Now that Serena is back in business, what would be your top 10 of best current WTA players, based on their best form in last 2-3 years (sorry Hingis!)?

For me, I'd have...

1. Serena (toughest competitor out there - and has achieved so much in her career despite lack of tournaments, and perceived lack of interest in the game).
2. Henin-Hardenne - the best rounded player in my opinion - mentally tough, good mix of aggression and touch in her game, and some may arguably put her ahead of Serena.
3. Mauresmo - wouldn't have put her this high up if it wasn't for Aus Open and Wimbledon last year - very talented, performs well on all surfaces, and kudos to her for her record over Henin-Hardenne. Some poor performances in big matches still damage her credibility though (when she's bad, she's *really* bad).
4. Sharapova - great consistency, tough battler, but sometimes lacks that extra gear that the 3 names above have, and isn't the best tactician. To her credit though, generally slam champions have to beat her on the way to the title...

After then is where it gets tricky for me - where should Venus go (perhaps she should be in top 4??)

5. Clijsters - v convincing against 99% of players, tends to be v consistent, but often lacks the tactical nous to win at the v highest level.
6. Venus - V tricky where to put her - she was brilliant at Wimbledon 2005, but has done little else of note during last few years. Still, a big scalp for lesser players to beat.
7. Kuznetsova - Good tactician, good mix of power and touch, but can be pretty inconsistent - she also seems to need a lot of time to play herself into form.

gets tricky still from now on...
8. Vaidisova - a newcomer, but she's pushed the top players to really up their game to beat her.
9. Hingis possibly - she's made an accomplished comeback - she's a little short of the names at top of this list, but she dominates most of the rest of the field.
10. One out of Safina, Jankovic, Myskina, Dementieva - I'll give the nod to Dementieva as she's a little more consistent than the others. Or should Patty Schnyder be in here (trouble with Patty is that she never seems to beat the big players)!

Great thread as always from you MrI! :D

I think the placings are pretty fair - Mauresmo and Sharapova are nip and tuck for 3rd IMO because Sharapova's game is usually more constant and consistent than Amelie's, and at the top it's impossible to call really! :D

If Henin-Hardenne, 100% fit and on top form, played Serena with the same state, I would Fancy Justine wonderful game to be enough to see off Serena. Justine has really come on since the williams dominance era finished!

I think that'd be the case on clay, where of course Justine thrives, but I'd always favour a fit Serena on grass or fast hard-courts...

Id agree with that list, assuming its 2004+ which is what 2-3 years would have it as :)

Venus hasn't really done anything since then but you've got to have here there for her Wimbledon win :bow:

I would like to say Kim should be higher, but despite her excellent 2005 Maria and Amelie have sadly been able to do more :(

Hey, wheres Mary? :angry: :angry: Or Lindsay :o

Well Lindsay's retired ;) :(

As for Mary...her 2005 form would certainly put her in the top 10, but in 04 and 06 she was far from spectacular and maybe that's why MrI left her out :shrug:

thank god we're talking about the last 3 years or so, because venus would be second roflmao

Defintely put Mauresmo higher than sharapova, two slams, a YEC, numerous tier 1's etc............

Maria has also won two Slams, the YECs and a few Tier Is though :lol:

Momo has longer weeks at number 1 also ;)

I would put Sharapova on top of Momo (although thats somewhere i expect Masha NEVER wants to find herself :yikes: ) Due to the fact that she has achieved similar success to Momo, but in a much shorter space of time and will probably overtake her pretty soon. Sharpies mental grit is worth more to me than Momos (sometimes) great game

i would put mauresmo ahead of sharapova, but not by much. and the faux-russian is catching up quickly.

I would put Sharpie ahead of Mauresmo, Amelie has more natural talent, but she doesn't have the mental strength of Maria, nor the consistency, I think you'll find that Sharapova will start to take the lead in their H2H as they play more often...

Serena and Justine have to be tops, Venus needs to find some rhythm and start playing more regularly :(

Venus and her injuries :(

Well at least she doesnt milk them to the press like Kim ' stay at home mum ' clijsters :rolleyes: roflmao

Yeah, at least Venus doesn't play when she's injured :doh: :lol:

I do think that Kim has had a tough time with all the injuries, but some decisions she's made have contributed, like playing 6 events in 8 weeks or whatever :wacko: that's just asking for trouble...

Erm....... didnt lindsay play with a stress fracture at the Us Open in 03? :lol:

Yeah, Kim has had injury after injury, but she plays WAY too much, i mean its just crazy. Her Us harcourt schedule is just over-kill :doh:

She took a cortizone shot though :shrug:

And we're talking about Venus and Kim roflmao

Yeah, but her foot was still buggered roflmao

Yes we are, i digress :lol:

Cue Choka :rolleyes: roflmao

Yeah, sorry Choka :rolleyes: mind you, we do bash Kim almost everyday roflmao

Yes, who needs any other past-time roflmao

Cant wait until Antwerp, well not for kIm obviously, because i couldnt give a crap :rolleyes: roflmao

Yet another thread ruined by the Williams-Davenport mafia :rolleyes:

You have a Williams in your an avatar and a Davenport in your sig though roflmao

Yeah, lDF galloping on his moral-horse :rolleyes: roflmao

I was going to change them and say 'liar' but I can't be bothered :rolleyes: roflmao

Anyway, I believe that you two are the main members of the mafia ;)

Some Mafia of two people :rolleyes: roflmao

Yes they're the ring leaders, we're just the henchmen LDF who sit by and watch Kim's name be ripped to shreds roflmao

Yeah on Grass Serena would be favourite, but hard-courts are really hard to call!

you biased biatch! roflmao

Sharapova would have to squeak ahead of Mauresmo for my money ;)

Apart from the fact that Serena has five hardcourt slams and Justine has two :shrug: :P

Yeah i'd have to favour Serena due to her superior record on hardcourts but really who knows. They've played twice on the surface (both won by Serena) but both of those came in 2001 so anything could happen now though as I said i'd consider Serena the favourite.

Maybe we'll see that match up in Dubai where they are both scheduled to play.

It's such a shame that we've been robbed of Justine v Serena or Venus matches for the last 4 years now.

Ye Venus and Serena seem to be going out of their way to avoid Justine :rolleyes:

I hope Justine and Serena end up on opposite sides of the draw in Dubai as that would be a great final if they both get there!

Let's hope - then Serena gets to beat Maria again on the way!

I agree.Serena usually devours her on fast courts just like Venus does!

Yeah, but Serena has three of those from when she was utterly dominant, again, it's amazing how stats can be used to "try" and prove something

So can't we count those three slams because Serena was playing so well at the time....

Also, it's only two really; she wasn't even in the top 5 when she won the AO 2005 or 2007, or USO '99

Also Justine won both of her hardcourt slams when she was a dominant number one. Those stats eh? ;)

What i'm saying is that 5 hardcourt slams to 2 doesn't tell you much about how their flaming head to head this year would be roflmao

ok roflmao

It's literally a game of mystic meg... and that just getting both players on court 100% fit and focused in the same tournament! roflmao

I know, I don't think Justine and Serena have both been in the second week of slam since Wimbledon 2003.

Like I said it's like they're going out of their way not to play each other roflmao