3 Female Tennis Players That Are Changing the Game For Good

We still have quite a ways to go in terms of equality for female athletes in the tennis world. However, we do find ourselves on the upward swing when it comes to awareness and promotion of the sport - all thanks to a few very powerful ladies that have been taking the tennis world by storm, one title at a time.

(From left: Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, and Bianca Andreescu. Image #1, #2, #3)

As long as I can remember, women's professional tennis has always sat on the back-burner when compared to the popularity and influence of the men's. For angering reasons that I'm not going to go to in-depth about in this article, men in sports have always come before women, providing them with more endorsements, more advertising opportunities, and higher overall prize money. This unfair advantage and inequality has made the promotion of women's tennis, and all female sports for that matter, seem less important and less exciting in comparison. However, recently a number of young female tennis players have begun to take centre stage, breaking down some of those outdated and uneven barriers between men's and women's tennis.

Specifically, the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons have been huge turning points for the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and for the sport of tennis as a whole and we have three major prodigies to thank for that: Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, and Bianca Andreescu. These three amazing athletes have created an insane amount of buzz around the sport due to their strength, their tenacity, and their ability to play unbelievable tennis. We saw Emma Raducanu, age 19, win the Grand Slam Title at the US Open, making her the first qualifier and youngest British player to win. We saw Naomi Osaka, age 20, win four Grand Slam singles titles and become the first woman since Monica Seles to win her first four Grand Slam singles finals. We also saw Bianca Andreescu, age 21, win two WTA 1000 titles (including the National Bank Open and the US Open) and finish her 2019 year inside the top 5 female players on the tour.

There is no shortage of determination, strength, hard work, and evident success when it comes to these up-and-coming female players. They are making headlines, breaking news, and becoming the best possible athletes that they can be. So, why is everyone so enticed by them? What is it about these ladies that's changing the entire game of tennis right in front of our very eyes? How are they creating positive change for the sport and elevating the game of tennis for all women? Let's do a breakdown of each of these three athletes and see just how much of an impact they've made on the sport.

Emma Raducanu (Image #4)

Age: 19

Birthplace: Toronto, ON 🇨🇦

WTA Rank: 20

Seemingly, the 18-year-old came out of nowhere when she debuted at the 2021 US Open, creating multiple surprise upsets of high-ranking players along the way. But what really set her apart, and why everyone became infatuated with her game, was her ability to not only make it to the final of the Grand Slam, but win the title - making her the only woman ever in the Open era to ever win in so few attempts. Additionally, she not only became the first British woman to earn the Grand Slam title in over 40 years, she also became the youngest winner since 2004 when Maria Sharapova won at Wimbledon. She also made history with her win at the US Open because she was playing against another very young female tennis player by the name of Leylah Fernandez (who was only 19 at the time of the finals match). An average of 2.44 million viewers watched the championship, surpassing the viewership of the men's finals - an unbelievable feet and a huge accomplishment for the growth of women's tennis. Coming at a time when girls and women across the globe were being denied their basic rights, this match demonstrated the power, strength, and capabilities, of women and was an extremely impactful moment in history. Have a quick look at the highlights of the match against Leylah below just to see how astonishing this match really was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOUWvDJQek

(Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOUWvDJQek )

Now at age 19, she has such an amazing career ahead of her with the whole world watching with eager eyes to see her blossom into the phenomenal female pro tennis player she will become. One very admirable quality that Emma has proven to demonstrate so far on the tour, is her unwavering certainty in her capabilities. She does not let her age get in the way of her determination and her drive. That's why I have all the confidence in the world that she will continue to grow as an athlete and become something amazing.

Naomi Osaka (Image #5)

Age: 24

Birthplace: Osaka, Japan 🇯🇵 WTA Rank: 13

Since her debut in the WTA in 2018, Naomi Osaka has won a major title every single year, collecting four major trophies thus far in her career. Wow! Not only that, but two of the final battles have been against (arguably) the best tennis player of all time, Serena Williams. Despite her limited time on the tour, Naomi has become one of the greats, and one of the most exciting figures to watch. However, her impressive portfolio does not end there. Naomi was the highest-earning athlete in 2020, despite her youth, in large part due to the advertisements and sponsorship revenue she received. She is also an outspoken women who is a major advocate for mental health in tennis, withdrawing from the 2021 Roland Garros news conferences due to her anxiety and subsequent disqualification from the match. Her statement, "it's O.K. not to be O.K." sparked a major conversation around mental health in tennis and around athletes with mental health problems in general. Even more monumental, was her contribution to the Black Lives Matter movement.

(Image #6)

As seen in the image above, she debuted a new mask with different BLM statements at all of the 2021 tournaments she competed in to protest against racial injustice and police brutality. Being both Japanese and Haitian, she received backlash from her home countries after speaking out about these matters. However, this did not cause her to stop believing in the movement, making her a powerful female role model and athlete. Naomi's strength, courage, and determination has elevated the game of tennis, proving to all that watch her not only how important the sport is, but how important the platform is that goes with being a professional athlete.

Bianca Andreescu (Image #7)

Age: 21 Birthplace: Mississauga, Ontario 🇨🇦 WTA Rank: 46

Bianca burst onto the tennis scene at the ripe age of 19 when she shocked the world by winning the Rogers Cup and the US Open title in 2019, beating out Serena Williams for both. Canadian's everywhere cheered with vigour as Bianca became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam title. This has been her greatest accomplishment thus far on the tour, giving her the motivation and confidence to plunge forward in her path to greatness. Let's take a look at the following breakdown to get a better understanding of the rise of Bianca's tennis career and how she has come to be one of the greatest Canadian athlete's the sport has ever seen.

It's now evident just how accomplished Bianca is and why she has become quite the tennis superstar. She is a Canadian sensation who has a very bright career ahead of her. She has battled quite a lot of injuries, taking the entire 2020 season off, however she has come back in 2021 with a vengeance - not allowing anything to get in her way. This alone, not to mention the rest of her unbelievable accomplishments, makes her an extremely powerful and driven force and a strong advocate for girls everywhere to fight for what they want. That's exactly why she is changing the sport for the better - she does not give up, and that's exactly what she encourages her fans, young girls especially, to remember.

To Conclude

(Image #8)

Emma, Naomi, and Bianca all have one thing in common. Although they have found greatness in the game, they are constantly striving for more. I think that their prominence at an early age has not only sparked something in tennis fans, but in all people who have seen them flourish - the desire to be great. Besides the fact that these athletes are putting women's tennis on the map, what's also extremely enticing to watch is abilities to be strong and courageous outside of tennis. They have made a name for themselves in tennis, which in turn, has made women's tennis a name for itself in the world. They also give hope and encouragement to young girls around the world to live up to their potential. Whether it's tennis or not, these women make the idea of working really hard to become the best at something (at anything) really enticing. It's courageous moments that these women have demonstrated that elevate the game of tennis to something beyond the sport, not only showcasing a phenomenal spectacle to behold, but demonstrating how determination and hard work really does pay off.. even for a girl!

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References

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