Taking a look at these two unique Canadian sports heroes.
Which one has the potential for a long and successful sports career?
Don't think its Genie.
Genie came out of the chute like a house on fire. Great volleyer, strategist, little bit of power and savvy, never say die attitude, etc. Reached semi-finals in a couple majors and even a berth in Wimbledon final.
However, Genie hasn't been the same since she was over-powered and demolished by 6'1" Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon. Nobody saw Genie coming that year as she TKO'd opponent after opponent but when she felt the power and strength of Kvitova she was dispatched in short order (shortest female final in Wimbledon history)
Since then Genie has turned into more a model, party-girl and spokesperson for Pintys. She's a good model (very attractive and statuesque) and speaks in a fairly coherent way that belies her age (22+). But her game is demoralizingly bad, she's gone thru coaches faster than Taylor Swift goes thru boyfriends and her excuses are now determined in advance.
She was ridded from the U.S. Open in the first round by a simpleton qualifier. That speaks volumes. Good players don't lose to qualifiers.
A simple overview of her game says the odds of recovery and being a Top 10 WTA player for the next 7 or 8 years are slim. Her serve is under-whelming, her second serve is barely functional, her volley game while good is full of panic and taking the ball way too early, ie taking too many risks and working with a tiny margin of error. Her defensive skills are good but not great. Tennis may be her only option to further a promising modelling career. . . . . even if it means she trudges on as a 40th to 70th rated player.
I wouldn't say she's anemic - she's 5'10" and prolly comes in at 128 to 132 but not really as sturdy and conditioned as the superior players.
Brooke Henderson. She, too appeared like a rocket out of the blue when she first crossed over from junior golf to women's pros. She was better than the rest, something different, very sparkly and wonderful.
Unlike Genie she was able to ambush the womens tour for a couple early (and convincing) victories plus this year she won a women's major (a feat only accomplished by 1 other Canadian Sandra Post in the 60s)
Unlike Milos Raonic Brooke went to Rio and competed in the Olympics but a sour first round put her out of her misery. SHe golfed fairly well in her final 3 rounds but could only muster a charge up the leader board to 7th overall.
Her recent outings have been indifferent. Marked by poor drives and tepid putting. But the mark of a good player is she still competes hard. I'd personally recommend she dumps her 22 yr old sister as caddy. Get a professional caddy Brooke. But like other Canadians like Dan Halldorson and Moe Norman she's got a homemade swing and a fierce approach to the game.
Not quite as attractive or statuesque as Genie BooBoo she's still an attractive, if not sparkly 18 year old teenager. She's got her tour card for 2017 in the bag and she's 3 rd or 4th in the world. No easy feat.
She doesn't sulk or go into defeat mode as easily as Bouchard although she started barking mean at her sister last couple of sour outings. To be expected.
I predict Henderson will win more tournaments and easily surpass Lorie Kane and Sandra Post as Canada's greatest LPGA players. Perhaps even another major. Barring injury she'll play well into her 30s - that could be 12 to 18 more years.
So far as Genie is concerned she'll play on - but nobody knows when she'll pull the plug. She's good for the rest of 2016 and has too many sponsorship commitments to pull the plug for 2017. After that, after more sour and disappointing results and getting thrashed by so-called weaker players she'll seriously consider alternative careers.
JUST MY OPINION - I COULD BE RIGHT