Serena won her first title on Red Clay here at the 2002 Italian Open it was also her very first Clay title and it helped her to win the 2002 French Open Singles title. This title was the first of Serena's 4 titles at the Italian Open.
Venus Williams was the number one player in the world at the time and was the top seed for the tournament but she had to pulled out because of a wrist injury. Maybe it was the wrist injury that cost her the Hamburg title in the Hamburg final against Clijsters few weeks before the Italian Open.
Well Henin is the greatest clay courter of her generation so having a losing record to her on the surface is not all that bad. And to say Serena wasn't good on clay is a stretch when she went undefeated on the surface in 2013.
To say someone is not good on clay who is a 3 times French Open champion and won the Italian Open 4 times is a joke. Clay is definitely not Serena best surface. Clay is a slow surface which allows slower players with not alot of power a chance to get back into the match. Not surprised she won this match 2002 Serena was unbeatable. Interestingly, Henin never won the Italian Open in her career despite winning the French Open 4 times. She was the best clay court player of her generation. Serena had lost their previous clay court match few weeks before this match in the Berlin final which Henin barely won over Serena. Serena said she learned from that match she never had enough first serves. Interestingly, too Serena never won the Berlin open in her career.
She and Justine have the same amount of clay court titles. 2000s Serena wasn’t patient nor disciplined enough to have consistent success on clay. It would only be in her 30s that she’d adapt her game accordingly to acquire a 28-match streak on the surface.
@@tywannmarkham Henin effectively retired at 25. Serena played until she was 41. Henin only played 32 tournaments on clay in her entire career and won 13 (40.6%) and she won 87% of matches she played on clay. Compare that to Serena who played 70 tournaments on clay and won 13 titles, 18.5%. Also her win rate on clay is 82%. Henin has the extra RG too as well as a 4-1 h2h vs Serena (2-0 at RG) and she won her titles on clay against far tougher competition. There is no contest, Henin is vastly superior on clay. For the record, Swiatek is also better on clay than Williams.
Watch other highlights: www.patreon.com/QueensWilliams
Serena won her first title on Red Clay here at the 2002 Italian Open it was also her very first Clay title and it helped her to win the 2002 French Open Singles title.
This title was the first of Serena's 4 titles at the Italian Open.
YOU ARE SO AMAZING!!! Thank you for uploading all these matches ❤️ happy subscriber here. You’re awesome!
Venus Williams was the number one player in the world at the time and was the top seed for the tournament but she had to pulled out because of a wrist injury. Maybe it was the wrist injury that cost her the Hamburg title in the Hamburg final against Clijsters few weeks before the Italian Open.
GOAT
Serena was not good on clay. Surprised she won this one, as she is 1-4 vs Justine on clay.
Well Henin is the greatest clay courter of her generation so having a losing record to her on the surface is not all that bad. And to say Serena wasn't good on clay is a stretch when she went undefeated on the surface in 2013.
To say someone is not good on clay who is a 3 times French Open champion and won the Italian Open 4 times is a joke. Clay is definitely not Serena best surface. Clay is a slow surface which allows slower players with not alot of power a chance to get back into the match. Not surprised she won this match 2002 Serena was unbeatable. Interestingly, Henin never won the Italian Open in her career despite winning the French Open 4 times. She was the best clay court player of her generation. Serena had lost their previous clay court match few weeks before this match in the Berlin final which Henin barely won over Serena. Serena said she learned from that match she never had enough first serves. Interestingly, too Serena never won the Berlin open in her career.
She and Justine have the same amount of clay court titles. 2000s Serena wasn’t patient nor disciplined enough to have consistent success on clay. It would only be in her 30s that she’d adapt her game accordingly to acquire a 28-match streak on the surface.
@@tywannmarkham Henin effectively retired at 25. Serena played until she was 41.
Henin only played 32 tournaments on clay in her entire career and won 13 (40.6%) and she won 87% of matches she played on clay.
Compare that to Serena who played 70 tournaments on clay and won 13 titles, 18.5%. Also her win rate on clay is 82%.
Henin has the extra RG too as well as a 4-1 h2h vs Serena (2-0 at RG) and she won her titles on clay against far tougher competition.
There is no contest, Henin is vastly superior on clay. For the record, Swiatek is also better on clay than Williams.