Lindsay Davenport in clear contention for the Open
Huber and Mary Joe Fernandez, both playing sub-standard tennis after several months off the tour after respective surgeries, were not able to do much themselves. Mary Joe lost a first-round encounter against 4th seed Silvia Farina after easing through the first set 6-1. Anke, receiving a bye in the first round and a victory by walkover in the second, played her first match of the tournament in the quarterfinals and losing in straight sets to little known Marian de Swardt.
Anyway, here is the week in review, with a bit more commentary, the results and the rankings. Next fortnight we'll see more action - the prestigious du Maurier Open in the first week (defending champion Monica Seles) and the Tier II event US Hardcourt Championships (defending champion Lindsay Davenport). By the way, before I go, I've taken a sneak peek at the draw for the du Maurier Open (check it out at "www.tenniscanada.com"), and I wasn't too thrilled about top seed Martina Hingis and 5th seed Monica Seles possibly playing each other in the quarter finals. A Martina vs. Monica encounter has all the glitz and hype for a final match, considering that the head-to-head isn't completely one-sided any longer.
PLAYER OF THE FORTNIGHT: Lindsay Davenport (USA). She is on a huge momentum wave right now. She's won three straight tournaments, the Bank of West Classic, the Toshiba Tennis Classic and the Acura Classic. She's defeated top players like Steffi Graf, Venus Williams, Monica Seles, Mary Pierce and Martina Hingis en route to her title victories. And her run doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. 16 career titles, an Olympic gold medal and a world ranking of no. 2 are illustrious achievements to her name, but the only thing missing is a Grand Slam title. Methinks it will all change at the US Open. I'm putting her as my top pick for the title next month and considering she's shaved the 2000 point ranking lead by Hingis to about 500, she can also take the no. 1 ranking with a grand slam win like this. And she's proven that she can beat anyone - she's beaten Hingis three times since becoming no. 1 - the most for any player). Right now, I would put her in stratoshpere level in comparison to anyone else on the tour right now. In any case, if she doesn't win the Open this year, she
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