How would Henin or Sharapova be ranked if they were playing against male players?

Answer 1

Well Top 30 for Henin would never happen.
#27 is Tursonov, #28 Soderling, #30 Hrbaty. Anyone of them would blow Justine or Maria off the court 6-0, 6-0
#47 Becker, #49 Andreev, #54Ginepri, #55 Monfils. They may lose one game per set.
Sam Querrey the California Highschool kid is #90 and he beat Blake (7-6,6-7,7-6) serving 34 aces.and he hit the ball hard.
Justine or Maria may break the top 100 if they were lucky and played the best tennis of their career but I honestly couldn't see it happening.
There are too many men on tour that are faster & stronger, having bigger groundstrokes, and harder more accurate serves.
#150 perhaps. IMO

Answer 2

Henin would have more success when playing against the men. What Henin has going for her is that she has the ability to play many shots like a slice backhand, drop shot, etc. Whereas Sharapova really only has her forehand, and even that isn't good enough anymore. Since Henin is short she will have a problem with the high balls yet they don't seem to bother her that much. They both will get blown away by the power of the serves, first and second, though. They just won't be as great or dominant as they are in the women's game.

Answer 3

Neither player would be ranked in the top 500. You cant win a tennis match without winning two sets, and there is no chance that either Sharapova or Henin could win two sets off a half-decent male player. Look at how many times the womens serves are broken. The wouldnt be able to hold their serve against a man and would not be able to break a guys serve.

The Williams sisters years ago ( when at their prime ) got their butts kicked by a guy who was ranked 600th in the World. He played them one set each, one after the other and beat them ridiculously easily.

Those people talking about either Sharapova or Henin being ranked in the top 50 are crazy.

Answer 4

Whenever there's discussion of men versus women in tennis, it invariably turns to vague notions of power. The difference between men's and women's tennis at the professional level is rooted in how hard the ball is struck, but not in the way that it is usually presented. Because the women aren't as strong, they can't generate as much pace-- yet that doesn't explain why a female with great defense will still lose. In the men's game that strength and racquet speed is focused into spin. You've heard of the power baseline game. That's all it is, a ton of top spin from the baseline. The women don't hit as hard, so they don't generate as much top spin. And because of this top spin, the boys are able to generate better angles and winners. A male player in the rankings range of 200-300 isn't the most consistent with pulling off those types of angles and winners. As a result, they'll play pretty much like the girls, except they might serve and move around the court a little faster. Those guys could lose to a top female player. Maybe. Or if they had an "on" day they could crush her 6-1 6-1. Basically, it takes more than hitting the ball fast to beat a top women's player. And all the male pros have what it takes. I just wouldn't think it sure money that the guys ranked over 200 would employ it right. They could definately lose on an off day.

Answer 5

They wouldn't be ranked because they could not have made it pro. The top Boys 16's and under in the country could beat Sharapova and Henin pretty handly.

Think about this the average male tennis first serve is around 135 MPH the fastest serve in women's tennis EVER is 129 MPH. There's no way the handle the pace of not only the serve but any other shot. Plus men are naturally stronger and faster than women so the physical aspect of 3 out of 5 sets would grind those two away.

Answer 6

I am generally in favor of equality between men and women, however, when it comes to something that requires a greater physical prowess, it's difficult to argue with genetics.

And sports can be a bit tricky because some CAN be participated by both men and woman and some can't. Men were created bigger and stronger for a reason but what's important here is how that translates into sports.

While Danica Patrick has shown that a woman can compete at the professional level of car racing, no one would argue that a woman linebacker for the Chicgo Bears is a really bad idea.

That being said, I think that tennis is a sport that can be played by both genders competitively against one another BUT not likely at the highest level.

Even Serena, arguably WTA's strongest, hardest hitting player, said in an interview (without hesitation) that there would be no way she could compete against the men because they were just too strong and too fast.

I've tried to find that interview on YouTube but couldn't. If I do, I'll post it here.

Anyway, that's my opinion. Please don't interpret what I've said as men are better than women. And at the club level, there's even less difference in tennis. Heck, the worst beating I ever took on the court was by a woman...1-6, 06!

Answer 7

If the gender is taken out of the picture, all women including
William sisters, Henin, Sharapova would be above 100+.
Once Martina N played against 100+ men's player, each one
a set way back 1980's

Answer 8

I think that Henin could be in the first 30, while Sharapova maybe in the top 50. What do you think?

Answer 9

Well, a lot of the top women now have male hitting partners. I'm not sure about Maria and Justine....but Venus and Serena have male hitting partners so I think both sisters can easily knock out a lot of the top 30 players if they try to. Venus at least serves faster than Nadal most of the time.

Answer 10

The issue of whether men is stronger than women no matter what, has been discussed over and over again. It was experimented too. Serena Williams once played an 800th rank guy or smth and she lost. flat. It was during one of her title reigns in 2002 or 2003. Sorry! I can't rmb much about this info!!!