Prakat Posted November 4, 2013 Posted November 4, 2013 Karsten Braasch is the German tennis player who did just that in 1998 Sunday 2 September 2001 Observer Sport Monthly It was the 1998 Australian Open and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, had seen some of the male players practising. On the basis of what they saw, they were convinced that they could beat a man ranked around 200 in the world and wanted to set up a game. At the time I was ranked 203 so the men's tour manager mentioned the possibility of a challenge to me, thinking that I was the perfect candidate. I didn't take much persuading, it seemed like a fun thing to do. My advice if you're ever in a position to play a match of this nature is be patient - don't be annoyed or surprised if your match against the Williams sisters is cancelled, as they both have very busy schedules. My game against them had to be re-organised at least a couple of times. Preparation is crucial. Remember that a game like this is light-hearted - taking it too seriously would be a mistake. My training regime consisted of a leisurely round of golf in the morning followed by a couple of shandies. I turned up on court feeling suitably laid-back. My first game of the afternoon, just a one-set match, was against Serena. A hint: try and play your match somewhere quiet, where you're not going to be pestered by big crowds or lots of press - we were out on one of the back courts at Melbourne Park, No 17 I think it was. I felt so relaxed that I didn't even warm up properly. We started playing and I raced into a 5-0 lead. At this point Venus turned up to watch. She had just finished a press conference after a quarter-final loss against Lindsey Davenport. In the end I won my game against Serena 6-1 but by the time we were at the net shaking hands, Venus was on court, ready to have a go against me as well. The game against Venus was very similar. I ended up winning 6-2. Both sisters are great tennis players and hit the ball extremely well. However, if you've been playing on the men's tour there are certain shots you can play that are going to put them in difficulty. Try and put a lot spin on the ball - I was hitting the ball with a degree of spin they don't face week-in, week-out. Another key is to chase down every shot. In our match, they were putting shots into the corners that on the women's tour would be winners but I was able to return them. In the end I won, but neither myself, nor Venus or Serena took the game too seriously - we were just having a bit of fun. Apparently, after the game, Serena and Venus immediately told the press they wanted to challenge a male player again. This time they revised the ranking of the man they wanted to face, to 350 in the world. I informed the journalist who told me this that in the next week I was set to lose a lot of ATP points and drop down to 350 in the rankings. I told him that if Venus and Serena waited just one week they could challenge me all over again! That never came about, but when I saw Venus a few months later at the French Open she came up to me with a big smile on her face and said, 'You know that thing in Australia - it never happened!' There's a German with a sense of humour! Karsten Braasch (born 14 July 1967 in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former professional German tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking was World No. 38, which he reached in June 1994. His career-high in doubles was World No. 36, achieved in November 1997.[1] He was well-noted for his service motion and his habit of smoking during changeovers. Braasch competed in a 'Battle of the Sexes' contest against Venus Williams and Serena Williams at the 1998 Australian Open when he was ranked 203. A decade and a half older than the sisters, Braasch was described by one journalist as "a man whose training regime centred around a pack of cigarettes and more than a couple bottles of ice cold lager."[2] He nonetheless defeated both sisters, playing a single set against each, beating Serena 6–1 and Venus 6–2
nballa Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 It will be impossible for a top ranked womens player to beat a mens player who is inside 1000 ranks, heck I would say a top ranked college player can beat them. mens game is too powerful, too fast, too much court coverage for them to handle. only way I see the girl win any points is on service winners.
Prakat Posted November 5, 2013 Author Posted November 5, 2013 Lol dude. The men's game is chiefly differentiated by the power serve. The one area where a female player is least likely to trouble a male opponent is the service.
randomGuy Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Lol dude. The men's game is chiefly differentiated by the power serve. The one area where a female player is least likely to trouble a male opponent is the service. Accurate serves with variations(like sometimes down the middle, sometimes in corner, variations in spin, pace etc) is the only hope. With that they might match a 200 ranked male perhaps.
Prakat Posted November 5, 2013 Author Posted November 5, 2013 Serves have two components, speed and spin. Placement is effective only when there is pace on the ball. The men's game prepares players for the maximum speed and spin. Both these components are present in a much lower degree in the women's game.
Raghav_12 Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Lol dude. The men's game is chiefly differentiated by the power serve. The one area where a female player is least likely to trouble a male opponent is the service. lol.. at this expertise. there are enough power servers in women game. Venus can serve up to 210 kmph. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQ2phmM-Qw]Venus Williams breaks World's Fastest Serve Record 2013 - YouTube[/ame] Compare that with Nadal's fastest serve this year US open which was just 198 kmph and Nadal had not got his serve broken until Final.
Zanjeer Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Aussie women fast bowlers should challenge the likes of Vinny and unadkat.
Prakat Posted November 5, 2013 Author Posted November 5, 2013 lol.. at this expertise. there are enough power servers in women game. Venus can serve up to 210 kmph. Compare that with Nadal's fastest serve this year US open which was just 198 kmph and Nadal had not got his serve broken until Final. Lol at Raghav jumping in feeling strong about his point. Venus is the strongest and has the fastest serve in the women's game. Samuel Groth has the fastest in the men's game at 263kmph almost 60kmph ahead. Roddick clocked 249kmph in 2004. Men's minimum standard speed is 225kmph to qualify in challenger events. Go do your homework. :hehe:
Detonator Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 U can install a bigger engine, aerodynamic body and NOS in a scooty.. Still it can't catch an RX100's smoke. :giggle:
Raghav_12 Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Lol at Raghav jumping in feeling strong about his point. Venus is the strongest and has the fastest serve in the women's game. Samuel Groth has the fastest in the men's game at 263kmph almost 60kmph ahead. Roddick clocked 249kmph in 2004. Men's minimum standard speed is 225kmph to qualify in challenger events. Go do your homework. :hehe: Adding smiley's doesn't make your point stronger. it just shows how puerile you are, though that anyway evident in your post even if one ignores silly smileys that you use to make up for the lack of content. Point was that serve is definitely not the aspect where gap between male and female tennis players is widest. Stamina, ground strokes, spin, speed of players there are so many other aspects where difference seem to wider than just power serve. now reply with your string of smileys..
randomGuy Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Right. Stamina, ground strokes, speed of players , there's just no match. The best bet for them is to hold their own serve to take the sets into tiebreakers. With that, they might match a 200 ranked male.
Detonator Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Adding smiley's doesn't make your point stronger. it just shows how puerile you are, though that anyway evident in your post even if one ignores silly smileys that you use to make up for the lack of content. Point was that serve is definitely not the aspect where gap between male and female tennis players is widest. Stamina, ground strokes, spin, speed of players there are so many other aspects where difference seem to wider than just power serve. now reply with your string of smileys.. more like it depends on individuals strengths and weaknesses. :winky: Although Serena herself admitted sometime back that it's impossible for her to beat any men in ATI top 100, when john mcenroe took a dig at her claiming that she can't beat any man inside top 500. :blink:
Prakat Posted November 5, 2013 Author Posted November 5, 2013 Adding smiley's doesn't make your point stronger. it just shows how puerile you are, though that anyway evident in your post even if one ignores silly smileys that you use to make up for the lack of content. Point was that serve is definitely not the aspect where gap between male and female tennis players is widest. Stamina, ground strokes, spin, speed of players there are so many other aspects where difference seem to wider than just power serve. now reply with your string of smileys.. Ek smiley pe itna saara reaction, first para devoted to it and also the last line. Upar se chepu checks in with more grievances regarding my smileys. Uff itni si baat pe tum log kitna rooth jaate ho yaar. :hehe: Ok. So, to begin with "stamina, ground strokes etc." was not your point or you would have made that point. Instead you claimed there are enough power servers in the women's game to match the male players. Clearly you had your facts ass backwards because there is a significant gap between average service speeds in the men's and women's games. Secondly you even posted a video that claimed Venus broke the record for the fastest serve!!!! Either you are ignorant of tennis or were being wilfully sly. It needed to be qualified that she broke the women's record, which was significant to the discussion AND makes your point null and void in return. Because we are talking about men vs women. Now pull up your pants and go do your homework.
randomGuy Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 On reading more on this topic, top women players might match rank# 1000 male and not a rank#200 male. In '02 at St Anton, Patty Schnyder beat 1180th ranked Patrick Mayr 7-6 7-5, then last year she lost a surprisingly competitive match to ATP 167 and one of Austria's top players, Daniel Kollerer 6-2 6-4. http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=143160
Detonator Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Ek smiley pe itna saara reaction, first para devoted to it and also the last line. Upar se chepu checks in with more grievances regarding my smileys. Uff itni si baat pe tum log kitna rooth jaate ho yaar. :hehe: Ok. So, to begin with "stamina, ground strokes etc." was not your point or you would have made that point. Instead you claimed there are enough power servers in the women's game to match the male players. Clearly you had your facts ass backwards because there is a significant gap between average service speeds in the men's and women's games. Secondly you even posted a video that claimed Venus broke the record for the fastest serve!!!! Either you are ignorant of tennis or were being wilfully sly. It needed to be qualified that she broke the women's record, which was significant to the discussion AND makes your point null and void in return. Because we are talking about men vs women. Now pull up your pants and go do your homework. What Raghav is trying to say is, not just faster serves but the skill set matters more. He is right abt Nadal's slow serves. Nadal's success is not due to faster serves but his boatloads of techniques. He and Davenport have similar skills, which is why they are much successful in clay courts. I m sure someone like davenport can fare well against men who serve faster on clay. Although there is no way serena could trouble Nadal with her faster serves. :giggle: For eg.,Roddick is a powerful hitter and his major weakness is his sliggishness. In many matches u could see him just throwing off a point becoz he is too slow to get to the other side of the court. oth, Steffi graf is a very strong baseliner, very agile to counter the incoming ball at high speeds and spinning the ball using her backhand technique earned her points in crucial times. She could trouble Roddick becoz, her major strengths could exploit roddick's weakness. that's just my version of theory on paper, it would be much different on a court. :P
Tiger80 Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 Men play superior quality of tennis, they play 5 sets , yet women get same prize money as men. Long live gender equality in west:winky:
Prakat Posted November 5, 2013 Author Posted November 5, 2013 @detonator it is probable that individual players may be matched that would give the woman player an advantage. @tiger80 I think the men's game is significantly faster and women just aren't used to playing at that speed. This is just a function of physical strength. Which is why the need to have separate leagues for men and women. There is however no need or sense in having separate male and female tournaments in chess.
Tiger80 Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 @tiger80 I think the men's game is significantly faster and women just aren't used to playing at that speed. This is just a function of physical strength. Which is why the need to have separate leagues for men and women. There is however no need or sense in having separate male and female tournaments in chess. I know we need different men and women's tennis.But men play superior quality of tennis , tickets of men's final are more expensive than women's final, they generate more revenue for TV.They play 5 sets . Yet men and women are paid equal. How is this fair and equality?
The Outsider Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 ^ Can men tennis offer a Sabatini, Sharapova, Kournikova, Graf? I agree Williams sisters and Seles should have been paid less.
randomGuy Posted November 5, 2013 Posted November 5, 2013 I know we need different men and women's tennis.But men play superior quality of tennis ' date=' tickets of men's final are more expensive than women's final, they generate more revenue for TV.They play 5 sets . Yet men and women are paid equal. How is this fair and equality?[/quote'] [yeah, it shouldn't be about gender equality in this. there should be some minimum pay and after that, pay should paid proportional to the revenue generated by viewership. maybe due to glamour, women's tennis may someday generate more money than men's tennis, they should be paid more than men then.
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