I didnt know that Ana is older than Tatiana! I have just noticed that today, she is 2 months older (87 Nov for Ana, 88 Jan for Tati)!
I think all these young "starlets" will achieve great things next years! (and perhaps in September at US Open?)
Golovin - Hasn't been in the best of form lately. I'm sure she will pick it up soon.
Karatantcheva - She had to face Sharapova in 2R! HELLO!?!
Vaidisova - Still getting used to the bounce on grass. She did pretty good. Should have beaten Kuznetsova in straight sets! I think she can win this tournament in the future.
Ivanovic - Had a minor injury and didn't play any warm-ups. I think she can win this tournament in the future as well.
For all except Golovin this was the first Wimbledon appearance. And all except Golovin played tough opponents.
BTW, I don't mean to bash Golovin this way, I'm pretty sure she'll bounce back from this mini-slump she's in right now.
All four mentioned in the 1st post are talented and have a future, but we can't tell yet whether any will make it to Top Ten status for any length of time.
I think those girls did'nt had enough experiences to perform well at Wimbledon this year, except for Golovin. I'm sure they will have a better result next year!
golovin and karatantcheva i never really rated as prospects to get to the very top (top 5 or 10, but sesil did do well at RG so maybe on clay she will be a great player). vaidisova wasnt disappointing because she didnt do well in the lead up tournaments and hasnt really had a breakthrough at a slam anyway, her game could trouble players on grass being so big but ovbiously she doesnt feel comfortable on it, just needs more practice on the stuff. ivanovic was a bit disappointing after doing so well at RG, but lost to the runner up of this years RG who is in really good form so the loss wasnt so disappointing because of who she lost to.
In that Sharapova made the fourth round at Wimbledon in her first year playing GS main draws. Ivanovic and Vaidisova made the third round, so by next year, if they follow a similar path, they should go deep into the second week. Vaidisova is also 2 years younger than Sharapova, so that would work out timewise. Ivanovic has already had GS success at RG, so her path is different.
Remember Maria S is still Ivanovics age and and she is still in the tournament i think people forget that they are the same age some times. She is still so young
Sesil is sooooo young and drew Masha in the 2nd round!! She is so excused! As is Vaidisova. I don't care for her, but the girl is pretty young. I think she did well!
Tati, I think she needs to improve her fitness and shed some 10 pounds. She looked really really promising last year, but she still hasn't head a *spectacular* kind of break through. I hope she goes really deep into the US Open and surprises everyone or something.
Ivanovic IS Maria's age pretty much. Maria has accomplished way more than her, obviously--9 titles I believe including grandslam and year-end champs. She's had amazing accomplishments, so I think it is too late for Ivanovic to even compare to her in the teen starletness. Ivanovic is a good up-and-comer, but I don't think she's such a "young starlet"
Third round is good for a wimbledon debut. Look at who they all got beat by - Mary Pierce who is in top form just now, Maria Sharapova who is defending the title and probably the best player on grass and Svetlana Kuznetsova who is a top ten player and who Nicole but up a good fight against.
People are forgetting that she has an ankle injury that is pretty serious that has affected her play since RG.
She reached semifinal of Birmingham before losing to Sharapova last week.
Last year she made it to the 4th Rd of Wimbledon on her first appearance before losing to Serena.
And this season, her only bad loss was to Spears at AO and perhaps to Peng at Strasbourg. All her loses to top players like Dementieva, Myskina, Henin, Schnyder have all been 3 sets or 2 tight sets. True, she might not have beaten any good player this season but it's not like she has a bad season either. With Wimbledon and AO (4th Rd), Paris (SF) and Birmingham (F) points taken off, she is still in the top 25. Not too bad, me thinks.
Golovin also became one of just three players to reach semifinals on all four surfaces this year. She was a semifinalist at Gold Coast on hard court, at Paris [Indoors] on indoor carpet, on the clay at Charleston, and now on grass at the DFS Classic. The other players are Sharapova and Davenport.
Most of the young players dont have experience on grass so they wouldnt do well at Wimbledon. Vaidisova didnt do too badly though, and Mirza too, but they both had to play a top player.