Martina Navratilova questions WTA players for not developing one specific weapon after Zheng Qinwen's shock Australian Open upset

Zheng Qinwen's early exit from the 2025 Australian Open has prompted criticism from Martina Navratilova, and others, that top players in the modern game simply don't have enough variety in their game. Zheng, the WTA's No. 5 ranked player, crashed out of the tournament in the second round after a 7-6, 6-3 defeat to World No. 79 Laura Siegemund.

Navratilova, who pocketed 18 Major singles titles between 1978 and 1990, bemoaned the loss of one particular shot that she was famous for back in the day - the backhand slice. Navratilova, famous for her serve and volley game, regularly adopted the slice to break her opponent's rhythm and game.

Speaking to the Tennis Channel's live panel, after watching Siegemund's impressive tactics unseat Qinwen, Navratilova complained, via Tennis.com:

“The question begs then: if the women really do not know how to play against the slice, why don’t more women develop a better slice backhand? It’s mystifying to me.”

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German player Siegemund is better known for her exploits as a doubles player - she has the 2020 US Open doubles title under her belt. The former player Prakash Amritraj, also speaking as part of the Tennis Channel's live panel, suggests that the shot variety demanded of the doubles game makes her a difficult singles opponent in an era of big baseline hitters like Zheng Qinwen:

"Zheng is also one of those players who is a big power hitter: she likes to have her time out there, to play at her own rhythm. Something that Siegemund is very good at doing, is she’s a master on the doubles court. She has no problem cutting off angles at the net."

Lindsay Davenport weighs in on the lack of variety in the women's game, echoing Martina Navratilova's comments

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Three-time Major winner Lindsay Davenport also lent her voice to the panel and echoed Martina Navratilova's sentiments concerning the current crop of top women's players, and the lack of variety in their game. Using the now-retired Ashleigh Barty as an example, Davenport said:

“If you look at the players ranked in the Top 100 or 150 in women’s tennis, there are very few players that go to a slice anymore. One of the reasons Ash Barty was so successful was she was a great player but in her era, there weren’t many players used to having to handle them. Siegemund is a master of it. She hits drop shots, she hits slices, she hits moonballs. All she does is give her opponent absolutely zero rhythm"

It could be said that since Barty departed the scene, the women’s game has been dominated by baseline hitters, current WTA-ranked No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka being a prime example. Moreover, the loss of the backhand slice in the game, as pointed out by Navratilova, leaves the top players vulnerable to lower-ranked players, who have better variety in their game.

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