Wimby occurs earlier in the calendar. By the time the Olympics happened, Serena had spent SO much more time on the Wimby grass than ever in her career. She was match tough on grass like never before. What resulted was an utterly dominant performance at the Olympics. Same thing happened in 2013 with her undefeated run on clay.
@@Mhochul That's just not true. Any athlete worth their electrolytes wants Olympic gold the way top actors dream of winning an Oscar. It's one of the key benchmarks for the greats to cross off their list.The question is how realistic of a shot do most other players have? It's a Masters level tournament not a Major, but the real issue is if you don't medal, you don't get much for your troubles. In short, they don't make it easy to qualify or participate, so many lesser players have to look for other opportunities during that time in order to gain points & prize money. That doesn't mean it's not highly valued.
Well if you lost in the qualifying rounds at wimbledon but say youre from iceland, you can easily get into the main draw at the olympics representing your country i guess. @got2bjosh
Most would interpret "toughest route" to mean a mix of: 1) having to defeat a higher number of fellow top 5, top 10, former GS-winning players on route to the title, 2) then looking at how close the sets were 7-5 7-6, etc. 3) player form (winning despite illness, injury), and 4) extenuating circumstances (extreme heat, multiple rain delays, super slow conditions). Not merely games won/lost.
Serena is truly the goat of tennis . She gave a beautiful meaning to the spot #1 making everyone scared if they were against her lol . Didn’t Li Na also suffered in AO 2014 ?
Li Na saved a match point against Safarova in R3 at AO 2014 but her other matches were pretty routine wins aside from that if I’m remembering correctly
I was taking a break from tennis when Ostapenko won RG but these highlights make me want to watch the match. Some of these shots were insane and also it looks like she was always down in the score yet managed to win. Crazy how she managed to keep focused for 7 matches in a row in such tough battles and on CLAY and can never replicate this level of focus since.
not as tough as Ons Jabeur beating Andreescu, Kvitova, Rybakina and Sabalenka - 4 grand slam champions. Leylah only beat 2 (at the time Sabalenka hadn't won a slam yet)
@@myerklamb8529 That`s simply not true. Even this year she came back from 2-4 15-40 in the 3rd set against Danielle Collins at AO. Also in 2022 Indian Wells she lost early sets in her matches against Kalinina, Tauson, Kerber and always came back. And don`t forget iconic matches with Samsonova in Stuttgart or Kanepi at AO. Iga was also down a break against Muchova in the 3rd set RG 2023 final.
@@paweskibniewski9286 lol that match against Samsonova was a chokefest with tones of errors. Iga doesnt win tight matches unless the opponent get s amental block - yet to see her raise her level and the opponent keep the same level
What about Stosurs run in the us open...for a time she had the record for longest womens match (against petrova) and longest tie break ( against kirilenko) plus a 3 setter against kerber in the semis...
If only Ons hadn't choked last year's Wimbledon final, hers would be the top of this list - beating 4 grand slam champions back to back to back to back before beating a grand slam finalist in the final - Andreescu, Kvitova, Rybakina, Sabalenka, Vondrousova.
They’re just counting the games lost. Maybe an idea of another video about how many seeded/ top 5-10 players a player had to defeat en route to a GS title
Tough is not the correct word to describe what this video is about. I literally thought that this is based on the rankings / momentum. I would’ve never guessed that this is based on the games lost en route to the title.
@@Sabinelisickifansssyou described it fine, these were very tough GS runs. Ppl just don’t appreciate it’s about how the other player is playing not just their ranking
A run can be tough in many ways. Losing many games and sets is one way to describe a tough run because maybe the opponent decided to peak then. You can also face top 10 opponents who throw a stinker and lose 6:2 6:2. Time spent on court is another. A third way will be the average ranking of opponents faced.
@@Gobble-zc3kcI mean no doubt about that..These were very tricky matches, but what’s the FIRST thing you think of when someone says “tough Grand Slam”? Do you think it was a Grand Slam in which a player beat the Big 3 and some other top 10 opponents or is it when you have these three setters against a bunch of folks who will never ever be in the top 10 / win a Grand Slam?
Zheng was an amazing player, a 2 time grand slam doubles champion and the first Chinese player to ever reach a slam semifinal in singles. Just incredibly flat and powerful groundstrokes
Losing games against players that are "one hit wonders" isnt that relevant Tough routes for me shouldve been Sharapova's RG 2014 Serena's AO 2010 Li's RG 2011 Ostapenko RG 2017 Serena's RG 2015 Osaka's AO 2019 Serena's AO 2015 With honorable mention to : Kerber AO 2016 Krejickova RG 2021 And Kvitova's Wimbledon 2011
she did - US Open 2022 when was down a set and a break against Niemeier in R4 and in the semifinal she came back from 2-4 in the 3rd set to beat Sabalenka.
Lol at Osaka 2020. That was not difficult. Sloane 2017 was harder (Top ten Cibulkova coming off New Haven title, prior year finalist Vinci, peak Goerges, Ash Barty, Sevastova, Venus coming off Wimbledon and AO finals, Keys who had just been top ten and CHR a few months prior).
The most hardest pathway to win a grandslam have to go to Lina's RG '11. She defeat 3 peak players in a row (Kvitova, Sharapova, Azarenka) and defending champion in final
Serena was given PEDs due in the 2015 French Open (Prednisolone, which reduces inflammation) and 2010 Australian Open (Hydromorphone, which improves stamina and provides muscles with oxygen). These were made public when Russian hackers broke into the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) database and released confidential data on 29 athletes, including TUEs for Williams and other tennis players including Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.
Yes but all of this was legal because several doctors AND The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is managed and enforced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), they all allow that because the player need that to feel ok to performance, the problem Is when they do without their permission (Halep) AND the Sharapova case Is very different
@@cherme1490actually she wasn't because CAS still haven't published their findings. People are waiting to see how they can dismiss the ABP charges. Remember Halep also showed suspicious ABP levels in 2014 according to official records. She's a doper.
@@cherme1490 That’s BS and you know it. Literally every banned athlete ever that was caught doping claim that they “accidentslly” took it. Halep is a Massive cheater.
@@cherme1490 that Is why she stay 2 years away from WTA tour AND Comeback without any apologize? Sharapova also did accidentally but she was guilty AND halep case Is way stronger than Sharapova, so halep Is a doper
It’s funny how Serena struggled during 2012 WC, but the Olympics she just crushed everyone in her path😂
I wonder how much of that is due to a lot of tennis players not valuing the Olympics as a major tournament
Wimby occurs earlier in the calendar. By the time the Olympics happened, Serena had spent SO much more time on the Wimby grass than ever in her career. She was match tough on grass like never before. What resulted was an utterly dominant performance at the Olympics. Same thing happened in 2013 with her undefeated run on clay.
@@Mhochul That's just not true. Any athlete worth their electrolytes wants Olympic gold the way top actors dream of winning an Oscar. It's one of the key benchmarks for the greats to cross off their list.The question is how realistic of a shot do most other players have? It's a Masters level tournament not a Major, but the real issue is if you don't medal, you don't get much for your troubles. In short, they don't make it easy to qualify or participate, so many lesser players have to look for other opportunities during that time in order to gain points & prize money. That doesn't mean it's not highly valued.
Well if you lost in the qualifying rounds at wimbledon but say youre from iceland, you can easily get into the main draw at the olympics representing your country i guess. @got2bjosh
Video ideea: Ranking every rivality.
Most would interpret "toughest route" to mean a mix of: 1) having to defeat a higher number of fellow top 5, top 10, former GS-winning players on route to the title, 2) then looking at how close the sets were 7-5 7-6, etc. 3) player form (winning despite illness, injury), and 4) extenuating circumstances (extreme heat, multiple rain delays, super slow conditions). Not merely games won/lost.
I thought Sharapova's French Open 2014 would make into the list
First 3 rounds are too easy
18:57 - what's going on in the commentary box 😭
19:45 - Chris Evert be like 🎅🎅🎅
Serena is truly the goat of tennis . She gave a beautiful meaning to the spot #1 making everyone scared if they were against her lol . Didn’t Li Na also suffered in AO 2014 ?
Li Na saved a match point against Safarova in R3 at AO 2014 but her other matches were pretty routine wins aside from that if I’m remembering correctly
I was taking a break from tennis when Ostapenko won RG but these highlights make me want to watch the match. Some of these shots were insane and also it looks like she was always down in the score yet managed to win. Crazy how she managed to keep focused for 7 matches in a row in such tough battles and on CLAY and can never replicate this level of focus since.
Toughest road to final in history.... leylah Fernandez in USO , defeated svitolina, kerber, Sabalenka Nd Osaka, only to lose to qualifier
WeakTA era.
@@got2bjosh no you're just stupid. It's a strong wta era when any player can beat any other
not as tough as Ons Jabeur beating Andreescu, Kvitova, Rybakina and Sabalenka - 4 grand slam champions. Leylah only beat 2 (at the time Sabalenka hadn't won a slam yet)
Your content is amazing. Keep doing the hard work.
Igas bakery do far means that she won’t appear in videos like this 😅
If she somehow wins Wimbledon she will probably get on this list. Wont be easy for her like the clay
Cause anytime she's in tight matches, she loses
@@myerklamb8529 That`s simply not true. Even this year she came back from 2-4 15-40 in the 3rd set against Danielle Collins at AO. Also in 2022 Indian Wells she lost early sets in her matches against Kalinina, Tauson, Kerber and always came back. And don`t forget iconic matches with Samsonova in Stuttgart or Kanepi at AO. Iga was also down a break against Muchova in the 3rd set RG 2023 final.
@@paweskibniewski9286 lol that match against Samsonova was a chokefest with tones of errors. Iga doesnt win tight matches unless the opponent get s amental block - yet to see her raise her level and the opponent keep the same level
What about Stosurs run in the us open...for a time she had the record for longest womens match (against petrova) and longest tie break ( against kirilenko) plus a 3 setter against kerber in the semis...
If only Ons hadn't choked last year's Wimbledon final, hers would be the top of this list - beating 4 grand slam champions back to back to back to back before beating a grand slam finalist in the final - Andreescu, Kvitova, Rybakina, Sabalenka, Vondrousova.
I was expecting AO 2010 to be on here.Serena had to face so many great players en route to the title.
They’re just counting the games lost. Maybe an idea of another video about how many seeded/ top 5-10 players a player had to defeat en route to a GS title
Vika Azarenka is my favorite tennis player ever ❤️❤️🙏
Your content is awesome
Osaka 2020 wtf? The only seeds she faced that entire run was 14 and 28 lol. I mean Raducanu even faced higher seeds than that during her USO run
This is in terms of total games lost, not difficulty of opponents/rank.
U didnt read the total game lost ?or u r just dont know how to read ?
yeah this list was fucking ridiculous. Osaka had a super easy run
Ostapenko's victory was the most unexpected performance of all time.
Sharapova RG-14?
Never seen penko look so happy before. And she didn’t have to pull squeaky shoes. Which was nice.
Tough is not the correct word to describe what this video is about. I literally thought that this is based on the rankings / momentum. I would’ve never guessed that this is based on the games lost en route to the title.
Then how to describe this video, my English sucks😭😭
@@Sabinelisickifansssyou described it fine, these were very tough GS runs. Ppl just don’t appreciate it’s about how the other player is playing not just their ranking
A run can be tough in many ways. Losing many games and sets is one way to describe a tough run because maybe the opponent decided to peak then. You can also face top 10 opponents who throw a stinker and lose 6:2 6:2. Time spent on court is another. A third way will be the average ranking of opponents faced.
@@Sabinelisickifansss Replace "TOUGHEST" with "MOST GAMES LOST" in the title 😊
@@Gobble-zc3kcI mean no doubt about that..These were very tricky matches, but what’s the FIRST thing you think of when someone says “tough Grand Slam”?
Do you think it was a Grand Slam in which a player beat the Big 3 and some other top 10 opponents or is it when you have these three setters against a bunch of folks who will never ever be in the top 10 / win a Grand Slam?
Somewhat new to tennis can someone explain how a set can have a score of 9-7? What were the rules back then?
Wow that first Chinese against Serena!!!!
Zheng. Always put Serena in trouble
Zheng was an amazing player, a 2 time grand slam doubles champion and the first Chinese player to ever reach a slam semifinal in singles. Just incredibly flat and powerful groundstrokes
@@myerklamb8529 thank you for information)
5:37 - still hurts
What about serena 2015 wc
Only 2 3-set matches, not that tough
Sameee, I thought the video was gonna be more of the opponents they faced to the title. Cause Serena faced all the big hitters in 2015 WC
Hsieh Osaka ❤❤❤
Losing games against players that are "one hit wonders" isnt that relevant
Tough routes for me shouldve been
Sharapova's RG 2014
Serena's AO 2010
Li's RG 2011
Ostapenko RG 2017
Serena's RG 2015
Osaka's AO 2019
Serena's AO 2015
With honorable mention to :
Kerber AO 2016
Krejickova RG 2021
And Kvitova's Wimbledon 2011
i’m surprised 2014 Sharapova RGs journey didnt make the list?
Shocking Iga won 4 slams without having more than 1 tough match - 3 setters
she did - US Open 2022 when was down a set and a break against Niemeier in R4 and in the semifinal she came back from 2-4 in the 3rd set to beat Sabalenka.
@@paweskibniewski9286 my mistake
Penko 😢😢😢
Jelena winning RG was something to watch. ❤
Lol at Osaka 2020. That was not difficult. Sloane 2017 was harder (Top ten Cibulkova coming off New Haven title, prior year finalist Vinci, peak Goerges, Ash Barty, Sevastova, Venus coming off Wimbledon and AO finals, Keys who had just been top ten and CHR a few months prior).
oh I see the vid is about something different. whoops
The most hardest pathway to win a grandslam have to go to Lina's RG '11. She defeat 3 peak players in a row (Kvitova, Sharapova, Azarenka) and defending champion in final
Sharapova and Azarenka were not on their peak in 2011
Serena was given PEDs due in the 2015 French Open (Prednisolone, which reduces inflammation) and 2010 Australian Open (Hydromorphone, which improves stamina and provides muscles with oxygen).
These were made public when Russian hackers broke into the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) database and released confidential data on 29 athletes, including TUEs for Williams and other tennis players including Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.
Yes but all of this was legal because several doctors AND The Tennis Anti-Doping Programme is managed and enforced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), they all allow that because the player need that to feel ok to performance, the problem Is when they do without their permission (Halep) AND the Sharapova case Is very different
@@neuman91 well Halep was proved to take it accidentally
@@cherme1490actually she wasn't because CAS still haven't published their findings. People are waiting to see how they can dismiss the ABP charges. Remember Halep also showed suspicious ABP levels in 2014 according to official records. She's a doper.
@@cherme1490 That’s BS and you know it. Literally every banned athlete ever that was caught doping claim that they “accidentslly” took it. Halep is a Massive cheater.
@@cherme1490 that Is why she stay 2 years away from WTA tour AND Comeback without any apologize? Sharapova also did accidentally but she was guilty AND halep case Is way stronger than Sharapova, so halep Is a doper
First 😂
Osaka & Ostapenko? Sorry, I'll skip this video.
18:57 - what's going on in the commentary box 😭
19:45 - Chris Evert be like 🎅🎅🎅