The Last Ones Standing

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Jan 26, 2000

We have now come down to the nitty-gritty of the Grand Slam, where we begin to seriously analyse where the players are at and who, in fact, will win the tournament. The results of this year's Australian Open has come as a shock to many who predicted dominance by heavy-hitters and up-and-coming teenagers. Instead, it has been dominated by the "comeback".

Jennifer Capriati has been the story of the Australian Open, thus far, having reached her first Grand Slam semi final since she was 15 at the 1991 US Open. Now at 23 years of age, Jennifer appears to be appreciating the success even more, especially given the adversity she had faced for several years. The top two Spaniards in tennis for the past decade have also made serious comebacks at the Australian Open. 27 year old Conchita Martinez and 28 year old Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, both former finalists at this event, had both seen their careers dwindle to mediocrity last year as they fell out of the Top 10. To their credit, their renowned fighting qualities and the mental resolve were on full display at the Open last week, pulling out some tough three set matches along the way to reach the last eight. Julie Halard-Decugis, the oldest quarter finalist at 29 years of age, had been building up to Grand Slam success for the past year, as she broke into the Top 10 last year with some very strong results which included wins over Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport and Mary Pierce to name but a few.

Much is said about the talented teens of the tour, including Martina Hingis, Venus and Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic to name but a few. Much is also noted about the veterans of the tour, including Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Conchita Martinez, Julie Halard-Decugis, Nathalie Tauziat, Amanda Coetzer and Monica Seles. But not much is said about the "in-betweens" - the 22-25 year olds who are lost in between the two extremes. 24 year old Ai Sugiyama and 23 year old Elena Likhovtseva had been budding for a break on the Sanex WTA tour for quite some time and finally got their just desserts when they reached their first Grand Slam quarter final at this year's Australian Open. Both came through the hard way, with Ai upsetting 4th seed Mary Pierce and Elena thumping 3rd seed Serena Williams in round of 16 matches. They are joined by 23 year olds Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati, two of the hardest hitters on the Sanex WTA tour and who need no introduction as two of the most fabled names in women's tennis.

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