[croat123]

Let's start a list...

1997 - Majoli def. Hingis in the French Open final, denying the world number 1 player a Grand Slam

1998 - Graf def. Hingis in the French Open final after Hingis served for the match, beginning Martina's slow decline.

1999 - Foreshadowed Serena Willliams's rise to tennis greatness with 5 titles, including the US Open, and wins over the likes of Graf, Hingis, and Mauresmo.

2000 - Venus Williams def. Hingis in the US Open semifinals after Hingis had an overhead at 5-3 to get her to match point.

2001 - Capriati def. Hingis in the Australian Open final.

2001 - Serena Williams def. Capriati in the Canadian Open final. Capriati hasn't beaten her since.

2002 - Capriati def. Hingis in the French Open final again, this time saving four match points. Hingis was never the same after that.

2002 - Serena def. Venus in Miami 6-2 6-2. Venus now seemingly can't beat the sister she once dominated.

2003 - Henin-Hardenne def. Serena Williams in the French Open semifinals. Serena isn't unbeatable after all.

2003 - Injuries before the US Open might drop Serena Williams as low as number 3 in the world and Venus might sink even lower. Will they make a comeback?

 

[faboozadoo15]

french 98 was seles vs vicario... u speak of the 99 incident.

 

[faboozadoo15]

and jenn saved 4 match points against hingis at the australian 02

 

[Sam L]

Jezus, I thought we're talking about REAL history. Anyway, my turning points in womens' tennis history.

-For me, probably when Suzanne Lenglen wore a knee-length skirt at Wimbledon and when she dethroned Mrs. Lambert Chambers to win the 1919 championships.

-The 1926 Cannes match between Wills/Lenglen. The crowd and the popularity of the match is the turning point, not the match itself.

-When Mo Connolly won the 1953 Slam.

-Also when Billie beat Bobby.

-Monica Seles' stabbing.

 

[Joana]

I think you're right about Toronto 2001, I think there's where actually Serena's dominance started. She turned the tables on Capriati, won a big title, that must have extremely raised her confidence. She lost only 1 match later that year - to Venus in the USO final.

 

[mexicotrip]

....How about what happened to monica?

 

[faboozadoo15]

for sure... the stabbing led to a stagnant period where tennis became more of a one horse race where the qulity fell.

when monica returned-- women's tennis had a story, an inspiration. this led to a quality rise as the sport resumed and exceeded it's populkarity during the seles era.

 

[Sam L]

....How about what happened to monica?

Oh yes, that's definitely a turning point, not just for the players, but for the tour and sports itself.

 

[jenglisbe]

How did Majoli deny Hingis the Grand Slam? We don't know that Martina would have won the next two had she won the French. Had Hingis won the French, the rankings - and thus seeds and draws - might have been different for future tournaments. Also, the pressure on her at the Open would have been huge. Who knows how she would have handled it...

 

[Martian Willow]

How did Majoli deny Hingis the Grand Slam? We don't know that Martina would have won the next two had she won the French. Had Hingis won the French, the rankings - and thus seeds and draws - might have been different for future tournaments. Also, the pressure on her at the Open would have been huge. Who knows how she would have handled it...

Hingis was beating pretty much everyone at that point, and a change in the seedings would only have changed the order she played people in. I don't think Martina winning the Slam would have made much difference in the long term though.

And I think her decline started before FO '99, it was more like USO '98 when Davenport beat her.

 

[jenglisbe]

Willow - my point is that we don't know that, though. Lindsay Davenport was starting to giving Martina trouble (beat her in a summer event that year), and with the added pressure of Hingis going for the Slam, perhaps Lindsay could have taken out Martina. We just don't know.