Why did Justine Henin, Serena and Venus Williams all tremble in the AO?

The top three of women’s tennis all fell at the QF stage of the first Grandslam of the year. They all have different stories but leave a big question mark.
 
The Williams sisters and Justine Henin are seen as the best that women’s tennis has to offer, with the Serbians and Maria Sharapova following up. However the top three were sent packing by the young wave of players. It doesn’t really add up, and for some it makes women’s tennis a joke. So what exactly happened to the fearsome three?
 
Justine Henin running dry: The Belgian was on a phenomenal winning streak, but within her unbeaten sprint through tournaments she seemed to lower her level but it was just enough to win tournaments. However we have came to expect the Belgian to considerably up her game in the Grandslams, like she did when claiming her latest Grandslam crown in Flushing Meadows.
 
She was enduring long sets to reach the quarter final, and it was the eventual champion Maria Sharapova who put out the no.1 seed. Although Her Russian opponent was too good winning in classy fashion 6-4 6-0, Justine performance throughout the tournament wasn’t great and she knows all to well that the Grandslams are the most critical to bring out decent play. We could argue that fatigued got to her as she won a tier two tournament just before, but the Belgian knows the risks in Grandslam preparation, as she had a responsibility to herself to come in on good form.
 
Venus breaks flawless flow: The strangest thing about Venus’s collapse is the contrast of her Melbourne campaign and her preparation. The older Williams sister won the doubles and singles in the Hong Kong tournament; she booted Maria Sharapova with little trouble in the final! When Venus is in rich form it usually last a while and takes injury to derail her.
 
Although she did encounter minor injuries, Venus completely down her play immediately from the start. When encountering Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-final stage, she didn’t even hit a winner off her backhand wing and was sloppy as well as inconsistent throughout. Her injury is no real excuse to fully explain her flop, Venus Williams is yet to claim the Australian Open and if she goes astray in Melbourne again she will miss out.
 
Serena Williams blows it: Serena had good preparation coming in, and she was most likely to up her play as she made her way through the draw. Last year she did just that but didn’t hold back in the final.
 
Building up to her quarter-final upset, Serena was firing her serve with little mercy and was showing no mental weakness. However it all was gone when she played against a weakened Jelena Jankovic but still got beaten in straight sets. It’s degrading to say that she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day, as she never loses like that when following a bullet proof pattern. Serena is stamped with the biggest question mark. Even though she had a minor injury like her older sister, Serena did say that it wasn’t a real excuse to explain what was an extremely disappointing performance.
 
Three very different situations to explain three very strange loses. They are so mentally tough that we have to accept this as a one off. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back.       

For more information on Justine Henin and the Williams sisters, visit my tennis website!www.ashaffi.page.tl