[MakarovaFan]

Originally Posted by Wonderlander

Cetkovska, Benesova, Garbin all belong to this category too. Had risen in rankings quite significally due to string of good performances and solid play (and some lucky draws too) and then failed to defend their ranking points the next season.
Razzano was such a nice example of a late bloomer but then injuries and that sad story with her fiancee dragged her back to being a journeywoman. I always feel bad for her.
Then you have Vesnina who was a completely different player for just one season and was ranked as high as 22 in the world. I'm afraid Makarova will follow her steps soon
So I highly doubt any of these players and any of those ones you've listed could be referred as top players.

The players i listed spent majority of their decade long careers hovering around the lower end of the top 100, so to become amongst the top 20/30 players in the world is becoming a "top" player...i never said elite or great.

Cetkovska is a great example but it's too early to tell as she has JUST begun her fall(and it's entirely due to an injury just when all her points were due to come falling off).....Benesova,Garbin and Tanasugarn all had atleast 3-4 different top 40 finishes so they don't qualify. Cornet, Groenefeld and Bovina are in an entirely different category as they were all young hot shots who sprang up the ranks and were heading towards elite status(top 10) but then abruptly faltered(nothing to do with this thread). Cetkovska is the only one that fits. Bammer is another good example, especially considering she got all the way up 18 in the world but spent the other years of career as mostly a 50-75 range player.

[LindsayRulz]

Nathalie Dechy came to my mind. She's been a top 25-40 player for most of her career and then in 2005 she was 2 points away from reaching a grand slam final and got to the top 10 having solid results in slams. The year after she finished the year ranked outside the top 50.

[Daniel K]

Sybille Bammer?

[Melange]

Originally Posted by Wonderlander

Why do so many people mention Cornet here? She was quite an up-and-comer reaching her HR and only then became a journeywoman. She clearly belongs to different category with girls like Oudin, Szavay or even Chakvetadze.

some idiot had to mention her

[Invisible Fan]

Originally Posted by nevetssllim

Beltrame

That's who I was going to say. Wimbledon quarter final followed by nothing else of note sadly.

[Pump-it-UP]

Kremer? She cracked the top 20 at one point.

[Sir Stefwhit]

Deja Bedanova: She ended the year ranked in the range from 156-400 in her first three years on the tour, then out of nowhere she shot all the way up to #37. She kept her good play up for two years then dipped back down to #783 and never got up over #200 the rest of her career.

*In 2000 she was awarded best new-comer of the year and had wins against Myskina, Petrova, Mauresmo, Henin, Dementieva, and Seles.

Elena Bovina: started off floating between #1420-158 for the first six years of her career. Then shot up all the way to #15. She had a run that lasted 3 years then plummeted to as low as #389 and never ended another season in the top 100.

*Had wins over Dementieva, Clijsters, Petrova, Venus, Capriatti, and Davenport.

Other journey women who had a small window of success include Sania Mirza, Michaella Krajicek, Mariaan De Swardt, and of course we can't forget the most famous journey woman of all time....STEVENSON!

[metamorpha]

Yeah... Stevenson Peer, Krajicek, Molik, Dokic, Mirza, Razzano, Jankovic.

[Tennis Fool]

Well, if Monica Niculescu returns to upsetting Top 20 players (as she just did with Lucie, destroying her 2 & 0 in Beijing), she'll be back in the Top 50 in no time

[Aryman3]

Who is this poor "U. Rawdanska" who fascinated so much Saint2?

[MKhromachev]

Originally Posted by MakarovaFan

Looking at the seedings at the majors this year and seeing Monica Niculescu among them really stood out to me, i mean for many years she was an average top 80/100 player and then out of nowhere she had a pretty strong 2010/2011 but has now seemed to drop back to 'reality'.

Anywho, i was wondering who are some players that have had similar runs: average/journeywomen for many years then has a sudden rise out of nowhere that skyrockets her rank but after a season or two they seem to eventually fall back to their normal level ?

Silvja Talaja-from 1994-1998 she was a challenger/qualies girl with a high rank of 89, then suddenly in 1999 &2000 she became a top player finshing both seasons at 29 and getting as high as 18 in the world! But then from 2001-2007 her highest rank was 73 and she returned to 'normal' level of a lower top 100 scrub.
Cristina Torrens Valero-Finished 5 seasons in the 70-100 range and in her 12 year career only once finshed inside top 50 yet in late 2001/early 2002 she got all the way up to 27 in the world before returning to her normal 70-100 range for her final 3 years on tour.
Shinobu Asagoe-never finished inside a season top 35 in her 10 year career(and only 3 top 50 finshes); primarily a 40-80 range player yet in 2005 she was the no.21 player in the world!
Tina Pisnik- in 8 years had one top 40 finish and was pretty much a 60-80 range player but she had a brief surge in 2003/2003 and got up to 29 in the world before nosediving for the rest of her career
Martina Muller- 9 of her 12 finshes were outside the top 100 and she only had one top 50 finish yet in 2006/2007 got all the way up to 33 and became seeded at 2 majors. She then had a freefall before retiring in 2009

Well said ... I think its was just a matter of the current state of the Tour .. All these players you mentioned were really good .. They were not top players but really stable and good ones .. The reason they could not be top players is a fact that all of them lacked a "money-making" shot .. they were constitent and intelligent baseliners, grinders but didnt have that winner making shot .. And about their best periods of their careers I think its just a fact that in that period they managed to win few close matches at big tournaments which obviously improved their rankings.
When I comapare these players to the ones today .. I think of Arvidsson, Scheepers, Govortsova, King, Dushevina .. they do everything well, its just the case they dont do anything great ..

[Wonderlander]

Originally Posted by Melange

some idiot had to mention her

Can you read? (Or does my English suck that much?)

[Six Feet Under]

Cornet.

Dulgheru has only played on tour for 2 years

2009 Warsaw was her WTA debut, and she has been injured 2011/2012.

[ScrubLove]

Originally Posted by nevetssllim

Beltrame

This is the first person I thought of as well. She almost reached the top 30 due to her Wimby QF but then dropped back into obscurity soon after except for her random R16 at the USO in 2008.

[JustPetko]

What about Germans: Weingartner, Barrois and Schruff?