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Week 38 - A Tale of five Russians
WTA REPORT - WEEK 38
by Todd Spiker
Lest you assume that technical difficulties has resulted in an encore
appearance of last week's Tennisrulz column, let me assure you that that is not
the case. But, it IS a case of "here we go again."
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Serena Williams hopped a plane to Tokyo last week and
continued to drive her steamroller over the rest of the WTA field, but it's a
quintet of Russians who come to mind today.
One week after Anastasia Myskina walked away with the biggest title of her
career in Brazil, she finally made a move intrinsic to that OTHER 21-year old
Moscow native: she appeared nude atop a horse in GQ magazine. Lady
Godiva-esque, yes... but more Kournikova-esque in 2002.
On the court, Russian women also prevailed. Elena Bovina emerged as the
champion in Quebec City, giving her her second singles title this year. To get
to the Final, she had to defeat unheralded Anastassia Rodionova, who gained her
first career SF. In Tokyo, Svetlana Kuznetsova nearly upset Kim Clijsters in
the 2r before taking the doubles crown days later. And Lina Krasnoroutskaya,
after droppping below #300 due to a year's worth of injury-related absences,
continued along her road back by nearly taking world #5 Jelena Dokic to three
sets in their 2r matchup.
Five Russians... and I'm not even going to mention the fact that Tatiana
Panova slipped into the Top 20 on Monday or that Nadia Petrova, herself plagued
by injuries since late 2001, heads to Leipzig this week hoping to join
Krasnoroutskaya in a return from the Russian disabled list.
It never ends.
TOKYO
S: Serena Williams def. Kim Clijsters
D: Kuznetsova/Sanchez Vicario def. Mandula/Wartusch
QUEBEC CITY
S: Elena Bovina def. Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian
D: Reeves/Steck def. Zuluaga/Salerni
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RUSSIAN... err, PLAYER AWARDS
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Bovina
...Her US Open run was no fluke, it was an introduction. The Quebec City title
makes her the second teenager to win two singles titles in 2002 (the other is
Dokic, whom Bovina upset in Flushing Meadows to state her case for a bright
future).
RISER: Svetlana Kuznetsova
...She's starting to become a weekly force now, and someone no player wants to
face in the early rounds. In the 2r in Tokyo, she took the second set at love
against Clijsters and was tied at 5-5 in the 3rd before the Waffle's experience
won out.
SURPRISE: Anastassia Rodionova
...Russian #3. The 20-year old from Tambov advanced to her 1st career SF in
Quebec City, where she lost to Bovina.
VETERAN: Amy Frazier
...In the week she turned 30 in Tokyo, the American followed up her resurgent US
Open with her first SF since January. Hmmm... she's not Russian. BUT she
defeated Russian Panova in QF.
NEW FACE: Angelika Roesch
...No, she isn't Russian, either. But she's here because she beat a Russian,
too. Of course, she always beats Elena Dementieva. She's 3-0 against her this
year!
DOWNER: Elena Dementieva & Anne Kremer
...Luxembourg vet Kremer started 2002 on fire, but she's ending it in ashes.
And what are the chances she has any Phoenix in her? Dementieva put forth
another bad result this past week, but somehow managed to rise one slot in the
rankings to #15. Dementieva can blame THIS loss to Roesch, who never seems to
defeat anyone else of note, to an injury... but how does she explain the other
two? It seems that anytime someone beats Dementieva once, the player (and, more
importantly, Elena) tucks it away in her memory bank that Dementieva's
beatable. And guess what tends to happen the next time the two ships pass in
the night? Roesch is further proof of that.
1.Quebec City Final - Bovina d. Mikaelian
...Mikaelian had a chance at her 2nd title of 2002, but Bovina beat her to the
punch for her #2.
2.Quebec City 2r - Mikaelian d. Meghannn Shaughnessy
...the fall continues for Quebec City's 2001 champion.
3.Quebec City 2r - Roesch d. Dementieva
...no one is surprised anymore.
4.Tokyo 2r - Clijsters d. Kuznetsova
...just wait until 2004, when Kuznetsova's ranking gives her better draws.
5.Tokyo SF - Clijsters d. Dokic
...Clijsters is now 2-0 vs. Dokic in 2002, as Dokic falls to 38-3 on the season
when she wins the 1st set. Dokic has garnered some negative headlines lately,
but what's largely overlooked is that she's advanced to at least the SF in 5 of
her last 6 tournaments.
HM-Tokyo Final - Serena d. Clijsters
...ho-hum. Serena's 7th title on the year was routine, no matter that Clijsters
took the opening set. Yawn.
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SINGLES TOP 20
1.Serena Williams...5806
2.Venus Williams...4843
3.Jennifer Capriati...3759
4.Monica Seles...3152
5.Jelena Dokic...3074
6.Amelie Mauresmo...2908
7.Justine Henin...2869
8.Kim Clijsters...2827
9.Lindsay Davenport...2680
10.Martina Hingis...2514
11.Daniela Hantuchova..2484.75
12.Anastasia Myskina...1878
13.Chanda Rubin...1733
14.Silvia Farina Elia...1732
15.Elena Dementieva...1598
16.Sandrine Testud...1573
17.Maggie Maleeva...1367
18.Patty Schnyder...1353
19.Anna Smashnova...1348.50
20.Tatiana Panova...1258
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DOUBLES TOP 10
1.Paola Suarez...3882
2.Virginia Ruano-Pascual...3847
3.Lisa Raymond...3654
4.Rennae Stubbs...3546
5.Janette Husarova...2376
6.Anna Kournikova...2293
7.Daniela Hantuchova...2261
8.Arantxa Sanchez Vicario...2251
9.Elena Dementieva...2189
10.Elena Likhovtseva...2090
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**RACE TO LOS ANGELES**
1.S.Williams...5305
2.V.Williams...4843
3.Capriati...3454
4.Seles...2796
5.Mauresmo...2779
6.Henin...2531
7.Dokic...2451
8.Hingis...2312
9.Hantuchova...2226
10.Clijsters...2062
11.Myskina...1699
12.Farina Elia...1578
13.Rubin...1525
14.Smashnova...1356
15.Sugiyama...1209
16.Schnyder...1191
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================================
Leipzig, Germany (II - Supreme)
Final: Serena def. Dokic
...It's about time Dokic had another big win (say, defeating Clijsters in the
SF?). But Serena is going for title #8.
Bali, Indonesia (III - Hard)
Final: Kuznetsova def. Widjaja
...16-year old Angelique Widjaja is defending her 2001 title. Kuznetsova is
trying to make it three straight weeks with a Russian champion. The odds are
better for the latter.
================================
**RUSSIAN CHAMPIONS/RUNNERS-UP**
January-June 2002...1 W, 2 RU
July-September 2002...4 W, 5 RU
**RUSSIANS 2002**
-CHAMPIONS-
2...Elena Bovina
1...Anastasia Myskina
1...Dinara Safina
1...Svetlana Kuznetsova
-RUNNERS-UP-
2...Anastasia Myskina
2...Tatiana Panova
1...Anna Kournikova
1...Vera Zvonareva
1...Elena Dementieva
**MOST 2002 TITLES**
7...Serena Williams
7...Venus Williams
4...Anna Smashnova
**BEST FINALS WINNING PCT. (3 or more)**
1.000...Anna Smashnova (4-0)
.875...Serena Williams (7-1)
**MOST WTA SF**
13...Venus Williams (11-2)
11...Jelena Dokic (5-6)
9...Serena Williams (8-1)
9...Monica Seles (3-6)
**TEENAGERS - MOST 2002 TITLES**
2...Jelena Dokic (Sarasota,Birmingham)
2...Elena Bovina (Warsaw,Quebec City)
**MOST 2002 DOUBLES TITLES**
9...Lisa Raymond
8...Rennae Stubbs
8...Paola Suarez
7...Virginia Ruano-Pascual
6...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
5...Daniela Hantuchova
=================================
**TDS SINGLES/DOUBLES RANKINGS**
1.Serena Williams...275
2.Venus Williams...255
3.Jennifer Capriati...165
4.Monica Seles...140
5.Jelena Dokic...126
6.Martina Hingis...113.5
7.Justine Henin...112.5
8.Amelie Mauresmo...105
9.Daniela Hantuchova...96
10.Anna Smashnova...90
11.Kim Clijsters...77.5
12.Lisa Raymond...74
13.Chanda Rubin...66
14.Paola Suarez...63
15.Elena Bovina...62
16t.Elena Dementieva...47.5
16t.Silvia Farina Elia...47.5
18.Linday Davenport...46
19.Anna Kournikova...45.5
20.Anastasia Myskina...45
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