Upcoming rivalries of Serena Williams

In WTA, Serena Williams has been the one player who has single handedly deprived the rest of the athletes a shot at the major tournaments. In her career spanning 21 Grand Slams, Williams has emerged to be the most complete player in terms of consistency, variations and statistics.

It has been a major challenge for the rest of the players to crack the code against the ever-dominant Williams. Players like Maria Sharapova have failed to even mark a win over her in more than a decade. Serena has now won 17 consecutive matches against Sharapova in a period of 11 years. Be it the mental block or difference in athleticism, only a few have been able to beat her in the past. And those who have done so, like Roberta Vinci in the 2015 US Open, are ‘one time wonders’.

There have been some tough matches against Williams in the past, but easily not strong enough to be called as rivalries. Quite recently, Angelique Kerber got the better of Williams in the Australian Open final in an epic 3 set clash wherein Williams got defeated mentally even before the match ended and that reflects the strong game plan and beautiful execution by the German. This was only her second win over Williams in 7 meetings. But the rivalry seems promising and would last long.

The other player with whom there is a possibility of a good rivalry is Petra Kvitova. Though Kvitova has won only one full match against Williams, the tenacity and strength of the two players is comparable. The strokes and deftness of Williams might be stronger but the way Kvitova has improved over the past year is likely to pay off.

The 2015 Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza pushed Williams to bring out the best in her. The young Spaniard has a promising future ahead and their match is a proof of a budding rivalry in the future. The strong groundstrokes and her powerful serve is surely going to be the cause for a downfall of Williams in the future. The other players who have played better than the other WTA players are Agnieszka Radwanska and Victoria Azarenka, but their rivalry with Williams doesn’t seem very convinving. If they improve their game plan towards her, then there is a possibility to overpower the 34 year old.