Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, winner again on the European clay

senior. In her short career, she has broken so many records - the fastest to reach the $1 million mark in prize money for any tennis player (man or woman), the youngest grand slam champion in both singles and doubles, the youngest to successfully defend a grand slam title, the youngest to reach #1 in the world, the youngest to win 20 career singles titles, etc.

However, she is not without a blotch on her record. Martina came within a whisker of completing the Grand Slam - that is winning all four major championships in the same year - but failed to do so in 1997 when she lost a memorable French Open final to Iva Majoli. It is unlikely that she will ever come so close again, given the highly improved standard of players on the tour. But on a consolatory note, it is highly conceivable that she will eventually win at Roland Garros some time in the not-too-distant future, and complete her ever-expanding resume.

What is great about Martina's game is that it is so distinct from any of the other players on tour. With an ever-increasing emphasis on power, Martina has proven the critics wrong that you need one big powerful weapon in order to reach the top in the game. Sure, Lindsay Davenport, Venus and Serena Williams, Monica Seles, and Mary Pierce - the biggest hitters in the game - are all in the top 10, but it is Martina who is #1, and she lacks what the others have in power. She is much more than a mere counter puncher. While she does feed off the power her opponents supply, she tries to use their power to her own advantage in order to create opportunities for winners. The most defining aspect of Martina's game is her ability to use her thinking power on court and her powers of anticipation which are remarkable for someone who has been on tour for such a considerably short period of time. She has the uncanny ability to anticipate an opponent's every shot, and she is also prepared to change up the game if something is not working for her. This fluid all-court game was honed very succinctly by her coach and mother Melanie Molitor, and it is this all-court game which has given Martina the flexibility to win matches on different surfaces such as grass and clay. It has also given

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