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Venus Williams for the French Open title? Quite likely indeed... - Page 3

© Michael Cecilio

And at the minor WTA tournaments?
Unfortunately, as a result of the much publicised family problems of Mirjana Lucic, she was unable to defend her title in Bol. In addition, she was unable to defend points she accrued at the Italian Open last year for reaching the semi finals, and this has caused her to fall out of the top 100 for the first time since her professional debut two years ago.

This paved the way for Corina Morariu, a solid American baseline player who has moved consistently up the rankings and is currently enjoying a position in the WTA top 40. She reached the final of Bol twice previously, losing to hometown favourite Mirjana Lucic both times. With Mirjana out of the draw at Bol, it gave Corina a little bit of hope in her quest to win her first career WTA tour title. And this she did in superb fashion by dropping no more than seventeen games in five matches, including two in the final to top seed Julie Halard-Decugis.

With defending champion Conchita Martinez participating in the Italian Open, it paved the way for other upstarts to take the Warsaw title this year. A solid draw which featured top seed Barbara Schett, 2nd seed Julie Halard-Decugis and 3rd seed Henrieta Nagyova, it was surprising that by semi final day, there were no seeds remaining in the draw! This certainly paved the way for unseeded Cristina Torrens-Valero, a Spanish journeywoman who has enjoyed minor success on the WTA tour. She convincingly eliminated 7th seed Meghann Shaughnessy and 4th seed Amelie Cocheteux in straight sets each time and set up a final with Ines Gorrochategui, who defeated Australian wild card Jelena Dokic in the quarter finals. In a tough final which included plenty of baseline rallies, Cristina narrowly edged Ines in two incredibly close sets 7-5 7-6(3).

Player Profile of the Fortnight
On each fortnightly article issue, a WTA Tour Top 100 player will feature in a new column called Player Profile of the Fortnight. This fortnight, we will take a look into the profile of DOMINIQUE VAN ROOST from BELGIUM.

Highest Singles Ranking: 9 (October 1998)
Current Singles Ranking: 16
Current Doubles Ranking: 32
Career Win-Loss Record: 166-123
1999 Win-Loss Record: 17-9
Career Singles Titles: 4 (1998 - Auckland; 1997 - Hobart, Pattaya; 1996 - Cardiff)
Best Grand Slam Showing:QUARTER FINALIST - 97,99 Australian Open
1999 Highlights:

• FINALIST - Auckland (HardIV)
• SEMI FINALIST - Paris Indoors (CarpetII)

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