Lob and Smash
Fansided

David Foster Wallace, Tennis, and the Next Great Generation of Players

By Harry Floyd

BEIJING, CHINA - OCTOBER 06: Kyle Edmund of Great Britain hits a return against Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia during his Men's Singles Semifinals match in the 2018 China Open at the China National Tennis Center on October 6, 2018 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Di Yin/Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA - OCTOBER 06: Kyle Edmund of Great Britain hits a return against Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia during his Men's Singles Semifinals match in the 2018 China Open at the China National Tennis Center on October 6, 2018 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Di Yin/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Elina Svitolina
SINGAPORE – OCTOBER 28: Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine celebrates match point against Sloane Stephens of the United States during the Women’s singles final match on Day 8 of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global at Singapore Sports Hub on October 28, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

The ATP Finals is seeing some of the greatest legends complete but the WTA Finals just crowned a brand new young champion.

Elina Svitolina emerges as the 2018 WTA Finals champion, earning her biggest career title-win to date. The Ukrainian tennis star knocks out American Sloane Stephens in the Singapore final. She represents a new generation in women’s singles tennis that is taking over the sport. Gone are the days of Serena and Venus Williams (although they are both still capable of competing at the highest of levels). The field of players, however, is deeper in every single tournament now in women’s tennis. Svitolina is just one a several dozen players tasting career heights as of late.

Other former breakout stars such as Eugenie Bouchard have struggled but then come up with a fantastic stretch of tennis on par with anyone in the sport. Women’s tennis, in particular, is a complete toss-up heading into 2019.

More. Must Watch WTA Stars. light

Veteran stars in Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber remain among the best on the WTA Tour. Others though, like WTA Finals champion Elina Svitolina or Sloane Stephens, Garbine Muguruza, Jelena Ostapenko, and so on, signal a changing of the guard.

David Foster Wallace once submitted that “tennis is the most beautiful sport there is.” He would go on to say that it is “also the most demanding.” This point is most evident at the end of the season. Several players are relishing in their newfound victories on tour, whereas so many others are recovering from a hard-fought season that saw them taste the edge of greatness. The 2019 WTA Tour and ATP World Tour will witness a new energy and a continued emergence of a  generation of players that will set the tone for the next decade of tennis.

Home/ATP