Wimbledon Preview: The Top Seeds

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※ [本文轉錄自 Tennis 看板] 作者: okk (︿(@￣o￣@)︿) 看板: Tennis 標題: Wimbledon Preview: The Top Seeds 時間: Fri Jun 18 22:44:08 2004 June 17, 2004 Grazing The Field - Assessing the Top Seeds for Wimbledon LONDON - Grass court tennis is an acquired taste - some thrive while others struggle. Perhaps this is because it is the shortest season of the calendar, being only four short weeks, including Birmingham the first week, Eastbourne and 's-Hertogenbosch the second week, and Wimbledon the third and fourth weeks. Although some players have not enjoyed much success on the surface, there are some who have thrived. With Wimbledon just around the corner, we take a look at how the top players have fared in the past on grass, and if they can be expected to make noise at Wimbledon 2004. The Williams sisters have had a stranglehold here for the last four years. Top-seeded Serena is the two-time defending champion, and has only lost before the quarterfinals once in five attempts. Her career grasscourt record is 27-4, the best of any active player, including a 25-3 mark at Wimbledon. Venus, the No.3 seed, won in 2000 and 2001, and has been the runner-up for the last two years. Venus has only lost before the quarterfinals once in seven attempts. Her career grasscourt record is 35-7, including a 34-4 record here, the best Wimbledon record of any active player. No.2 seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia, the 2004 French Open champion and world No.3, is playing the best tennis of her career and is hoping for a strong showing. The 22 year old has a 21-11 career grasscourt record, and although she has a mediocre 8-4 record at Wimbledon, she had her best showing last year in reaching the fourth round. In 2002 she made consecutive finals at Birmingham and Eastbourne, which shows that her game is adaptable to this surface. With Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters having to pull out, the strongest challenge to the Williams stranglehold may come from American veterans Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati. Davenport has a solid 43-13 career grasscourt record, including 37-9 here. She has had a lot of success in her ten attempts at Wimbledon, including winning the title in 1999, making the final in 2000, the semifinal in 2001, and quarterfinals appearances in 1994, 1998 and last year. In addition to her success at the All-England Club, Davenport collected the title at Eastbourne in 2001. Capriati has similar numbers, including a career record of 41-13 on grass, and 34-10 at Wimbledon. In her ten attempts, she has reached the semifinals twice, in 1991 and in 2001, and has reached the quarterfinals four times, including last year. Capriati has also enjoyed recent success against titleholder Serena, winning their last two meetings in Rome and at Roland Garros. No.4 seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo stormed to the Wimbledon semifinals in 2002, but otherwise has not been able to match her grasscourt results with her strong form on clay and on hardcourts. She has an overall 12-8 record on grass, including 8-4 at Wimbledon, and is hoping to improve that with a strong showing this year. Several of the other Russian players have enjoyed success on grass. 2004 French Open finalist and No.6 seed Elena Dementieva has reached the fourth round at here the last two years, and made the final at s'Hertogenbosch in 2002. In only her second Wimbledon, No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals last year. No.12 seed Vera Zvonareva made the fourth round last year, and No.10 seed Nadia Petrova made the fourth round in 2001. Potentially the strongest grasscourt player of all of the Russians is teenager Maria Sharapova, who in her young career has compiled a 12-2 record on grass. She made a spectacular run to the fourth round here last year, and has had lots of success in Birmingham, making the semifinals last year and winning this year's title just last week. Seeded No.13 this year, Sharapova is hoping that her second Wimbledon will bring just as much if not more success than last year. A few top players are hoping to change their grasscourt fortunes at the All-England Club this year. No.9 seed Paola Suarez, fresh off a semifinal showing at Roland Garros, has a 5-8 record on grass and at Wimbledon, but things are looking up, as she recorded her best result last year by reaching the fourth round and should have lots of confidence this year. Finally, No.11 seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan has a 21-24 record on grass, including a 12-11 record at Wimbledon. She has made the fourth round twice, including last year, a result which she hopes to build on. With so many challengers to the title, Wimbledon 2004 is bound to showcase the incredible talent that is currently present in the upper echelon of the WTA Tour. -- ---禪心已作沾泥絮，莫向春風舞鷓鴣--- -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.118.122.149 ※ 編輯: okk 來自: 140.118.122.149 (06/18 22:54) -- ---禪心已作沾泥絮，莫向春風舞鷓鴣--- -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.118.122.149