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Page 3
Where does this leave the other smaller, slighter players? Justine Henin is no doubt an exception to the rule that size does matter in the game of tennis. For a long time already, Martina Hingis has been the archetypal victim of that rule, having lost her last three meetings with Jennifer Capriati, her last two meetings with Amelie Mauresmo, her last meeting with Kim Clijsters, three of her last four meetings with Venus Williams and seven of the last ten meetings with Lindsay Davenport. Not that Henin has winning records over any of these players but is it possible that her longevity against these players is better because of her powerful weaponry? Perhaps size doesn’t matter in the sport of tennis, but power certainly does. All of the current Top 10’ers, except Hingis and Nathalie Tauziat, possess some of the most feared power groundstrokes in the game. Although Hingis is still #1 in the world, her tenure looks to come to a close, having been slamless in 2 ½ years and Venus and Jennifer nipping at the bud to overtake her in the chase. She can look towards Justine as inspiration that you do not have to be big to be successfully aggressive. Perhaps it is less of a physical inability than a state of mind Hingis has entered in to and we can observe this in the way both Hingis and Henin play important points in a match. Henin’s style is go-for-broke, all-out aggression while Hingis’s style is the conservative, play-the-percentages, wait-for-the-error type. Both have proven to be successful, however the continual lack of aggression from Hingis will prove her demise more often than not against an accurate power player. It would be hard to tell a world #1 what to do, but the truth is plainly obvious that she is required to take the win to her opponent rather than wait for the loss. And nothing needs to be said about her size because the inability is simply in the mind. Just take a look at Justine Henin. She has just about disproven the myth that power is all about size.
The copyright of the article Does size really matter? - Page 3 in Women's Tennis is owned by Michael Cecilio. Permission to republish Does size really matter? - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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