Simona Halep Feels the Absence of Venus and Serena at Stuttgart Open 2021

World number three Simona Halep, who is currently playing the WTA Stuttgart open had many epic battles against both Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters played a monumental role in taking women’s tennis to the top of the ranks.

While numbers say how dominant Serena has been over the past two decades in the WTA tour, Venus has proved her versatility on-court time and again by claiming surprising victories over the younger generation players.

Serena Williams has been in the pursuit of her 24th grand slam title since the 2017 Australian Open, where she beat her sister Venus and surpassed Steffi Graf’s grand slam tally of 22 titles. Younger players like Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu had denied Serena her 24th major title.

“They are huge champions” – Simona Halep on the Williams sisters

In the Wimbledon 2019 finals, Simona Halep outpowered Serena Williams in straight sets, 6-3,6-3 and won her second grand slam title. Speaking to the press at the Stuttgart open, Halep explained what it’s like to not see the Williams sisters often on tour.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Simona Halep of Romania celebrates winning a point in her third round match against Venus Williams of the United States during day six of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“Yes, they are huge champions and it’s always nice to see them at the tournaments, and they like fill the rooms when they come in, but we kind of got used to this because, you know, they don’t play as many as they played before, tournaments”, Halep said.

Read more: “Serena Williams Still Copies Everything That I Do” – Venus Williams

For long, the women’s tour didn’t have a consistent champion post Serena Williams. However, the young Japanese player, Naomi Osaka appears to be taking the legacy forward as she won back-to-back titles at the US and the Australian Open.

Halep says the WTA tour misses Venus and Serna

Halep also felt that she didn’t play enough tournaments this year to keep the winning momentum alive.

“But this year, I didn’t play much as well. Yes, we can feel that they are missing”, Halep concluded on how the tour misses the Williams sisters.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 22: (L-R) Dylan Dreyer, Rafael Nadal, Cori “Coco” Gauff, Serena Williams and Venus Williams attend the 2019 Palace Invitational at Lotte New York Palace on August 22, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Lotte New York Palace)

Coming to the Stuttgart Open, a lot of top WTA players are in contention for the title with likes of Ashleigh Barty, Petra Kvitova leading the race alongside Simona Halep.

As a clay-court specialist, Halep will look to clinch all the clay-court tournaments this year leading up to Roland Garros. The Romanian won the tournament back in 2018 by defeating Sloane Stephens in the finals.

Read more: Simona Halep Avenges French Open Loss as Iga Swiatek Commits 42 Unforced Errors at Australian Open 2021

 

 

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