2005 Intriguing Questions #5-6

Last time, the discussion dealt with evolutions. This time, it's "de-evolutions" that are the topics of choice in this edition of the 2005 IQ's.

#6. WILL LINDSAY DAVENPORT BE THE LAST AMERICAN #1?

2004 was a triumph for 28-year old Lindsay Davenport. She led the Tour in victories (63) and titles (7), and finished as the season-ending #1 for the first time since 2001 despite not having advanced to a slam singles final. In a year in which the Belgians dropped, the Russians rose and the Williamses wavered, she outlasted them all. But the grip on the top ranking, not just by Davenport, but also the American contingent as a whole, might be very short-lived... and when Davenport falls or retires, it could be quite a while before the #1 ranking and an American woman are once again synonymous.

As recently as 2001, Americans held the Top 3 (and 4 of 6) positions on the computer. But those glory days, which stretch back as far as 1981 (Americans filled the Top 4 slots with newly-naturalized Martina Navratilova in the mix) and peaked in 1983 (six Americans ranked in the Top 10), are over. While four Americans finished in the group in '04, they're all in various states of decline (Capriati, who last year went title-less for the first time since '98), injury and/or focus-prone (Venus and Serena, both still capable of much but definitely on the downsides of their careers) or contemplating retirement (Davenport, who'd be gone by now if not for her hardcourt prowess last summer).

The ten highest-ranked Americans are as follows:

#1 Davenport, 28
#7 S.Williams, 23
#9 V.Williams, 24
#10 Capriati, 28
#26 Frazier, 32
#30 Raymond, 31
#40 Shaughnessy, 25
#52 Rubin, 28
#53 Washington, 28
#59 Craybas, 30

Their average age is 27.7 (nearly 29 without the Williamses), and it's 26.3 for the fifteen Americans in the Top 100. The only under-20 American in the Top 150 is #123 Ashley Harkleroad, 19, for whom a successful tennis future is still an iffy proposition. The other teens in the Top 200 -- #155 Jamea Jackson, 18, #173 Bethanie Mattek & #191 Sunitha Rao, both 19, have yet to make their marks. Contrast that with the multiple Horde members (the average age of the Russian Top 10 is 21.9, and that's with 29-year old Elena Likhovtseva working against the numbers), and you hardly have the foundation on which great hopes are built. The staying power of vets like Davenport and Capriati have kept the U.S. numbers holding steady, but the looming reality is that the core of American female players is "dying out."

No budding young American star has risen to challenge the likes of foreign-born teens such as Sharapova, Golovin and Vaidisova. Who are the young players who'll do it? Is there anyone who'll even be good enough to be called the "next great American?" The odds are she'll arrive eventually, but so far she remains a mystery. Many thought to be up-and-comers (Harkleroad and #287 Alexandra Stevenson) haven't panned out for various reasons, while others with potential are still question marks (#69 Shenay Perry & #137 Angela Haynes, both 20). The field isn't bereft of under-18ers worth a look, though. Carly Gullickson, 17, advanced to her first ITF final in 2004; while 15-year old Julia Cohen won an ITF crown. The most intriguing girl might be Jessica Kirkland. The 17-year old was RU to world junior #1 Michaella Krajicek in the U.S. Open girls final, and claimed the prestigious Orange Bowl International championship earlier this month. It's too early to fully judge any of these teens, but it should be noted that Sharapova won Wimbledon at 17, and Martina Hingis was a slam champ even earlier. It takes someone of super-superior skills and/or drive to be #1 in today's tennis, and if any of those girls had that we'd probably know it by now.

With the current state of things, barring a brief reprise of a #1-ranked Williams, it's hard to see another American even coming close to the top spot the rest of this decade, and likely much of the next. How did it come to this? It used to be that great American female athletes consistently gravitated to tennis, but it could be that the growing boom in female team sports (basketball, soccer & softball) in the U.S. has finally altered the course of history as far as the development of tennis stars. It happened to the men's list of prospects years ago. Even now, subtract Andy Roddick and you have a pretty bland, ordinary lot of young American men despite the tremendous population from which to cull. But past success, no matter how long-standing or grand, doesn't guarantee future stars. After all, when was the last time you saw a German girl with #1 potential not named Graf?

The American presence near the top of the rankings will last as long as the Williams sisters stick around. After that, it's anyone's guess. Eventually, one would think the influence of the sisters will bring talent through the ranks as more and more minorities get opportunities that didn't used to exist in the sport. As with the Tiger Woods-inspired golf kids, the Venus & Serena-fueled girls are likely still a few years from breaking through.

On the men's side, though, the Williams inroads are being seen. The boys' side of the Orange Bowl event pitted two African-Americans, 17-year old Timothy Neilly and 15-year old Donald Young, in the final in a battle to become the first black to win the 58-year old event. For the record, Neilly won the title. The U.S. is still waiting for his junior female equivalent.

Ironically, the rise of the Russians -- one, in particular -- might help the American cause as much as anything. Sharapova is "Americanized," as the Spartaks like to remind us. Maybe a new generation of talented American girls will want to grow up to be like the Supernova. If so, good times are ahead... but it'll be a while before those voices are heard on Tour. Tennis is a world-wide game, and the rankings have never been a better example of that than they are right now. That's a good thing, unless you're a fan of American tennis players... or watch TV coverage in the States, which almost exclusively focuses on home-grown stars on channels such as ESPN. To American TV, many of the young foreign stars barely exist. Though, to be fair, that gripe persists more in the coverage of the ATP than WTA. But it's still an issue... and that's why Sharapova is so important.

The Supernova "moves the dial," as they say. People pay attention to her, and she even wins. Let the Myskinas, Kuznetsovas and Dementievas inspire future Hordettes. America will gladly embrace Sharapova if given the chance. Maybe by the end of 2005, a girl will finally establish herself as the next great American to watch. As of now, that role remains uncast.

Another season will soon go by without an American teen claiming a WTA singles title. 2006 might see the end of the drought if Kirkland (or Cohen, etc.) pans out. But, as things currently stand, this looks like it could be a long waiting game.

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#5.IS "THE WILLIAMS ERA" OVER?

This is an easy one. Yes. Yes, it is. Has been for a while, in fact. In tennis terms, the days of Williams dominance are long gone.

But what did the era mean? In assessing the period from 1999-03, it's apparent that Venus and Serena fulfilled their roles in history. They uplifted the women's tour when it needed it most, brought new fans and attention to the game and, most importantly, forced the field to improve to compete just as the Navratilovas and Grafs did before them.

With a greater pool of talent, and the more fragile Williams bodies, the "wine and roses" days didn't last long. But the sisters have left a mark on history, claiming a total of ten slam titles over a four-year period, facing off against each other in four consecutive slam finals at one point. But even as both finished 2004 outside the Top 5 for the first time since 1998, it doesn't mean that one or both won't win another slam title (though, for the first time, that now appears to not be a sure thing by any means), if not briefly even reclaim the #1 ranking.

As Serena's 2002-03 "Serena Slam" run showed, when healthy and in form, she's by far the most talented pure player out there. But since those heights, her focus has been fragmented (by way of fashion, acting, premieres and various e-mail adventures, both real and fake), form unreliable and training schedule truncated, sporadic or impossible due to injuries or other concerns. 2004 put Serena's current reality on full display. It's not a bad reality, but it's not the one to which the former #1 was once accustomed.

After missing the last half of '03 with a knee injury, she didn't play until March... but still returned to win her first event back (Tier I Miami). She survived a tough Wimbledon SF against Mauresmo, but couldn't follow it up in the final and was beaten at her own hard-hitting game by Maria Sharapova. She made headlines at the U.S. Open, but only managed to make it to the QF. She put everything together in Beijing, knocking off four Russians in succession (Kuznetsova in the final) to take the title; then, for a while, she even looked like her old self at the WTA Championships. She defeated Myskina, Dementieva and Mauresmo to get to the final, but her body gave out on her once again against Sharapova.

Now, on occasion, Serena is able to recapture her former dominance, but maintaining it for very long (such as, say, over a two-week slam) is a sketchy prospect unless she's given a golden draw that provides just the right easy/challenging balance of opponents. It's likely to be that way for the rest of her career. It's possible that Serena, now 23, will have an Agassi-like late career Second Act. Maybe not. It's easy to think she has one or two more big slam runs left in her. But if she doesn't, it probably won't wear on her mind for long. She'll just move to her next big adventure in life. That's a sign that Richard and Oracene raised a more well-rounded woman than well-rounded professional tennis player, and that's hardly a bad thing these days.

The same goes for Venus, but, recent seasons notwithstanding, there's a school of thought that says the earlier-arriving older sister will also be the last of the two to leave the game behind. Overshadowed since Serena surged to a grand slam title first ('99 U.S.), Venus has since gone 2-7 against her (including their last five slam final matchups). Having Serena around pushed Venus' career, by comparison, out of the limelight. She hasn't won a slam crown since '01, and now trails 6-4 in total major titles.

But Venus could win the battle over the long run, as the breadth of her career might just trump Serena's. It's certainly easier to see the now 24-year old Venus lasting into her "Davenport years" than Serena doing the same. Her life's not as cluttered or controversial off the court, and the more quiet sister doesn't woo potential bad press quite as famously, either. She showed an ability to put together weeks of dominance in 2004, too, forging an intriguing, but largely forgotten, mid-year stretch on the clay when she won 13 straight matches and two titles before an injury forced her out of the Berlin final against Mauresmo. And if not for Davenport's superior hardcourt play in the Fall (she won four straight events), Venus would have been the North American/U.S. Open Series star. She went 0-3 against her fellow American, pushing Davenport like no one else during the stretch and reacting angrily when she couldn't quite wrestle away any of the matches. That's a good sign. After years of questions, it was proof that there's still something wanting more inside Venus... it's something about unfinished business.

Maybe with Serena out of the way, or off at her latest premiere or party, Venus will find her way back near the top again. There's still time and, apparently, the inclination. Serena's star might have burned the brightest, but Venus Ebony Starr could be the sister who comes out on top.

2005 will provide the first sign that'll she'll be the ultimate "victor" in this sisterly contest, as she'll stay healthier, win more titles and finish higher in the rankings than Serena. The sisters have made the Tour better. No matter what anyone's ever said or thought about their tactics, perceived arrogance or commitment, you can't argue with that.

Tennis is far better off having had them, and no one else will ever be quite like them -- they'll only hope to be pale imitations. When they're gone, they'll be sorely missed. That day, thankfully, hasn't arrived yet... so we shouldn't take them for granted while they're still around.

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==EITHER/OR==

...here's the slightly mystical portion of this extended Backspin season preview. It's where I pick a preference between two choices, not necessarily based on predicted rank or accomplishments by the end of the upcoming season, but as just a January "feel" for which will be living under a brighter sky as 2005 comes to a close twelves months from now. (ALL CAPS means they're my choice)

ANNA CHAKVETADZE/Anna Kournikova...
okay, that's an easy one

DAMIR DOKIC/Jelena Dokic...
is there any real "winner" here? I figure Damir will declare himself the victor in any case.

VERA ZVONAREVA/Vera Douchevina...
2005 might be the time for Vera the Almost to join the "big girls"

PUNCH-SOBER/The Czarina...
the AP ranked Dementieva higher on its Female Athlete of the Year list than either of the Russians who beat her in grand slam finals

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA/Martina Hingis...
Martina the Elder knows her future and has no regrets about her past (and she knows how to pick young doubles partners, too -- for '05 it'll be Hantuchova)

JELENA JANKOVIC/Jelena Dokic...
does this count as piling on the Debutante?

ELKE CLIJSTERS/Kim Clijsters...
maybe not, but this'll seem like nothing after you read Pierre Cantin's prediction for FilaKim in '05

LLEYTON HEWITT/Jaslyn Hewitt...
can you say, "Moving on?"

VENUS WILLIAMS/Serena Williams...
older, more stable, still with something to prove

THE CONTESSOVA/The Supernova...
which is more Russian won't matter. Who wins the most titles will, though.

All for now.

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Next Up:

Kim and Justine, together again... if only in their Backspin IQ's for 2005. Plus, "Pierre's Picks!"

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2005 Intriguing Questions #7-8

Less than a week away from the start of the 2005 season, it's time for the nation-building section of this year's IQ's. Don't worry, nothing political here. We're only dealing with tennis revolutions.

#8. WHAT WILL BE THE COOKIES' FORTUNES OUTSIDE THE GREAT WALL?

Amidst the ascent of the Russian Horde, there has been another quiet uprising brewing on the WTA horizon.

As hinted at in one of last year's IQ's, Asia -- specifically, China -- is the corner of the world where the most tennis growth will come next. The first champions are already being born, as 2004 saw the Fortune Cookies begin to make some of their initial introductions to the denizens of the world's courts. And more, maybe more, are surely yet to come.

Most of the Chinese women's appearances have been semi-private occasions, taking place behind the Great Wall. Soon, two questions will have to be asked and answered: just how well will the Cookies do in the "real world," and when will the Chinese tennis federation feel the urge to unleash its charges on the circuit in full force? With the Olympics not set for Beijing until 2008, it still might be a while before fortune cookies begin to vie with borscht as the post-match snack of choice when it comes to discussing the future of the women's game. But with more success will come more opportunity for the likes of Na Li, Jie Zheng and the other Chinese groundbreakers to be bigger parts of the widening tennis landscape.

It should be fascinating to see how things play out with the Chinese players in the coming years. Remember, back in the late '80s/early '90s, another Communist regime began to build the foundation of an effective tennis empire. And as China takes the steps to join the wider community of nations as a whole (economically and otherwise), tennis could play a small part in a similar "domino theory" to the one that ultimately brought us the Horde. Encroaching Capitalism and Western culture (including sports) could go hand-in-hand in effecting even the government's shape and direction in the superpower's future. We're already seeing the signs of change in China (McDonald's, anyone?), and it's difficult to stop "progress"... unless you use tanks, of course (but the Chinese already tried that once). Change within an insular society will come more easily not by the barrel of a better rifle but through the desire by the people for a "better" life. That process has already begun.

After years of holding back (likely fearing defection, much like the old Soviet bloc states), the likes of Yao Ming is now allowed to play basketball in the U.S. Soon, the Cookies will travel more, too... and tennis will become yet another tool helping to lead to a gradual societal transformation. How long before a Natasha Zvereva-like player comes along and demands to be paid for her victories just as her foreign counterparts are, rather than be a "subject" of a federation, as the Belarussian-born player did back in 1988 in the first real bucking against the Soviet sports system? That lady might not be in the jar of current Cookies, but she'll arrive one day. Eventually. They always do.

It may take a Natasha-style "revolutionary" for the Chinese to fully penetrate the WTA psyche. At this point, not many have actually seen too much of them unless they've racked up their frequent flyer miles behind the Wall. Still, the prospects for the sport's continued growth in Asia is fertile indeed. The WTA Tour has followed the ATP's lead in scheduling more tournaments there, and the Australian Open has led the way by catering more to the region each year (for 2005, the tourney's moved the men's final four hours later in the day to benefit Asian audiences, no matter that it means it'll take place at 3 a.m in North America and will no longer be aired live there). See, this latest revolution means change for everyone else, as well. After finishing with just one player in the Top 100 and two in the Top 200 at the end of 2003, the Chinese numbers increased to three and six at the end of 2004.

The names (no matter whether you list them surname first or not -- I won't here, for consistency's sake) are starting to become more familiar, too. Jie Zheng (#79) was the first of the Cookies to make some noise on the WTA Tour late in '03 (defeating Tanasugarn en route to her first Tour SF in Tokyo), but she lost her nerve (and a 6-5 and serving 3rd set lead, losing 8-6) against Ai Sugiyama in the Olympics 1st Round in Athens, what could have been a true watershed moment was lost... as was Zheng's place at the top of the Cookie heap. Her "replacement" was 22-year old Na Li. Li (#78) didn't waver in qualifying and then taking the WTA's Guangzhou event in September, becoming China's first WTA singles titlist after defeating the likes of Jelena Jankovic, Vera Douchevina and Martina Sucha (in the final). She also put together a 29-match ITF winning streak in 2004 while winning five titles on the season (giving her 19 for her career), and held two match points on Svetlana Kuznetsova in their match in Beijing. Others to keep an eye on in 2005 will be #80 Shuai Peng, #174 Ting Li, #127 Tian Tian Sun and #178 Nan-Nan Liu.

For 2005, I'll predict Na Li's rise into the Top 30, Zheng and Peng's into the Top 50, and Liu's into the Top 100. #296 Zi Yan, though, might make the biggest leap (she showed her potential by defeating Na Li late last season). Also, look for one of the Cookies to get to the QF of a slam this season (Zheng made the 4th Round at Roland Garros last year). Plus, I'll go with one of the Chinese doubles teams (probably Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun) finishing in the Top 5 in the WTA points race. Last year, T.Li/Sun was #10 (they upset Black/Stubbs in Oz for their most headline-worthy victory) and Yan/Zheng finished #12.

Beyond the next few seasons, though, only time will tell whether the immense Chinese population will produce an equally large contingent of contending Cookies. We know how the fledgling Soviet model eventually turned out. Just look at the rankings. One wonders if the Chinese women will maintain the camaraderie of the Russian Spartaks, though. The Russians have pulled each other along to each next higher level, inspiring and supporting one another all the way. The non-Spartak Supernova notwithstanding, that closeness is probably the REAL key to the Russian tennis revolution... and it might be the most important component with this latest one, and could go a long way toward helping to foster additional transformations within Chinese society. We can only hope, right? For everyone's sake.

Okay, so I lied when I said the tennis "nation-building" wasn't totally absent of politics. Oh, well.

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#7. WHERE WILL THE NEXT REVOLUTION TAKE PLACE?

As the Russians and Chinese build up their numbers, what's the next country whose fortunes are about to tick upward? What new "revolution" will be one of 2005's ongoing storylines?

Looking around, there are several nations that staked claims in '04 and are worthy of consideration. Amongst them, Argentina (with Gisela Dulko), the Netherlands (Michaella Krajicek) and even the already-loaded France (behind Amelie Mauresmo is Tatiana Golovin and her Pastry co-horts Camille Pin, Severine Beltrame, Marion Bartoli and Youlia Fedossova). But I'm seeing this contest coming down to two contenders for Backspin's magifying glass this season: Serbia & Montenegro and the Czech Republic.

For the longest time, the most successful former-Yugoslavs were Monica Seles and Jelena Dokic, though neither were even representing the countries in which they were born at the time. Dokic, now 21, is back under Belgrade's flag, but 2004 saw her star fall (to #125) as her old/new countrywomen surpassed her in the rankings. 19-year old Jelena Jankovic outgrew her "other Jelena" costume, winning her first WTA title in Budapest and finishing at #28. Meanwhile, Ana Ivanovic, 17, claimed five ITF crowns and is on the cusp of the Top 100 (#101) as the 2005 season commences.

But, because the numbers simply favor them, I'm gonig to go with the Czech Maidens for the "next revolution" tag. Actually, it's more like a "retro-revolution." Years after the split of the old Czechoslovakia into two republics in the late '80s, it finaly appears that the formerly high-flying tennis system is up and running again. Before there were a slew of Russian "'ova's," the Czechs had cornered the market. You used to see Czech-born stars all over the tennis map, from Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova, to Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova. Czech-born players won 23 slams from 1978-98 (and were RU's 23 more times). Since then, they've put up a big zero on the grand slam final stage (Swiss star Martina Hingis, remember, was named for Navratilova but was actually born in Slovakia) over the last six seasons. But that could change soon. 2004 concluded with two Czechs in the Top 50, and seven in the Top 100, with all of the top young stars (save Daja Bedanova, a junior star in the late '90s and one-time Top 20er, who has seen her ranking sink to an unbelievable #410) looking as if their very best years are still ahead of them.

There might only be one youngster (15-year old world #75 Nicole Vaidisova, a two-time WTA titlist in '04) currently with true slam champ potential, but the depth is there. Maidens won three WTA singles titles last year, and were RU's four other times. Hana Sromova, 26, won six ITF titles (tied for the circuit lead), and 29-year old Kveta Peschke (formerly Hrdlickova) returned to the court to intriguing success late in the year, winning three ITF crowns. She could be on track for one of those fun late-in-career surges this coming season. The Maidens will cause even more trouble in 2005. Look for 21-year old Iveta Benesova to follow up her initial WTA title in '04 with another this season, and Barbora Strycova, 18, to advance to her first WTA singles final. 22-year old Klara Koukalova will finally get her first WTA title, and Peschke will win her first big circuit crown since 1998 en route to taking a handful of Comeback Player of the Year awards.

But it's the axis that is Vaidisova herself on which this revolution will spin. The teenager became the 6th-youngest WTA singles champ ever when she claimed her 3-V title (Victory for Vaidisova in Vancouver), and only seemed to grow in stature as the year progressed (winning again, in Tashkent). What Golovin was in 2004, look for Vaidisova to be in 2005... and maybe a bit more. She'll grab three more titles and rise into the Top 25 despite her age restrictions, and will pull off at least one truly shocking upset as she busts her way into the QF of one of this season's slams. Another hard-hitter with ties to Nick Bollettieri, Vaidisova might be something very big lurking in the shadows behind the other sudden teen stars. Watch out, Supernova, Contessova and the Frussian Pastry, "Darth" Vaidisova is already looking over your shoulders. Sometime within the next three seasons, she'll end that drought of Czech non-appearances in slam finals... and might just become the first since Novotna ('98 Wimbledon) to win one.

All for now.

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NEXT UP: the IQ's go from tennis revolutions to "de-evolutions"

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2005 Intriguing Question #9

Up next on the Intriguing Question list is #9, which involves a pair of longtime Backspin favorites. So often here, Wonder Girl and the Debutante's fortunes have been linked. Nothing's changed as 2005 kicks off.

#9. CAN THE "LOST GIRLS" REDISCOVER THEIR CAREERS?

As we saw after Maria Sharapova won the Tour Championship title, nothing causes the vultures to circle quicker than early success. A teenage girl wins a big title, and she's immediately subjected to an onslaught of fame and pressure just as she's attempting to make the transition from the emotional underpinnings of childhood to the (hopefully) more stable foundation she'll eventually build as an adult.

In tennis, how well a teen superstar traverses this potentially rocky road usually tells the tale of the long-term success of her career. For these girls, talent isn't enough. Injuries, family cohesiveness, and maturity are equally, if not more, important, and a major problem in any one of those areas could beat a promising girl's career into a premature submission. Steffi Graf was mature for her age, and her career titles speak to that fact. Jennifer Capriati wasn't, and some might say still isn't, but her toughness and perseverence ultimately allowed her to fashion a post-mug shot comeback that few could have envisioned. Mary Pierce eventually broke free of her unhinged father Jim and found major success; while Mirjana Lucic couldn't, and didn't. Anna Kournikova gained fame but never learned to win, then moved beyond her underrated game, which never managed to equal her force of personality; while Martina Hingis never learned how to lose, and when she started to do so she couldn't/wouldn't handle herself in a manner that bespoke a never-say-die champion (she now finds herself on the cusp of possibly attempting her own, more mature, "second act").

As 2005 beckons, there are two more girls-turned-women who are in a pitched battle against these forces, hoping to emerge on the other side of the internal skirmish with their wits AND careers intact. Whether or not they are capable of winning out is still in question, so we could be about to witness the final "big-time" acts of the careers of both Wonder Girl and the Debutante, Daniela Hantuchova and Jelena Dokic.

The two 21-year olds, born just eleven days apart in 1983, have seen their careers progress and regress in near hand-in-hand fashion. Both were top junior stars, with Dokic finishing as the #1-ranked girl in 1998. The Debutante made her name by reaching the Wimbledon QF at age 16, then following up with a SF there the next year. The next season, she claimed two Tier I titles and climbed to #4 in the world.

Meanwhile, Hantuchova became the toast of the WTA, inheriting the tiresome "next Anna" label after she sent photographers/tour marketers into a tizzy when she won the Tier I Indian Wells in '02 and soon found herself at #5 on the computer. No less than Martina Navratilova identified Hantuchova as a potential great champion, and the seemingly well-adjusted Slovak teen said all the right things about preferring tennis success over photo sessions and fame.

But Hantuchova's never won a second title, while Dokic hasn't raised a trophy since she completed her career "surface slam" with a grasscourt title in June '02. In the interim, Dokic finally succumbed to the "parent trap" that was always set around her relationship with daddy Damir, leaving him behind but still fighting him word-for-word through various media outlets; while Hantuchova's health was questioned when a dramatic weight loss coupled with her terribly emotional matches to produce a sad sight the likes of which has rarely been seen on a tennis court. 21 is too young an age to write off such talents, especially as the 28-year old Capriati still hangs around the Top 10 after having sunk as low as possible. Both Hantuchova and Dokic are still two years younger than some of the Spartak Russians who made such huge leaps in '04 but, as with Mauresmo, 2005 has to be looked upon as a make or break year for them.

Do Wonder Girl and the Debutante have what it takes inside to accomplish anything on the scale of the bullheaded Capriati's climb back to the top? That's the big question that the upcoming season will answer. If either is going to avoid becoming nothing but a dangerous draw floater who "used" to have great promise, they'll have to stir up tangible evidence to the contrary over the next eleven months. Remember, the WTA core of talent is deeper and more accomplished than that which existed just a few years ago. The pair will have to be better to even approach their former Top 5 positions in the game, and it could be that neither is now capable of pulling off a full resurrection. One disappointing season is a fluke. Two is a trend. Three is a career reality check. Failure to turn upward in 2005 would force a severe reassessment of their futures by both.

At least Hantuchova showed some (albeit short-lived) resuscitation skills in 2004. By mid-season, she'd re-upped with former coach Nigel Sears and declared her problems a thing of the past as she made an impressive RU showing in Eastbourne. But she went 12-12 from that point on, and closed her season by losing to an unknown 17-year old Canadian qualifier in Quebec City. Ultimately, her season-ending ranking actually fell twelve spots from a year earlier (from #19 to #31).

Dokic, though, was a sorry sight for most of the season. Lacking confidence, out of condition, emotionally drained and looking to all the world as if she wanted to be anywhere but on a tennis court, she played just 22 matches all season, winning six, with only one match taking place in the final five months of a season that ended with a nine-match losing streak. Following the season, she, too, returned to her former coach -- Damir, as constructing a familial peace finally won out over a career that's spiralled into a worrisome freefall. The intelligence of that move will bear out over time, but it appears that Dokic has decided that subjugating her "freedom" and once again subjecting herself to her oft-daffy father's will is more honorable than drifting aimlessly as she has for most of the past two years. Problem is, Dokic's career may have already peaked. A quick look at her season-ending rankings reveals a decidedly easy-to-track, rise-and-fall trend: 1998: #341 1999: #43 2000: #26 2001: #8 2002: #9 2003: #15 2004: #125 Dokic needs to find her level and correct place in the game. It may not be as high as she once hoped. She'll never be a true contender for #1, and likely won't be able to return to the Top 5, either. But a respectable, consistent Top 15/20 career (with brief sojourns into the Top 10) is nothing to sneeze at for a player who has shown little versatility over the years, but has often made up for that deficiency with a killer instinct that served to feed her confidence in good times. When on a roll, she's been capable of almost anything. With little faith in herself for so long now, she's more often resembled a faded ghost. On the other hand, one gets quite the opposite impression of Hantuchova. Despite her one-time Top 5 standing, she never really reached the peak of her powers. She showed a willingness and ability to learn and grow as a player, and seemed on the verge of something breathtaking. Maybe even Supernovian. But then her body collapsed from the inside out. She used to talk openly about becoming #1, and still COULD accomplish that goal someday.

While Dokic's task is to reclaim lost groud, Hantuchova's is to stake out new territory that's still within her reach somewhere down the line. Wonder Girl's task will take more than one season. Dokic could claw her way back to respectability much sooner.

As far as 2005 in concerned, I think Dokic will outperform Hantuchova. Currently ranked outside the Top 100, Dokic has a huge mountain to climb, but she'll be defending no points after Wimbledon and could shoot up the rankings with a handful of decent results. By the end of the year, she'll be back in the Top 25 and have claimed a sixth career singles title. Hantuchova won't be far behind (say, Top 30), but by the end of the upcoming season will begin showing signs that she'll be able to outshine Dokic in '06 and beyond as she begins to re-instill her lost "Wonder Girl glow." She won't win a title in '05, but she'll build the foundation for a big one in '06. As they approach their 22nd birthdays by early spring, the "Lost Girls" aren't girls anymore.

They're young women... but they still have some growing up to do in order to shed the "lost" label that's managed to stick itself to them like glue. If they can manage it, their careers should be long and prosperous. If not... well, we can cross that bridge when and if they come to it.

=================================

All for now.

Read more...

2005 Intriguing Question #10

2005 is closing in fast, so it's that time again. No, not THAT time! The presents can wait for a few more minutes, right? I'm talking about it being time for Backspin to awaken from its (too) short winter's nap. Time to peer ahead at the long road that lies ahead over the next eleven months (think back, doesn't that all-Belgian Aussie final of last January seem a quaint anachronism following 2004's ultimate Russian onslaught?). Time to guess at what are going to be the most intriguing WTA stories for the upcoming season.

First up, a look at an example of great talent meeting up with equally great expectations... and struggling to find a common ground.

#10. WILL AMELIE MAURESMO'S "GRAND SLAM GAMBIT" BE A SUCCESS?

Amelie Mauresmo wants to change her WTA bio. As things stand, no one argues that she's not a fine player. At age 25, she's had a career the majority of the WTA field would die for. But, if you're able to read between the lines of her list of accomplishments, it's apparent that she still can't shake the persistent fact that she's just good enough to be saddled with the label of "underachiever."

Whether it's been her head, heart, body, nerves, Venus, Serena or whichever other top player prevents her from taking one additional step, with Mauresmo one thing has always been certain -- it'll always be something that keeps her from being fully satisfied on the four most important weekends of the tennis season.

It's too bad, really. She's more than proven that her high station in the game is no hoax. Her resume is impressive: a grand slam finalist (Oz '99) and three-time semifinalist, a five-time Tier I champion, one of just three players (along with Steffi Graf & Monica Seles) to ever win Berlin & Rome back-to-back on the red clay, and a former #1-ranked player in the world (for five weeks late last season). But it's not enough. When she rose to #1 in September, it speaks volumes about the "black hole" in her bio that Mauresmo was only the second (along with Kim Clijsters) to do so without having won a grand slam singles title. In measuring her potential Hall of Fame credentials, it's the one (and only) area where she has yet to measure up.

As Mauresmo enters a 2005 season in which she'll turn 26 (just two years younger than the current "veteran" #1 Lindsay Davenport), a new generation is beginning to replace the old. The Russians are everywhere, and even 16-year old Tatiana Golovin is gearing up to inherit Mauresmo's long-standing mantle as the top French woman in the game. For five years, Mauresmo's year-end singles ranking has risen, from #16 to #9, then from #6 to #4 before her current #2 position. There's not much more room to improve in that area, and she's already publicly stated that being #1 isn't her "main concern." Time is running out for Mauresmo to claim her elusive slam crown, and she knows it.

Problem is, positioned between the Davenport/Capriati generation and the new wave of teenagers, Mauresmo might have already missed out on her last best chance to clear her career's final hurdle. 2004 was her best season yet, but even amidst her exceptional feats, Mauresmo's performances in the slams left much to be desired and only further ingrained her "Tier II" status as she failed to reach a single slam final. In Australia, a back injury forced a QF walkover against #32-seed Fabiola Zuluaga, which was followed up by a pair of QF exits at the hands of eventual RU Elena Dementieva at both Roland Garros and the U.S. Open. At Wimbledon, Mauresmo put up a game fight in the SF, but still fell to Serena Williams. An Olympic Gold in Athens might have proven to be an agreeable substitute, but she came up short there, too, losing in the final to Justine Henin-Hardenne during the Belgian's brief, one-week conquering of the virus that struck down the last half of her season.

At the Tour Championships in L.A., Mauresmo went public with her "grand slam gambit." Swearing no desire to push for #1 (and no sorrow over failing to grab the honor during the season-closing event), she said she's set her sights squarely on a slam title in '05. In Melbourne. To further back up her assertion, she ducked out of her Fed Cup commitment a week later (to the consternation of French FC coach Guy Forget) and marked out her early Victory-in-Oz strategy: to rest, then train exclusively for the Australian Open, the only major with a long enough pre-event leadup for her to focus on being fully healthy, in form and focused on winning the final match in the women's event. The Australian, so early in the season and, in it's own unique way, so "remote" and disconnected from the rest of the WTA season, probably IS the site of Mauresmo's best shot at pulling off a slam title.

As Wimbledon was for the once famously slam-less Jana Novotna, Melbourne is for Mauresmo. Oz was where she had her first breakthrough success in reaching the final in '99. She's seemed to have become something of a crowd favorite down under ever since, and must be hoping that that fact could become a "secret weapon" if she finds herself in position to take the title on the final weekend this time around. It could happen, too. In 2005, last year's finalists will likely either be out (a Lleyton-less Clijsters) or out of form (a finally virus-free JHH). The Williams sisters have rarely found their rhythm early enough to be major factors (Venus has never won, and Serena only did so when completing the fourth leg of her "Serena Slam"). World #1 Davenport, though the '00 champ, has often wilted in the scorching conditions. An ultra-fit Mauresmo would seem likely to be poised to face off against the last standing Russian for the season's first major title.

Yes, Mauresmo's chances for Oz success DO look quite good... except when you realize that she's staking so much on winning there. She's never really performed at her best when saddled with such self-imposed pressure. Hence, that long-standing belief that she'll never claim Roland Garros in a Noah-esque jubilee. In years past, Mauresmo has been a leading force in championing France to Fed Cup success, but she'll have no official team cheering in her corner in Melbourne. It'll all be on her sturdy, yet fragile, shoulders. At one point, I WAS considering picking Mauresmo to finish 2005 at #1... and then she announced this "gambit." Her placement all the way down at #10 in the 2005 IQ list probably hints at what I'm predicting is going to happen next month.

Ironically, her plan actually made me think twice about her chances of success. Such is the weight of her (poor) grand slam history. It breeds skepticism. At this point, I think she'll get close, but ultimately come up short in Melbourne, losing in the final to a Russian. I've always felt that a Mauresmo slam title would come naturally (in the midst of a sterling stretch, such as the one she put together on the clay before last year's RG), or not at all. This now-is-the-time gamble is anything and everything BUT natural, and it'll be relegated to the dustbin of WTA history come February. Mauresmo's ability has never been in question. Her Aussie Plan is a good idea in theory, but maybe not the best one for her. As it is, there's only one positive outcome. Because of that, the odds of success are quite long.

Actually, Mauresmo might have a better shot at taking Wimbledon in 2005. Remember, if she'd managed to escape that wonderful SF match against Serena last season, Mauresmo would have faced Maria Sharapova in the final. The Amerussian team (0-1) has yet to defeat her. How ironic would it be if Mauresmo, like Novotna, would find her HOF credentials planted in the sod of Centre Court? Make no bones about it, the retired Czech would never have gotten her recent HOF nomination without her '98 Wimbledon title. Mauresmo is one BIG title away from rising to such an honor in her own right.

Her '99 Oz RU notwithstanding, Mauresmo's always been on something of a slower timetable than the tour's other top tier stars. As one of thirteen #1's since 1975, Mauresmo is the only one who didn't win a WTA singles title before she celebrated her 18th birthday. Her first title didn't come until she was 20, in Bratislava (1999). So, if failure does ultimately come in Melbourne, there would still be reason to hope success is lurking in the weeds somewhere down the line (remember, Novotna didn't win at SW19 until age 29).

But the tour's ever-expanding talent base is swiftly encroaching on her grand slam window of opportunity. 2005 could be her last chance. If it doesn't come this year, it might never come at all... and her bio would have to remain somewhat incomplete.

All for now.

Read more...

2004 Backspin Archives

Jan.3 - "2004 10 Most Intriguing Questions"
Jan.12 - Wk.1 - "Act 1, Scene 1" (Davenport)
Jan.18 - Wk.2 - "Melbourne's Waltzing Mathildas" (Oz Preview)
Jan.26 - Wk.3 - "A French Pastry, Mad Hungarians & a Humbled Horde" (Mid-Oz)
Feb.2 - Wk.4 - "Taureau in a Clijsters Shop" (JHH/Clijsters)
Feb.9 - Wk.5 - "Girl Wonders" (Dokic/Hantuchova)
Feb.16 - Wk.6 - "Maria Who?" (Golovin)
Feb.23 - Wk.7 - "Mid-Quarter Musings"
Mar.1 - Wk.8 - "Sorry, Fabiola...but you were fabulous, anyhow" (Zuluaga)
Mar.8 - Wk.9 - "Anastasia the (Near) Great" (Myskina)
Mar.16 - SPECIAL - "What If, Pt.I... Monica Seles had Never Been Stabbed"
Mar.24 - Wk.10/11 - "The Calm Before the B.S. Storm" (JHH/S.Williams)
Apr.5 - Wk.12/13 - "A Broken Nail, Hotpants & a Title" (S.Williams/1Q Awards)
Apr.13 - Wk.14 - "A Battle Royale Delayed" (JHH/S.Williams)
Apr.20 - Wk.15 - "A Euro for Your Thoughts" (V.Williams)
Apr.26 - Wk.16 - "Stargazing, and Stars Simply Gazing" (Fed Cup)
May 3 - Wk.17 - "April Showers Bring Venus Bouquets of Flowers" (V.Williams)
May 10 - Wk.18 - "Berlin's Wall of Pain"
May 17 - Wk.19 - "Mademoiselle Opportunity?" (Mauresmo/Capriati)
May 23 - Wk.20 - "Nous Verrons Ce Que Nous Verrons" (RG Preview)
May 31 - Wk.21 - "C'est La Vie" (Mid-RG)
June 7 - Wk.22 - "Anastasia the Great" (Myskina/Claycourt)
June 14 - Wk.23 - "X-Girls: United" (Sharapova/Golovin/Kirilenko)
June 20 - Wk.24 - "Opportunity Knocks...Twice?" (Wimbledon Preview)
June 28 - Wk. 25 - "Watts the Problem, Ted?" (Mid-Wimbledon)
July 6 - Wk. 26 - "The Passion of the Supernova" (Sharapova)
July 12 - Wk.27 - "Mid-Calendar Musings: Maria's World, Hidden Gems & Act III Heroics" (Mid-2004/Fed Cup)
July 19 - Wk.28 - "Induction Delayed" (Davenport)
July 26 - Wk.29 - "Domino Theory" (Davenport)
Aug.2 - Wk.30 - "Lauding Lucky Lindsay" (Davenport)
Aug.9 - Wk.31 - "Hail Maria, Still Full of Grace?" (Sharapova/Mauresmo)
Aug.16 - Wk.32 - "Nicole in 3-V" (Vaidisova)
Aug.23 - Wk.33 - "Athena Would Be Proud" (JHH)
Aug.29 - Wk.34 - "When in New York, Do as the Greeks Do?" (U.S. Preview)
Sept.3 - Wk.35 - "The Queen, the Boots & the Russians" (Mid-U.S.)
Sept.14 - Wk.36 - "Finally, a Bride" (Kuznetsova)
Sept.20 - Wk.37 - "Three Quarters Full" (3Q Awards)
Sept.27 - Wk.38 - "Waking the Sleeping Giant?" (S.Williams)
Oct.4 - Wk.39 - "The Asian Assault" (Dementieva/N.Li)
Oct.11 - Wk.40 - "Ma-On or No Ma-On... the Supernova is Back" (Sharapova/Tennisrulz Awards nominees)
Oct.18 - Wk.41 - "The Czarina Creeps Into Contention" (Myskina)
Oct.25 - Wk.42 - "Serena Will Win at Least Two Slams...and other discredited predictions"
Nov.1 - Wk.43 - "Ashley, Martina & the Other Revolution - IQ Recap I"
Nov.9 - Wk.44 - "The Girl Has Star Power - IQ Recap II"
Nov.18 - Wk.45 - "Oh, to be 17... and Backspin's Player-of-the-Year" (Sharapova)
Nov.29 - Wk.47 - "Of Ultimatums and 2004 Backspin Awards" (Fed Cup)
Dec.6 - "4th Annual WTA Yearbook"
Dec.6 - "2nd Tennisrulz Reader Awards"

...here's the list of all the 2004 season-related editions of "WTA Backspin" as they appeared on Tennisrulz.com. I have links to all the editions except for one, the Week 17 column titled "April Showers Bring Venus Bouquets of Flowers," which I have posted at the end of this commentary section. If any of these links fail to work, but you want to read any of these old articles, simply e-mail me at the "Contact Me" button in the site's sidebar (with Backspin in the subject) and make a request.

2004 included quite a few of my favorite "Backspin" editions, from the chronicling of Anastasia Myskina's Roland Garros title run in "Anastasia the Great" (Week 22), to "The Passion of the Supernova" (Week 26) following Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon championship, and Justine Henin-Hardenne's remarkable Gold Medal-winning turn in Athens in "Athena Would Be Proud" (Week 33). Also of note this season was the first in what will be a continuing series of Special Edition "What If..." columns that ponder what might have happened had something in tennis history happened differently. The first such speculative article (March 16) dealt with what might have occurred had Monica Seles not been stabbed in Germany in 1993, and how it would have changed the course of Hall of Famer Steffi Graf's career.

Here's the missing Week 17 column:


May 3, 2004

APRIL SHOWERS BRING VENUS BOUQUETS OF FLOWERS


Venus Williams was no fool in April, just the latest lady to benefit from the relative unhealthiness of her nearest competition. So much so that she finds herself rolling through draws like in days of yore... only this time she's doing it on clay, no less.


**APRIL AWARDS (WK.14-17)**

**PLAYERS OF THE MONTH**
1.Venus Williams
2.Emilie Loit
3.Lindsay Davenport
4.Conchita Martinez
5.Amelie Mauresmo

RISER: Emilie Loit
SURPRISE: Jelena Jankovic
VETERAN: Conchita Martinez
FRESH FACE: Sesil Karatancheva
DOWN: Ai Sugiyama


**MATCH OF THE MONTH**
A.Island SF - Mauresmo d. Henin-Hardenne
...6-7/7-5/6-3. Mauresmo's first event back since the Australian was highlighted by this 2:45 marathon that sent the ailing JHH packing in her 2nd loss of '04.
----------------------
**CHOKE OF THE MONTH**
A.Island 1r - Frazier d. Dokic
...6-4/7-5. Sure, the final scoreline doesn't look like much choking was in evidence by the Debutante in this match... until you realize that she led the 1st set 4-2, then lost four straight games. Then led the 2nd 5-3 (and had a set point), but then lost four straight once again.
----------------------
**UPSET OF THE MONTH**
Fed Cup Eur/Afr I (Bulgaria/Greece) - Karatancheva d. Daniilidou
...4-6/6-3/7-5. The 14-year old Bulgarian Bluster stunned Eleni the Greek in Athens.
----------------------
**COMEBACK OF THE MONTH**
A.Island 3r - Henin-Hardenne d. Martinez
...2-6/7-5/6-3. JHH was shaky in the early going in AI, but was still able to emerge from a 2-6/1-3 & 4-5 hole, coming within two points of defeat, to knock off a far-from-showing-her-age Martinez.
----------------------
**TOP PERFORMANCES**
1.Venus in Charleston ...her first title in 14 months

2.Loit in Casablanca... in the first of her back-to-back April titles, she swept both the singles and doubles championships.

3.Karatancheva in Fed Cup... with a 3-0 mark in singles, she threw the Bulgarian team on her back and dragged it into the World Group Playoffs.
----------------------
**APRIL ODDS & ENDS**
...Conchita Martinez won her 700th career match... Serena was here, and then she was gone again... Jelena Dokic played Fed Cup for Serbia, her first FC action since 2000... 47-year old Martina Navratilova was 0-2 in WTA singles, but ran her career Fed Cup mark to an incredible 40-0


>>WEEK 17<<

WARSAW, POLAND (II-Red Clay)
S: Venus Williams d. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1/6-4
D: Farina Elia/Schiavone d. Dulko/Tarabini
----------------------
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (V-Red Clay)
S: Jelena Jankovic d. Martina Sucha 7-6/6-3
D: Mandula/Schett d. Nemeth/Szavay

...Fed Cup momentum was a fickle beast in Week 17. Venus Williams had it and fed off it, but Amelie Mauresmo didn't. While Venus is starting to pile up good results on top of one another and filling the tremendous void at the top of the game (filled rather fully this week in Berlin by the return of Kim Clijsters), Mauresmo's questionable scheduling (going to Berlin will mean she's played four of five weeks since returning to action -- can you say, "another injury waiting to happen?") might end up putting her Roland Garros hopes in jeopardy. Too much action might hurt Williams, too. That is, if she doesn't hold to form and take a previously "unscheduled break" this week.

Speaking of Fed Cup momentum, "The Other Jelena" seems to have hit her stride while her fellow (new, as well as old) countrywoman struggles to find her's. In Fed Cup play, it was Jelena Jankovic, not Jelena Dokic, who was the more stable and trustworthy Jelena on the Serbian team. Last week, the yin of Jankovic continued to balance out Dokic's yang. Jankovic doesn't have Australian ties, a "tennis dad," a race car driving ex or press blowups/misunderstandings to soothe over. But she does have a title. And that's more than the more famous Jelena had been able to claim for some time now. Apparently, a Serbian girl CAN make good in the big bad world of professional tennis.

Who knew?


>>PLAYER AWARDS<<
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Venus Williams
...two straight titles, with a winning Fed Cup week sandwiched in between. Her eleventh straight victory erased the memory of falling short in the final in Warsaw last year when she was forced to retire with the abdominal injury that ultimately wreaked havoc with what little remained of her season.
----------------------
RISER: Svetlana Kuznetsova
...The Good News: Kuznetsova's been to three singles finals in 2004, with only JHH (4) having advanced to more. The Bad News: she's 0-3.
----------------------
SURPRISE: Jelena Jankovic
...Backspin's gut feeling was that ol' JJ was ready to make a career leap last week. Well, I was right (of course, I still succumbed to the "red clay curse" again when I couldn't gather the courage to actually predict her to win her first career title in Budapest). At barely 19, she's the youngest
titleist so far in 2004.
----------------------
VETERANS: Maggie Maleeva & Anne Kremer
...Maleeva, 29, left the Bulgarian Bluster handle the Fed Cup duties in Athens, but she re-emerged in Warsaw last week as she knocked off Patty Schnyder and advanced to the QF. Luxembourg's Kremer, 28, is 4-9 in tour matches this season. But she still gathered herself enough to cobble
together a 5-0 record in Europe/Africa Group II Fed Cup play last week.
----------------------
FRESH FACE: Alyona Bondarenko
...the 19-year old Ukrainian knocked off 17-year old sis Katerina in the ITF final in Bahia the week of Fed Cup 1st Round action.
----------------------
DOWN: Amelie Mauresmo
...following up her Fed Cup duty by trying to defend a Tier II title in Warsaw turned out to not be such a bright idea, if Mauresmo's QF loss is any indication.

>>MATCHES<<
1.Warsaw QF - Schiavone d. Mauresmo
...3-6/7-6/6-1. Schiavone was still stoked by the fumes of her rain-delayed Fed Cup 1st Round-clinching win last Monday.
----------------------
2.Warsaw F - Venus d. Kuznetsova
...6-1/6-4. Thankfully, Kuznetsova's two titles in 2002 precludes her from being in contention for the "best Russian without a title" moniker.
----------------------
3.Budapest F - Jankovic d. Sucha
...7-6/6-3. All Serbians named Jelena with WTA titles during the past 23 months raise your hand. Not so fast, Miss Dokic.
----------------------
4.Budapest QF - Jankovic d. Cervanova
...6-0/6-0. Obviously, Jankovic was having a good week.
----------------------
5.Warsaw 2r - Pistolesi d. Hantuchova
...6-4/7-5. One of these days, Wonder Girl will return. That day has yet to arrive.


>>WTA LISTS<<

**2004 WTA TITLES**
4...Henin-Hardenne
2...Clijsters
2...Davenport
2...V.Williams
2...Loit


**WORST FINALS WIN PCT. (3+) **
.000 - Kuznetsova (0-3)
.000 - Mauresmo (0-2)
.000 - Farina Elia (0-2)


**2004 TEENAGE CHAMPIONS**
19y2m1w...Jelena Jankovic (Budapest)
19y5m2w...Vera Zvonareva (Memphis)


**2004 FIRST-TIME CHAMPS**
Nicole Pratt, 30 (Hyderabad)
Iveta Benesova, 21 (Acapulco)
Emilie Loit, 24 (Casablanca)
Jelena Jankovic, 19 (Budapest)


**LOW-RANKED 2004 TITLEISTS**
#99 Benesova (Acapulco)
#60 Frazier (Hobart)
#59 Jankovic (Budapest)
#59 Pratt (Hyderabad)
#40 Loit (Casablanca)


**BACKSPIN POWER RANKINGS**
1.Henin-Hardenne...130
2.Davenport........103
3.V.Williams......79.5
4.Clijsters.......73.5
5.Kuznetsova......68.5
6.Loit..............61
7.Suarez............54
8.Mauresmo..........51
9.Myskina...........50
10.Zvonareva........49


>>>WEEK 18 PREDICTIONS<<

BERLIN, GERMANY (I-Red Clay)
03 F: JHH d. Clijsters
04 TOP: Clijsters/Mauresmo
----------------------
SF: Clijsters d. Petrova; Kuznetsova d. Myskina
FINAL: Clijsters d. Kuznetsova
...Hard Luck Kuznetsova's role in '04 is to lose to higher-ranked opponents in the final. Meanwhile, with JHH (& her 26 straight Tier I wins) away, Kim can finally play in a Tier I again. Venus is scheduled to participate, but after back-to-back titles and a 2-0 Fed Cup stint, is it cynical to think we might be about to see one of the Sisters' patented late withdrawls?


All for now.

Read more...

2004 WTA Yearbook

**STUDENT COUNCIL**

CLASS PRESIDENT (sr.high): Lindsay Davenport
CLASS PRESIDENT (jr.high): Maria Sharapova

VICE-PRESIDENT: Amelie Mauresmo
VICE-PRESIDENT (in absentia): Justine Henin-Hardenne

VALEDICTORIAN: Anastasia Myskina
SALUTATORIAN: Elena Dementieva
CLASS TREASURER: Serena Williams

FACULTY/STUDENT BODY LIAISON: Svetlana Kuznetsova


**FACULTY**

CAMPUS DEAN: Martina Navratilova

FACULTY HEAD: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
TENURED PROFESSOR: Monica Seles (on sabbatical)

MALE TEACHER OF THE YEAR: Robert Lansdorf
FEMALE TEACHER OF THE YEAR: Olga Morozova

FORMER (& current) STUDENT FAVORITE: Nigel Sears
FORMER (& again) TABLOID FAVORITE: Damir Dokic

EMPIRE MAKER: Nick Bollettieri
FIRED "FAMILY BREAKER?": Borna Bikic

CHARITIES DIRECTOR: Chanda Rubin
PRE-SCHOOL TEACHER: Steffi Graf
MEDIA RELATIONS DIRECTOR (in training): Martina Hingis
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Anna Kournikova (fired; post is now vacant)

HAS HIS WORK CUT OUT FOR HIM IN '05: Russian Fed Cup coach Shamil Tarpischev
HAD HIS HEART CUT OUT OF HIM IN '04: French Fed Cup coach Guy "Amelie Forgot
Me" Forget


**JUNIOR/SENIOR PROM COMMITTEE**

PROM QUEEN: Maria Sharapova

QUEEN'S COURT: Tatiana Golovin, Maria Kirilenko, Nicole Vaidisova, Vera Douchevina, Kirsten Flipkens, Michaella Krajicek, Anna Chakvetadze, Emma Laine, Shahar Peer

LADY-IN-WAITING: Vera Zvonareva
LADY-IN (EVERYONE ELSE) WAITING: Nadia Petrova

JILTED EX-KING: Lleyton Hewitt
SOUR EX-QUEEN: Jennifer Capriati

POST-PROM PARTY DECORATING COMMITTEE: Venus & Serena Williams
RETIRED FORMER PARTIER: Iva Majoli
FOUL-MOUTHED PARTY CRASHER: Sesil Karatancheva

THE (sudden) WALLFLOWER: Jelena Dokic
THE (sudden) HEARTBREAKER: Kim Clijsters

PUBLICITY DIRECTOR: Serena Williams
FACULTY SUPERVISORS: Mary Pierce, Silvia Farina Elia, Amy Frazier, Elena Likhovtseva


**CLASS FAVORITES**

MOST WELL-LIKED: Anastasia Myskina
SEXIEST (according to Serena): Maria Sharapova
LOUDEST: Sesil Karatancheva

QUIETEST (Top 15): Patty Schnyder
QUIETEST (Top 20): Francesca Schiavone
QUIETEST (doubles): Cara Black

MOST TALENTED (over 20): Serena Williams
MOST TALENTED (under 20): Svetlana Kuznetsova
MOST QUESTIONABLY TALENTED: Mariana Alves & Ted Watts

MOST INTIMIDATING (again?): Damir Dokic
LEAST INTIMIDATING (2003-04): Jelena Dokic

MOST COMPLETE PERSON: Lindsay Davenport
MOST INCOMPLETE PERSON: Jelena Dokic

MOST VISIBLE: Serena Williams
MOST INVISIBLE: Venus Williams
MOST NO LONGER IN DANGER OF DISAPPEARING (literally): Daniela Hantuchova

MOST NATURAL LEADER: Anastasia Myskina
MOST NATURAL FOLLOWER (best student): Svetlana Kuznetsova
MOST UNNATURAL FOLLOWER (gone haywire): Jelena Dokic

MOST BORN TO WALK TO BEAT OF OWN DRUM: Serena Williams
MOST BORN TO BEAT A DRUM IN THE STANDS: Yuri Sharapov

MOST DRAMATICALLY ANGRY AT HERSELF: Jelena "The Debutante of Drama" Dokic
MOST DRAMATICALLY ANGRY AT HER COACH: Anastasia Myskina

MOST GRACEFUL WINNER (& loser): Lindsay Davenport
MOST GRACELESS LOSER: Serena Williams (9 times out of 10)

MOST BLAME-SHIFTING: Jennifer Capriati
MOST BLAMELESS: daughters of crude "tennis dads"

MOST CRUDELY QUOTABLE: Sesil Karatancheva
MOST CHARMINGLY QUOTABLE: Anastasia Myskina (on non-Sharapova/Sharapov topics, of course)

MOST "DISRESPECTFUL" TO HER ELDER: Gisela Dulko (to Martina Navratilova, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon)
MOST OVERLY "RESPECTFUL" TO HER ELDER: Catalina Castano (0-6/1-6 loser to Martina at Wimbledon)

BEST BARBARAS (in Fed Cup): Schett & Schwartz
BEST BARBORA: Barbora Strycova (who else?)

BEST DAUGHTER: Amanda Janes
BEST SON (in 2024?): Jaden Agassi
BEST DAUGHTERS OF THE RISING SUN: Ai Sugiyama, Shinobu Asagoe, Akiko
Morigami


**RUSSIAN HORDE ROUND TABLE**

LEADING LADY: Anastasia Myskina
THE UNDERSTUDY: Svetlana Kuznetsova
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Elena Dementieva
THE PRODIGY: Maria Sharapova

NEXT IN LINE: Vera Zvonareva
WAITING IMPATIENTLY: Nadia Petrova
MOST OVERLOOKED: Elena Bovina

MOST "HEADACHE"-INDUCING: Alina Jidkova (if your name is Serena)
MOST WELCOMED BACK: Tatiana Panova
MOST MISSING: Lina Krasnoroutskaya

BEST VETERAN: Elena Likhovtseva
BEST SISTER: Dinara Safina

NEXT GENERATION "HORDETTES": Maria Kirilenko, Vera Douchevina, Anna
Chakvetadze, Evgenia Linetskaya

MOST RUSSIAN-BORN FRENCH PASTRY: Tatiana Golovin
MOST AMERICANIZED RUSSIAN-BORN SUPERNOVA: Maria Sharapova

MOST FEARED BY HEADLINE WRITERS: Lioudmila Skavronskaia
MOST FEARED BY ALAN SCHWARTZ: Ekaterina Bychkova

WAITING FOR THEIR OWN ROUND TABLE: The (Chinese) Fortune Cookies


**ALL-BACKSPIN TEAMS**

==CHINESE GANG OF FOUR==
Na Li, Jie Zheng, Shuai Peng, Nan-Nan Liu

==ALL-FASHION POLICE/MICHAEL POWELL HEART ATTACK-ALERT TEAM==
Serena "Go-Go" Williams
Anastasia "No One Will Ever See These Pictures, Right?" Myskina
"The Frussian Pastry's" (near) Frussian-Pastry revealing shorts


==ALL-MYSTERY TEAM==
The mindset of Wonder Girl
The personal life of the Debutante
The health of Le Petit Taureau
The love life of FilaKim
The game of Na Li (raise your hand if you've actually SEEN her play)

==ALL-UGLY TEAM==
Dementieva's serve
Dokic family peace (2004)
Dokic daddy peace (2005)
Myskina's temper
Serena's fashion sense
Kournikova: The Interviewer
Seles' foot
Sharapova-inspired jealousy

==ALL-BEAUTIFUL TEAM==
Serena's sense of theater
Sharapova's legs (so says Serena)
JHH's backhand
Myskina's interviews
Harkleroad official WTA bio pic

==ALL-"BUTCH & SUNDANCE" OUTLAWS==
Mariana Alves
Ted Watts
German Olympic Committee
Serena's Olympic e-mail
Damir vs. even smaller cell phones in 2005

==ALL-SEASON SERIES TEAM==
Serena vs. Sharapova
Davenport vs. Venus (3Q)
Capriati vs. Serena (2Q)
Mauresmo vs. Capriati (2Q)
JHH vs. Kuznetsova (1Q)
Dulko vs. Navratilova (2Q)
Sharapova vs. Myskina (2005?)

==ALL-RETIRED TEAM==
Amanda Coetzer
Iva Majoli
Anna Kournikova (?)
Monica Seles (?)
Martina Navratilova (?)
Conchita Martinez (?)
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (?)
Martina Hingis (?)

==ALL-ITF CHAMPIONS==
(but not bridesmaids at a Hewitt/Clijsters wedding)
Elke Clijsters & Jaslyn Hewitt

==ALL-SEASON ENDING STREAKS==
Russians - 3 straight slams
JHH - 26 straight Tier I wins
Dokic - 9 straight losses
Sharapova - 2 straight over Serena

==ALL-(old) BACKSPIN NICKNAMES==
Punch-Sober (Dementieva), The Debutante (Dokic), Wonder Girl (Hantuchova), Le Petit Taureau (JHH), The Supernova (Sharapova), The Blue Angel (Weingartner)

==ALL-(new) BACKSPIN NICKNAMES==
The Frussian Pastry (Golovin), The Czarina (Myskina), The Contessova (Kuznetsova), Darth Vaidisova, The Cookies (Chinese), Penny (Laine)


**ODDS & ENDS**

WINNING WITH BRACES: Svetlana Kuznetsova
BRACING TO WIN (a slam, come hell or Fed Cup tie): Amelie Mauresmo

FIRST-TIME TITLEISTS (what took so long?): Emilie Loit & Nicole Pratt
FIRST-TIME TITLEISTS? (or not): #12 Nadia Petrova, #18 Karolina Sprem...the highest-ranked players without a WTA singles title in their careers

FRESHMAN RISE: Nicole Vaidisova
FRESHMAN "SLUMP": Maria Kirilenko

SOPHOMORE RISE: Karolina Sprem (at Wimbledon)
SOPHOMORE SLUMP: Karolina Sprem (after Wimbledon)

AUSSIE EX-JUNIOR RISE: Alicia Molik
EX-AUSSIE JUNIOR SLUMP: Jelena Dokic

SENIOR RISE: Elena Likhovtseva
SENIOR SLUMP: Chanda Rubin

FAVORITE NICKNAME: The Blue Angel
MOST USED NICKNAME: The Supernova
MOST UNDER-USED NICKNAME: The Tunisian Tornado (Sfar)

MOST IN NEED OF A "PERMANENT" NICKNAME: Sesil Karatancheva (Miss
Independent, Bulgarian Bluster, Miss Mouth and Little Big Mouth just haven't cut it)
POTENTIAL NEW NICKNAME IN 2005: The Czechers/The Czeckers/The Czech Maidens

BEST QUOTE: "The trouble is you can't play many matches when you lose them." (Jelena Dokic)
BEST (& WORST) QUOTE: "I want to kick (Sharapova's) ass off." (Sesil Karatancheva)
MOST REVEALING/PROPHETIC QUOTE: "No one is going to push me around. I know what I want and how to get it." (Maria Sharapova)


GETS MOST OUT OF TALENT (sometimes, to grand effect): Anastasia Myskina
GET MOST OUT OF TALENT (finally!): Alicia Molik, post-Athens
GETS LEAST OUT OF TALENT (still): Nadia Petrova

MOST ENCOURAGING: Jelena Dokic back with her family
LEAST ENCOURAGING: Jelena Dokic back with Damir

MOST RESONATE SLAM MOMENT (now): Myskina is first Russian slam champ
MOST RESONATE COOKIE MOMENT (2008): Na Li is first Chinese WTA champ
MOST NON-RESONATING SLAM MOMENTS: Davenport & Mauresmo at Melbourne, Paris, London & NYC

MOST MEMORABLE GREAT PERFORMANCE: Sharapova at Wimbledon
MOST FORGOTTEN GREAT PERFORMANCE: Claudine Schaul at Strasbourg
MOST UNEXPECTED NEAR-GREAT PERFORMANCE: Likhovtseva at Montreal

BEST US OPEN SHOW: Serena's pre-match fashion show
WORST USA SHOW: CNBC's talk-monstrosity "McEnroe" (mercifully cancelled on
Friday)

HOT STARTERS/COLD FINISHERS: Week 1 Auckland finalists Eleni Daniilidou & Ashley Harkleroad
COLD START/WARM FINISH: Serena Williams
LUKEWARM START/SCALDING HOT FINISH: Maria Sharapova

DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE MISS HRDLICKOVA?: Kveta Peschke
DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE #4 IN THE WORLD?: Jelena Dokic
DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE #5 IN THE WORLD?: Daniela Hantuchova
WON'T YOU BE #1 IN THE WORLD SOMEDAY?: Svetlana Kuznetsova

HARDCOURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Lindsay Davenport
CLAYCOURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Amelie Mauresmo
GRASSCOURT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maria Sharapova
INDOOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Anastasia Myskina

1st '04 RUSSIAN TITLEIST: Zvonareva in Memphis
LAST '04 RUSSIAN TITLEIST: Sharapova in L.A.
FINAL '04 RUSSIAN TITLE: Team Russia in Fed Cup

BEST "FEUD": Sharapova vs. "The Spartaks"
WORST "FAMILY FEUD": Jelena vs. Damir

SMASHNOVA TITLES IN '02: 4
PISTOLESI TITLES IN '03: 2
SMASHNOVA-PISTOLESI TITLES IN '04: 1

FIRED HER MOTHER: Dinara Safina
RE-HIRED HER FATHER: Jelena Dokic
JILTED HER FIANCE: Kim Clijsters

2004's QUIETEST 3-TIME SINGLES FINALISTS: Martina Sucha, Iveta Benesova & Flavia Pennetta
2004's QUIETEST 3-TIME SLAM DOUBLES CHAMPS: Ruano-Pascual/Suarez


==BACKSPIN'S FAVORITE BACKSPINS==
1.The Passion of the Supernova (July 6)
2.What If...Monica Seles Had Never Been Stabbed (March 16)
3.Athena Would Be Proud (August 23)
4.Anastasia the Great (June 7)
5.Oh, to be 17...and Backspin PoY (November 18)
HM-Finally a Bride (September 14)


STORY OF THE YEAR: Sharapova at SW19
"STORY" OF THE YEAR: Story Tweedie-Yates (ITF title winner and "Name of the Year")
NAME OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: Mariana Lopez-Terribile


And finally...


==ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS==
1.an e-mail from Serena
2.a smile from the Debutante
3.an apology from the G.O.C.
4.a quote from the Czarina
5.a bag of Fortune Cookies (racket included)
6.rest & chicken soup for JHH
7.a serve for Punch-Sober
8.a better end for Seles
9.a "chill pill" for Yuri Sharapov
10.total focus from at least one Williams sister


All for now.

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