Women’s tennis is in the middle of an exciting transition, writes Jelena Dokic

FOR years people used to say Serena Williams’ dominance made women’s tennis boring. Now they say it is boring without her.

Destanee Aiava is seen as the future of women’s tennis. Picture: Getty Images

THERE is life after Serena Williams, there is no need for “panic”.

The irony is that some used to say Serena’s dominance made the game boring. Now you hear women’s tennis is boring without her!

While some have criticised the current crop of women for lacking star power, as I see it the tour is in transition. An exciting one.

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As Serena spends time with her four-month-old baby Alexis Olympia there’s a crew of young women who are on the cusp of something great. A new generation is on the rise. The twenty-somethings of women’s tennis are making their mark.

You only have to watch players like current world No. 1 Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina and Jelena Ostapenko to see where women’s tennis is and to know the future will be incredibly bright.

They are young, exciting players, who are still in their 20s and already showing that the game is heading into another interesting era.

Simona Halep is part of a new guard of stars. Picture: Michael Klein

Sure these girls are yet to be household names but they are still in the process of establishing themselves — having come into the top 10 in the last few years — and I think what we are currently seeing is just a change in generation.

And it’s a similar story on the men’s side where some great new talent is coming through.

Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer won’t be around forever and neither will Serena. It’s time for fans to come to terms with that.

Although people might lament 36-year-old Serena’s absence — she is an incredible player — today’s generation isn’t “bad” or “weak” as some may say.

I wouldn’t say that at all.

What I would say is there is a lot of young girls who are currently under the media radar.

The tennis world know about them, they are still very young, but they will rise up in the next couple of years and rivalries will be formed and with maturity their games will attract a whole new legion of fans.

Every generation is different. You had the period where Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert dominated as well as Steffi Graf and Monica Seles and then the one I played in with Serena, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo. And Graf was still around.

Serena Williams after winning last year’s Australian Open. Picture: AP Photo

When I played it was an extremely strong era for women’s tennis. There were players who were older with a lot of experience and younger players who showed they could hold their own against the best.

Maybe recently we have been spoilt by the dominance of the Williams sisters and Rafa and Roger, we haven’t invested enough time to look at the new prospects.

There will be a lot of changes in the next year or two and we will get a chance to see what our own country’s rising star, Destanee Aiava, is going to do.

People are comparing 17 year old Destanee to Serena and here at Melbourne Park she played a really good match against Halep, pushing her in the first set. I think that Destanee could potentially be a really good player.

There is also Ashleigh Barty, who at just 21 is showing she could definitely be a player in the top ten mix in the coming year and has performed strongly here.

Destanee Aiava has been compared to a young Serena Williams. Picture: Michael Klein

We also have extremely young players like Marta Kostyuk who qualified at this year’s Australian Open and got to the third round at just 15 years of age.

We need to celebrate the emerging talent.

Sport evolves. It’s time to get excited about the next generation. There’s a lot to like.

Originally published as Women’s tennis is in the middle of an exciting transition, writes Jelena Dokic