Former WTA Tour star Anna Chakvetadze played Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova multiple times, and she has told Tennis365 about the different challenges that came with facing these three tennis icons.
Chakvetadze played her first professional match in 2003 and she reached great heights in women’s tennis before being forced to retire at the age of just 26 due to a chronic back injury in 2013.
The Russian attained a career-high ranking of world No 5 in September 2007 after reaching the US Open semi-finals and the Australian Open and French Open quarter-finals that year.
Chakvetadze secured eight WTA Tour singles titles, with her biggest triumph coming at the 2006 Kremlin Cup in Moscow — a Tier I (WTA 1000 equivalent) event.
What did Anna Chakvetadze say about Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova?
Asked who was the toughest opponent she faced, Chakvetadze could not choose between Williams, Henin and Sharapova — while she also gave a mention to Kim Clijsters.
“Serena, of course, when she was in top form, was one of the toughest opponents,” Chakvetadze said in an exclusive interview with Tennis365.
“Her power and especially her serve made her incredibly difficult to play against.
“At the same time, players with a very different style also caused a lot of trouble. Justine Henin, with her variety, creativity and all-court game, was an extremely difficult opponent as well — her diversity created many problems for almost every player.
“Maria Sharapova was a true fighter — mentally very strong, technically excellent, and also equipped with tremendous power. As a counter-punching, defensive player without huge power shots, it was always a big challenge for me to face players like that.
“Kim Clijsters was also an incredibly mobile and athletic player.”
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Chakvetadze added: “In reality, they were all great in their own way at different moments in time — sometimes one was stronger, sometimes another — but it was always difficult.
“At the same time, it was incredibly interesting to test myself against the very best players in the world. It was an amazing period of my career and a truly great challenge that I’m grateful for.”
What is Anna Chakvetadze’s record against Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters?
- 1-1 vs. Serena Williams
- 0-1 vs. Kim Clijsters
- 0-3 vs. Justine Henin
- 0-7 vs. Maria Sharapova
Chakvetadze did not register a win against the Belgian duo of Henin and Clijsters, while she lost all seven of her encounters with her Russian compatriot Sharapova.
The former world No 5 did, though, defeat Williams in the pair’s first meeting at the 2007 WTA Tour Championships (now WTA Finals) in Madrid.
In the round robin stage match, Chakvetadze took the opening set 6-4 before Williams was forced to retire due to an injury.
How many Grand Slams did Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters win?
Williams, Henin, Sharapova and Clijsters all topped the WTA Rankings and won multiple Grand Slam titles during the 2000s, but how do their career major hauls stack up?
- Serena Williams – 23 Grand Slams
- Justine Henin – 7 Grand Slams
- Maria Sharapova – 5 Grand Slams
- Kim Clijsters – 4 Grand Slams
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