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Depending on how you think about it, this season’s WTA Tour has been 1. a senseless mess, 2. an exciting transitional period 3. a sad decline or (my pick) 4. all of the above. While I’ve loved seeing new blood capturing the big titles (yay, Petra!), I was frustrated by Caroline Wozniacki as No. 1 and bummed by the ongoing struggles of the game’s biggest stars:  Serena, Venus and Maria. GTT contributor Van Sias takes a look back at the year and wonders if the days of Major hogging super stars are over on the women’s tour. – Frites

Serves and Returns

The Joy of Six: Will a WTA Player Win That Many Slams Ever Again?

By Van Sias

Before you know it, the first Grand Slam of the 2012 season, the Australian Open, will be under way. Kim Clijsters is the defending champ on the women’s side: She beat surprise finalist Li Na to win her fourth career singles Major, and second in a row as she also took home the 2010 U.S. Open.

Four Grand Slams, not a bad total when you think about it. However, it’s a far cry from the days of players taking home 22 Majors (like Steffi Graf), 18 (Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova) or 13 (Serena Williams).

The days of a player dominating the WTA Tour appear to be over, and nowhere has this been more evident than at the game’s biggest events with the aforementioned Li, Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur among the newbie Slam winners the past few years.

It seems with the way the depth pool is shaking out, two Majors won makes you Hall of Fame material!

Winning two Slams, of course, is a huge deal—and so is one, for that matter. But there was something to be said about watching the best of the best add to their already-impressive resumes. Forget double digits nowadays, though: how about, let’s say, six?

Here’s this week’s question, or “serve,” for you tennis-minded readers!:

Are the days of a WTA player winning at least six Majors a thing of the past?

My Take: Every time in the past when a player dominated, there were talks of the women’s game being too boring and predictable. Now, you never know who’s going to bring home a Major. With the keep-‘em-guessing trend expected to continue, I’m going to say it will be a looonng time—if ever—before we see a player win six Slams. Venus’ seven might as well be considered untouchable.

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