Rest of tour needs to catch up with Williams sisters

Steve Bierley comes off a bit gloom and doom, but he does have some interesting things to say about Venus and Serena Williams, and the state of the WTA Tour in general. In particular:

The Williamses raised the level of play to new heights at the turn of the millennium, yet their athleticism, combined with ever developing racket and string technology, has become counter-productive.

And later on:

...perhaps the more pertinent factor is that the intrinsic physical demands of the baseline power game are, at the highest level, beyond the athletic capabilities of the majority of current women players.

There's no denying that Venus and Serena are the standout athletes on the tour. The rest of the women continue to lag behind, this was made obvious once again last week. And frankly, the physical conditioning that most of the other women undertake now is too lightweight to even begin to make up the difference. Once that is addressed, though, the imbalance will start righting itself (furthermore, injuries will become less of a problem).

Venus and Serena should be thanked for raising the level of play so much. Their remarkable athleticism has made the sport infinitely more exciting. But now it's time for the rest of the tour to catch up.