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| 17 Jan 2002 | |
| Juniors head for Melbourne Park for the first Grand Slam of the year |
The first junior Grand Slam of the year has arrived and the players at the 2002 Australian Junior Open will be hoping to make their mark and establish themselves as stars to watch out for during the coming year.
In 1999 and 2000, the winner of the Boys’ singles event went on to become World Junior Champion, Kristian Pless in 1999 and Andy Roddick in 2000. Janko Tipsarevic took the title in 2001 and finished the year at No.2, thus showing that a good performance in Melbourne can be an indication of bigger and better things to come.
This year's field includes some of the juniors who finished in the top spots in 2001 and also some very exciting new prospects.
In the boys’ singles Argentina’s Brian Dabul heads the field. Dabul finished 2001 ranked No.3 and took over the No.1 spot on 7th January. This year will be Dabul’s first visit to Melbourne, but he is in good form, having led Argentina to the final of the Sunshine Cup and won the Yucatan Cup in Mexico in December.
Robin Soderling from Sweden finished 2001 on a high, taking the Grade A Orange Bowl title in USA and is now peering over Dabul’s shoulder at No.2 in the rankings. The current European Champion, Soderling reached the last 16 in Melbourne last year losing out to eventual finalist Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (TPE). The Swede doesn’t have a great record in the Slams, never having passed the last 16 at any event, so will be hoping that 2002 marks a change in fortunes.
With no Australian men left in the main draw, the Australian public will be looking for success from other quarters. The pressure could land on the shoulders of Todd Reid and Ryan Henry, the two highest ranked Australians at No.16 and No.27 respectively. Reid, who models his on court persona on that of World No.1 Leyton Hewitt, has already had a taste of the big time in Melbourne with a Wild Card into the main draw. Despite losing in the first round to France’s Davis Cup hero Nicolas Escude, Reid certainly made an impression by taking the first set 61 and could draw on this experience next week.
A new young star in the making is Richard Gasquet from France. In 1999, aged 13 he was the top ranked U14 player in Europe. Now two years on, he has developed well and is rising rapidly up the rankings. From his year-end ranking in 2001 of No.100, Gasquet has already climbed to No.28 after winning the Victorian Junior Championships last week. With the French doing so well recently in Australia, Gasquet will definitely be one to watch.
Other highly ranked players looking to claim their first Grand Slam title include Algeria’s Lamine Ouahab whose penchant for headscarves make him hard to miss, Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus who will undoubtedly attract support from the large Cypriot community in Melbourne, and Alex Bogdanovic, the Yugoslavian born Brit who reached the US Open semis in 2001.
Unlike the boys’ draw where everyone is looking for their first Grand Slam title, the girls’ draw includes two reigning Grand Slam champions, Marion Bartoli, US Open champion, and Angelique Widjaja, Wimbledon champion.
Alongside them is Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2001 World Junior Champion, who will be accustomed to the Rebound Ace courts having qualified for the main draw and reached the second round. Despite winning several titles in 2001 Kuznetsova is still looking for her first Grand Slam title after finishing runner up at Roland Garros and the US Open.
Marion Bartoli, who defeated Kuznetsova in the final of the US Open, was hotly tipped to pick up the 2001 Australian Open title after entering the tournament on a seventeen match winning streak but lost in the Round of 16. A year on and with a Grand Slam title already in the bag, the young French woman who plays double handed on both sides, will be trying to make it two Slams in a row.
Like Bartoli last year, Croatia’s Matea Mezak is on an unbeaten run of fifteen matches. Having won the Yucatan Cup in Mexico and the Grade A Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica and reached the semi-final (so far) of the Australian Hardcourt Championships, Mezak’s only problem may be that she has peaked too soon.
Argentina’s Gisela Dulko is making her first trip to the Australian Open in her final year as a junior. She has already picked up five ITF Womens’ Circuit tournament titles in 2001, but obviously still desires a junior Grand Slam title to round off her junior career.
The young star to watch out for in the girls’ draw is Russia’s Maria Sharapova. She has been resident at the Bolletieri Academy in Florida since the age of seven and is being touted in the media as the next big thing. Fortunately she has the talent to justify the attention, she won an impressive three titles in 2001, her first year on the ITF Junior Circuit.
Following the drama of the first week of the main draw, the top juniors will be hoping to fair better than their professional counterparts. Check out this website daily for the latest news and quotes from Melbourne Park.
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