2006 Movers & Shakers

Who's making a move in the tennis world? Who's about to shake up the tour in a big way in 2006? Here are a few of the players who might be the "Movers & Shakers" we'll be talking about over the next eleven months:

**TOP 10**
#9 Nadia Petrova...her first title in '05 could boost her confidence to new highs in '06
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#6 Mary Pierce...she wants to shoot for #1, but can her body hold up to the pressure of doing it?
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#8 Elena Dementieva...that serve always shakes things up, even if it's sometimes Punch-Drunk herself who's a little dizzy in the end
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**TOP 11-20**
#15 Nicole Vaidisova...look out Pompeii! Vesuvius is about to blow! Consider yourselves warned.
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#14 Anastasia Myskina...with a clearer head, will bad times become a blur?
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#16 Ana Ivanovic...still looking to discover that elusive consistency gene
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#20 Dinara Safina...do you believe she STILL hasn't turned 20?
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**TOP 21+**
#21 Anna-Lena Groenefeld...follow Martina N.'s lead and buy stock in Girl Friday's future
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#25 Maria Kirilenko...but she'll never really escape the other Maria's shadow
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#31 Sania Mirza...the new Dokic? Here's to keeping her head a bit better than the Debutante, though, okay?
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**EUROPE**
Anna Chakvetadze...I picked Anna C. to make a slam SF in '05. Maybe I was a year too early?
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Daniela Hantuchova...if Wonder Girl doesn't get her first title since '02 this year, she may never do it at all
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Anabel Medina-Garrigues...maybe the most underrated all-surface player on tour
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Elena Bovina...remember her? A return to health might bring a return to the Top 20.
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Ekaterina Bychkova...no pun intended, Bychkova might be set to be the next Russian to make a name for herself. Her upset of Kuznetsova at Flushing Meadows might have been a preview of things to come.
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**ASIA/PACIFIC**
Samantha Stosur...her doubles play is great, and her singles results are getting better. The former might end up helping the latter, too.
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Shuai Peng...the most talented physical threat in the Cookie jar
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Jelena Dokic...she HAS to lift her ranking way up in '06 -- from #349. Right? Of course, I thought that when she ended 2004 at #125, too.
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Tiantian Sun...'05 signs point to her being in the second wave of Chinese champs
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Zi Yan...her Guangzhou title wasn't a fluke
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**NORTH/SOUTH AMERICA**
Gisela Dulko...she took a curious slight step back in 2005
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Ashley Harkleroad...out of the view of the cameras, she righted what was a sinking ship not long ago
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Alexa Glatch...might be the last best American hope this decade
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Jessica Kirkland...unless the OTHER last best American hope before Glatch finally lives up to the title
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Aleksandra Wozniak...yes, a Canadian teen WAS a top junior last year. Does anyone remember Carling Bassett as fondly as Backspin does?
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**AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST**
Shahar Peer...look out Smashnova, this will soon be the new Israeli #1
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Cara Black...should fight Stosur all season for the #1 doubles ranking
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**ITF RISERS**
Petra Cetkovska...looking to join the other Maidens on the big tour
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Kristina Barrois...led the ITF in singles titles in '05, for what it's worth
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Romina Oprandi...ditto
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Sanja Ancic...can Mario's little sister win anything OUTSIDE of Croatia?
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**JUNIOR JUMPERS**
Viktoria Azarenka...dominated the girls in both singles and doubles
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Alisa Kleybanova...the best of the Russian "Hordettes"
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Agnes Szavay...she was Kournikova to Azarenka's Hingis during their junior careers
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**AND FINALLY...**
Sesil Karatantcheva...well, you know, unless she's cut down to size by the now-annual early-season failed drug test rumor (from the "Kuznetsova Curse" to the "Karatantcheva Curse?")

Oh, brother.


All for now.

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NEXT UP: 1,000,000,000 Indian Fans Can't Be Wrong. She might not be "The King", but the Princess is certainly intriguing.