“Serena Williams' era had Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova... You lying” - Fans reject claim of 'higher' WTA level amid Iga Swiatek's French Open win

Iga Swiatek's win at the 2024 French Open has served as a catalyst for a war of eras among fans. The war was sparked after a comment was passed by a fan stating how Serena Williams would have struggled in today's game due to the evolution of tennis.

Swiatek's rampant run at the Roland Garros continued this year as well as the Pole lifted the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup for the third consecutive season. She defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and eight minutes in the final.

A fan posted on X (formerly Twitter) that they were gutted for Coco Gauff, after her semifinal defeat to Swiatek, but couldn't bring themself to support the World No.1. A fan replied that though the Pole was a great player, she may have struggled a lot during Serena Williams' prime era.

However, a second fan disagreed with the above take and said that the overall level of play in today's game was much higher than that of when Williams was in her pomp.

"Miserable take. The overall level of play in today's game is far higher than it was in Serena's prime."

This led to fans, who felt the opposite of the above take, reacting to it. One of the fans mentioned how Serena Williams had to play against Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, and others, who were some of the all-time greats.

"Serena’s era of play that had Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati to name a few? I know you f**king lying,' the fan said.

Another fan mentioned how regardless of what one considered Serena's prime as, the level of tennis was much higher it was at present.

"Whether Serena’s prime was in 2002 or 2013…the level was miles higher than it is now…" the fan commented.

Here are some other fan reactions:

"Wait, are you okay ? The same era with Venus, Sharapova, Henin, Mauresmo, Clijsters, Lindsay, Capriati, Hingis, and I can add at least another 10. You’re not talking about that era" said a fan

"Tell us you don't know about tennis without telling us that you don't know about tennis. Aside from the Dinara Safina brief period that era of tennis was FAR more competitive than today's" said a fan

"Deeply unserious take" said a fan

"You clearly haven't watched women's tennis before 2020." said a fan

Iga Swiatek joins Serena Williams as the only other woman to win the Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open in the same season

Iga Swiatek with the French Open season

Iga Swiatek became the only woman after Serena Williams to win the WTA 1000 titles in Madrid and Rome, and the French Open in the same season. Serena Williams achieved this feat in 2013, when she beat Maria Sharapova to win the French Open and Madrid Open, while triumphing over Victoria Azarenka in the Italian Open final.

Iga Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final of both WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, and decimated Paolini in Roland Garros to clinch this feat.

The only other woman who came agonizingly close to achieving this feat was Dinara Safina back in 2009, however, she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the French Open that year.

Interestingly, Iga Swiatek also became the first woman since Serena Williams to win a Grand Slam in three consecutive years. The American achieved this feat when she won the US Open from 2012-2014.