Women’s tennis is the arguably one of the world’s most intense sports.
There’s no questioning the sounds of the fierce grunts that can be heard during a women’s tennis contest or the absolute pounding of the little green ball being forcefully hit back and forth by two competitors.
Serena Williams, one of professional women’s tennis’ biggest stars, started the trend of letting her emotions show as the intensity picks up in a match.
This trend is trickling down to the amateur ranks of tennis, making the sport highly intense and more competitive, and college tennis is no exception.
Seeing Williams’ success in a sport that progressively has become more competitive and fierce over time has pushed younger women’s tennis players to be more intense and aggressive on the court.
Georgia State women’s tennis player and senior Maryna Kozachenco thought of Williams as a figure that younger players have followed and modeled themselves after resulting in a more intense, competitive sport.
“Definitely people look up to such a celebrity as Serena Williams, and everybody wants to be like [celebrities] because they succeeded in their life, and that’s what we aim for too,” Kozachenco said.
College tennis players have the hunger to reach a professional level that allows them to tour the world to compete in the sport, an opportunity that is not as abundant in every women’s sport.
Tennis tends to be more of an individualized sport by nature, but collegiate tennis has a team component that is not seen as much on the professional levels.
The intensity of women’s tennis on the college level can be attributed to the camaraderie of being a part of a team and playing for a common goal.
“It makes it competitive because you have to fight for each other you have to play for each other,” Kozachenco said. “You just want to come out on top at the end.”
The Panthers have used that will to fight for each other and be competitive this season going 8-7 overall, 7-1 at home.
The team is lead by senior Abigal Tere-Apisah with a 24-5 singles record this season. Tere-Apisah also teams up with Grgan Masa and forms a solid doubles team that is 19-4 on the season.
Women’s tennis is demanding on the body. It takes an incredible amount of stamina to be able to compete in a tennis match that can last as little as a few minutes or as long as a day.
“Other sports you know, for example soccer, you know its going to be 90 minutes, but tennis you can just go there for five hours,” Junior Chaimaa Roundami said.
“You just go on the court and you have no idea when its going to be over,” she said.
Women’s tennis has evolved from a quiet and tame sport into a loud, mad struggle that has become an international phenomenon sports fans flock to see.
