WTA: Martina Navratilova: Lack of consistency complicates legend formation

Martina Navratilova has taken a critical look at the 2018 season. Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams have particularly impressed the icon. The 62-year-old is not quite as happy with the lack of consistency among the world’s best.

Martina Navratilova knows what she is talking about. She and her eternal rival Chris Evert have played against each other 80 times on the tour. Between 1973 and 1988 the duels of these two so different characters electrified the (tennis) world. And the matches polarized. Which was good.

It’s this kind of game that the naturalized American woman misses a bit in the ladies’ circuit at the moment. “Lack of consistency has become something normal. The fact that so many players win titles makes it harder to develop rivalries and superstars,” Navartilova wrote in her gloss on the WTA homepage.

At the four Grand Slams 2018 there were four different winners (Carolina Wozniacki/Simona Halep/Angelique Kerber/Naomi Osaka) – plus Elina Svitolina as champ of the WTA final in Singapore. On the other hand, Navratilova relativized her criticism by saying that it is of course also positive if it is “balanced” and “the density” of the draws is greater.

The nine-time Wimbledon champion (singles) was particularly enthusiastic about Osaka’s ascent, which is being trained by Munich-based Sascha Bajin. “She’s a star now. And it’s going to get bigger and bigger,” Navratilova said: “But I’ve also seen the potential of other young players coming up this year. I’m thinking of Daria Kasatkina, Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens. And also to Kiki Bertens, who is a bit older, but has made a big leap forward this year.”

Navratilova was also impressed by the return of 23-time Major winner Serena Williams: “Serena’s comeback was a great thing. To reach the final of Wimbledon and the US Open can be described as a wonderful achievement after their year break.” The scandalous New York final between Williams and Osaka was the match of the season for Navratilova anyway – and it was the year in which “Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon out of nowhere”.

Navratilova expects the lack of consistency to remain a constant on the WTA tour in the future. However, the left-hander sees the general development of the game as quite positive. She praised the creativity of the professionals, who act with more praise and stops: “And they become more imaginative when it comes to exploiting the opportunities offered by spin. In this time you have to offer more than beautiful forehand and backhand strokes. Only hard basic strokes guarantee you no regular success – and they certainly won’t bring you to a major victory.”

Here is an overview of the greatest successes of the top ten players in 2018