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Q&A: Pam ShriverView Comments (5) | View Discussions
Posted on October 30, 2003
By T.J. Thomas
Tennis-X.com writer T.J. Thomas caught up with tennis legend Pam Shriver to chat about the WTA Championships, which is set to begin next Wednesday in Los Angeles, and the recent events in women’s tennis. Shriver, a winner of 21 singles and 112 doubles titles, is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and a tennis analyst on ESPN.
Tennis-X.com: What does the WTA Championships mean to the players?
Pam Shriver: It means a couple different things. For a player ranked in the No. 6-15 range, if they can make it into the final eight it means they've had an exceptional year. It means they've probably won some tournaments or reached the semis or the finals of tournaments. It just validates their year. For the more higher ranked players it isn’t their crowning achievement of the year -- Justine Henin-Hardenne, Kim Clijsters, Venus and Serena through the years and Lindsay Davenport – but what it does is it gives you chance to play your best and finish with an exclamation point. And in some cases like this year it will decide No. 1. With Kim Clijsters or Justine Henin-Hardenne, whoever comes out on top between those two will finish No. 1. The point is, the championships this year will decide No. 1 and that’s special even though I think Henin-Hardenne with two majors deserves it more. I think it would be more fitting if Henin-Hardenne finished No. 1, but Lindsay Davenport finished No. 1 a few years ago without winning a major either so it can happen.
TX: Was it a good idea to change the format from a straight draw to a round-robin format? And with the new format, what differences can fans expect to see from last year to this year?
PS: I think it’s a more grueling competition this way with the round-robin format. You have to play everyone in your group once so that is three matches in the round-robin. And then each group of four sends two to the semifinals. So you have the round-robin part and then back to straight elimination. It’s exciting for the fans because each of the players will play three of the first four days so you’re guaranteed of having great tennis every night of the week.
TX: Are you surprised that Martina Navratilova is still going as strong as she is at her age, now 47?
PS: That’s my favorite story of the championships. We won the doubles at the Garden I think 10 times and to think that Martina and Kuznetsova have a chance in 2003 to give her another year-end championship. To think in a span of 25 years, probably more, she’s still qualifying, I’m biased and I hope she wins it.
TX: Have we seen the best of Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams?
PS: Lindsay, yes. It’s going to be hard for her to get back to her level of winning the US Open in '98, Wimbledon in '99 and the Aussie Open in 2000. I don’t think she’ll ever go through a period playing like that again. I do think if her surgery can solve her toe problems, then she can still win another major but I don’t think she can get back to No. 1. So I think we’ve seen the best there. With Capriati, she’s so full of surprises you never know so I would hate to count out someone like her. Once she gets over this mental thing with the three sets, Capriati could have some more surprises up her sleeve. And with Venus, it’s all about the health and more recently she had a personal tragedy. Once she gets that behind her there’s no reason that so early in her career she won’t be winning majors again. But she’s created a lot of doubt based on her play the last couple of years and the fact she’s a little injury prone.
TX: When Serena returns, do you think will she be able to resume her dominance or have the Belgians narrowed the gap/overtaken her?
PS: We haven’t seen Serena since early July and now we are not going to see her until at least January. To come back at such a young age, I mean seven months is a long time so I’d be surprised if she picked right up on her dominance. I think her dominance was starting to loosen anyway this year on the clay where she was nothing like she was in 2002 on the clay. And really, I think she was very fortunate to win the Australian Open. Wimbledon was little different story although Capriati had chances and Venus was injured. Even before her injury I thought she had lost a little bit of her dominance. So that is a big question mark. She certainly has the ability we’ll just have to see what her desire is like.
TX: Are the young Russians really this good, and who in your opinion is the best of the bunch?
PS: They are definitely for real and they are good. The only thing they haven’t done yet is to do great in the majors. I think the one with the most potential may be Sharapova. I saw some things at Wimbledon this year with her serve and her attitude and I was very impressed so I would give Sharapova the biggest upside. Certainly Martina loves the way Kuznetova plays. She doesn’t quite have the same range of physical gifts of Sharapova with height and fitness but they are all exceptional. Funny enough, Dementieva who has had such a down 2002, had a good year in 2000 and then in 2001-2002 Dementieva really hit a plateau and backed up a couple steps. Suddenly, this year she’s broken through, winning in April at Amelia Island and she’s followed it up with a great fall. She’s the highest-ranked Russian right now, but I think her serve is too much of a liability for her to go much higher than say the Top 5 when everybody is healthy.
TX: Injuries have really hurt the WTA this fall season -- especially here in the championships. Is it just bad luck or can something be done to avoid this in the future?
PS: I think players are playing too much. The surfaces are tough. The competition round-by-round has never been better. It’s more physical. The ball is being hit harder and the harder the ball is hit the more trauma on your arm. And with a hard ball that’s hit away from you, you have to be even more quicker with your movement. And I just think it’s all a recipe for injuries and I really think the tour needs to look into the number of tournaments that players are expected to compete in. In tennis when you start on a Monday and end on Sunday and then play the next week, with doubles also it’s just way too much tennis.
TX: In your mind, what is the No. 1 thing that the WTA needs to do or do better that would help elevate the appeal of women's tennis?
PS: First I’d like to say Larry Scott is a great leader of the WTA so I think it’s in fantastic hands. But if I could do one thing I would communicate to all the players, particularly the top players, about the legacy that the generations before them invested in women’s tennis, and not just invested with their skills on court but invested in their thoughtfulness and in their care and desire to leave the tour as the best place when they left it. And with a sense of pride and ownership in the tour as the elite female professional entity in the world. There are some that are catching up. I think golf has had a huge year. Women’s tennis players need to go the extra mile.
TX: Is that attitude different now than say 10 or 20 years ago?
PS: Definitely. More recently, for every generation that passes since Billie Jean King started the WTA in 1973, players are getting more and more wrapped up into their own world and a little less caring about the bigger picture of their sport. And they should care not just about the WTA but they should care about promoting the sport of tennis. It’s about saying things in press conferences and talking about the good things that tennis brings to your life. And that doesn’t mean just prize money checks but it means the ability to have fun when you workout and exercise. Really, everybody should be spokespeople of the sport. And in this day and age, more kids, young kids need activities like tennis in order to stay healthy and have fun athletically.T.J. Thomas is a Writer for Tennis-X.com. He can be reached at tthomas@tennis-x.com.View Comments (5) | View Discussions
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