then martina would win. if they played with modern racquets serena's power would be too much

[Matt01]

Originally Posted by Sam L

That was years ago. Wasn't that in 1998?

Serena of 2002 definitely would've beaten some male players.

Serena (just like any other female player) stands no chance aginst the male top players. Serena of 2002 may have been competitive with the likes of Braasch but with players like Nole? No!

[Philbo]

Originally Posted by Sam L

That was years ago. Wasn't that in 1998?

Serena of 2002 definitely would've beaten some male players.

She wouldnt have beaten anyone inside the top 300. Nor would Steffi or Martina at their peaks. Its comparing apples and oranges.

The top female pro's employ males who werent good enough to cut it on the tour as their hitting partners and even those hitting partners offer harder/more difficult balls during practice than they ever get during a match.

[jrollaneres25]

Like I said, Serena would hold Serve against Jesus if she's serving well

[effedcamel]

Originally Posted by jrollaneres25

Like I said, Serena would hold Serve against Jesus if she's serving well

Serena's serve may be better than Nadal's at times, but the men are faster and stronger than her opponents and can handle that kind of serve farrrrrrr better

Her serve is an anomaly for the women's game, not the men's I see her holding serve once/set if she plays a guy

[justineheninfan]

Martina speaks in her book of hitting with her coach Mike Estep who at his best was a marginal top 100 male pro, but was injured and basically retired so a shadow of his old self by coaching her. Martina said that she would lose some sets by competitive scores, but always lose, but she could tell he wasnt going all out either, and that some shots she thought were certain winners he would get back for winners. This was in 1983 and 1984 when Martina was playing some of the best tennis ever by a women. So that might give some perspective into the best a women could do vs a male pro.

I do think even if she isnt the best that Serena at her best might be the most likely female to compete with some male players though. Simply since her serve and power (along with being one of the fastest and best defensive players when fit as well) are what is probably most needed to hang with a man.

[rafaelkafka]

Martina, in a wheelchair, 6-0, 6-0, with Serena doing her beloved 50 Unforced errors.

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by effedcamel

have you? mixed doubles is the butt of both tours and should be taken with a grain of salt as a barometer of performance in singles.

Dude a serve ace is a serve ace. And a return winner is a return winner. Everyone knows the biggest disparity between men's and women's tennis is the serve and the ladies still manage to return fine in mixed doubles. I'm not saying the ladies would make it close against Djokovic or anything but to say they would struggle to win a point is a huge stretch to say the least.

[samsam4087]

Martina is the greatest!!

[TennisPhan]

wtf is this joke thread? are you kidding me? serena would beat nav and graf 1v2 EASILY. How is nav gonna return serena first serve? LOL gtfo nostalgic fans... delirious

[ohnoitsmchl]

Overall head to head Martina would lead by a large margin maybe, but Serena would get a few matches here and there.

[kusiak]

peak to peak: Navratilova will not touch Serena's serve even for one moment. Come on guys, Martina is amazing, better technique, more shots in arsenal, but when Serena plays her best it's like winner after winner no matter how fast you are cause this shots are just too fast. Her game would be much more simple than Navralitolova's but you can't do much if you can't catch the ball. Serena to win sth like 6:3, 6:3.