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| 30 Jun 2001 | |
| The Junior Championships, Wimbledon Preview |
With the Championships now in full swing, Saturday will see the arrival of the younger stars of the game to start their campaigns attempting to capture the illustrious Junior Wimbledon title.
With so few tournaments played on grass now, many of the juniors have been making the most of the last two weeks in England to work on their grass court game in anticipation of the start of play at SW19.
In the boys draw names to watch out for obviously include the No.1 seed Janko Tipsarevic from Yugoslavia, winner of the Australian Junior Open. This charismatic seventeen year old (he celebrated his birthday last week) changes his hair colour to suit his mood and wears earrings in both his ear and chin. He has chosen black for his hair at the moment, maybe a sign that he means business, but who knows, he could change it to the familiar green and purple of the All England Club next week. Hair colour aside, he is a very talented player with a great double handed backhand. His size may be his one weakness on grass, he doesn’t have the big serve that many of the bigger junior players possess and which is vital on grass, this weakness was exposed when he was beaten by the big serving Stephane Bohli in the quarter-final at Roehampton.
No.2 seed Gilles Muller from Luxemburg does indeed have the necessary big serve which, when working well, can cause many problems for his opponents. This tall (he stands well over six foot) left hander who trains at the Bob Brett Academy near Paris has won three tournaments on clay this year but will need to adapt his game and use his big serve if he is to succeed at Wimbledon.
When thinking of nations that produce players who perform well on grass, one wouldn’t automatically think of Mexico, however Bruno Echagaray could surprise many people from his position as No.3 seed. Although not a natural grass court player his high doubles ranking (No.2) proves that he can volley well and he performed well on the green stuff at Roehampton, narrowly losing out to Iordan Kanev (BUL) in the quarter-finals in two tie-break sets. However, if he is to succeed he will have to get past Tipsarevic in the semi-final who he has yet to beat in three meetings.
No.10 seed Roman Valent (SUI) has had the perfect preparation going into the Championships, winning at Roehampton against compatriot Stephane Bohli and displaying some great volleying throughout the tournament. Although No.10 in the rankings now, he was as high as No.3 at the beginning of the year and is definitely a contender.
Outsiders to watch out for include Australian Todd Reid who trains at the Nick Bollitieri Academy in Florida. Chances are you will probably hear Reid before you see him as resembles fellow countryman Lleyton Hewitt in his vocal abilities, fortunately he also shares his penchant for grass. He reached the quarters at Thames Ditton and the singles semis and doubles final at Roehampton showing some great grass court play along the way.
Lamine Ouahab from Algeria and part of the ITF Development Touring Team could pose a threat. Since joining the team his ranking has jumped almost 400 places, he has reached the semis at Roland Garros and the final on grass at Thames Ditton, so if he continues in the same vein he could be a dangerous outsider.
Semi-final positions at the Australian Open and Roland Garros have earned American Ashley Harkleroad top billing at Wimbledon. An early exit from the Roehampton warm-up tournament has given the 16 year old much need practice time to find her feet on grass.
World no. 2, Jelena Jankovic YUG) is seeded 2 at Wimbledon . The Australian Open Champion who fell in the Roland Garros quarter-finals to Russian Vera Zvonareva chose not to practice her grass court game at the Roehampton warm-up tournament. It will be interesting to see how well she adapts to the greenstuff at her first attempt.
After a disappointing first round exit from Wimbledon 2000, Gisela Dulko is feeling more confident this year having captured the Roehampton title over Claudine Schaul (LUX) on a typical British day of wind and drizzle. The Argentinian will be looking to take over the title from last year's Wimbledon, US Open and World Champion, compatriot Maria Emilia Salerni.
The diminutive Claudine Schaul, seeded 3 will be hoping to avenge her defeat if the opportunity arises, Gisela and Claudine should meet in the quarter-finals. Claudine has made steady progress this year, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and semi-finals at Roland Garros.
Scot Elena Baltacha made her debut on Centre Court this week when she took on Nathalie Dechy. Elena, with the 2nd fastest serve at Wimbledon this year at 118PHM, is a strong contender for the title. The last British winner of the Girls Singles title was Annabel Croft in 1984.
Watch out for Angelique Widjaja from Bandung, Indonesia, winner at East Molesey and quarterfinalist at Roehampton. Angelique won her place on the ITF Touring Team by winning 3 top events in Asia this year.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, who trains with Emilio Sanchez in Barcelona will be looking to take advantage of Kaia Kanepi's absense, Kaia defeated Svetlana in the final at Roland Garros. This will be the first attempt on grass for the clay loving Russian
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