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CooCooCachoo · Jul 6th, 2006, 06:33 PM

PYW Wimbledon

Welcome to London! We are not here for the British Museum, the Millennium Eye, the Big Ben or the many Starbucks that London has. Instead, we are here for the third Grand Slam of the year. The grass season is short, but with Eastbourne, Birmingham and Rosmalen, players have had a chance to show what they are worth on the most slippery of surfaces. Will Venus defend her title? Can Dokic recover from her surprising loss in qualifying? Will a Briton replace Baltacha in this year's final? How will the young wild cards Agnieszka Radwanska and Viktoria Azarenka do? Or is this once more the time for players like Dementieva, Ivanovic, Clijsters and Hingis to shine? Vote now for who you want to win as The Championships continue.

Ranking Points:

Code:

Code:

W - 650
F - 456
SF - 292
QF - 162
R16 - 90
R32 - 56
R64 - 32
R128 - 5
Qualifier - 10 *
Q3 - 5
Q2 - 2
Q1 - 1 
 
* If a qualifier loses in the first round, no first round points are awarded on top of the qualifying points.

2005 Final:

Code:

Venus Williams USA [14] beat Elena Baltacha GBR [WC] | 6-2 6-2

Meet The Favourites:

OUT OF COMPETITION

First Section: Michaëlla Krajicek NED

OUT OF COMPETITION

Second Section: Ana Ivanovic SCG [9]

Third Section: Anastasia Myskina RUS [9]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Fourth Section: Jelena Dokic AUS [LL]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Fifth Section: Ashley Harkleroad USA

Sixth Section: Flavia Pennetta ITA [16]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Seventh Section: Francesca Schiavone ITA [11]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Eighth Section: Elena Dementieva RUS [7]

Ninth Section: Gisela Dulko ARG [31]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Tenth Section: Martina Hingis SUI [12]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Eleventh Section: Alicia Molik AUS [WC]

Twelfth Section: Anna Chakvetadze RUS

OUT OF COMPETITION

Thirteenth Section: Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS [5]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Fourteenth Section: Nicole Vaidisova CZE [10]

Fifteenth Section: Agnieszka Radwanska POL [WC]

OUT OF COMPETITION

Sixteenth Section: Kim Clijsters BEL [2]

Quarter Finals:

Gisela Dulko ARG [31] v. Anna Chakvetadze RUS [30]

Preview:

With Flavia Pennetta's shock win over Elena Dementieva in the quarter final, and the loss of Ana Ivanovic before that, the tournament has lost its two biggest favourites for the title, leaving a potential first Grand Slam title up for grabs for Agnieszka Radwanska and Anastasia Myskina.

However it is, more than ever, anyone's game. True darkhorses are, yet another Russian, Anna Chakvetadze and the lone non-European quarter finalist, Gisela Dulko of Argentina. Gisela is not the only pretty one in the family, as a quick look at her brother, coach and only-barely-insufficiently-talented-to-be-a-pro-player Alejandro shows us, but looks are not enough to overcome her Russian rival. Anna Chakvetadze was once just one of the few Russians on the PYW Tour, easily being outperformed by not just Dementieva and Myskina, but also by the likes of Kirilenko, Safina and even Likhovtseva. However, she is only the second Russian to remain in this tournament and her rapidly rising popularity this season makes her a real threat to everyone.

[Real-life] H2H: No previous records

The winner of this quarter final will meet either Poland's Agnieszka Radwansa, or Croatia's Karolina Sprem for a spot in the final. It is the best chance yet for both Anna and Gisela to go that far. The two have never met in real life, making this match completely open.

CooCoo's Prediction:

With the two previous matches having proved logic wrong, as the two big tournament favourites crashed out, this prediction is as shaky as ever. Even more so, because this really could be anybody's game. In the end, the Eastern European players have, over-all, been performing much much better on the PYW Tour, as illustrated by the tally of six out of eight quarter finalists. It is this that will give Chakvetadze the edge in a close three sets match.

Other Quarter Final Match-Ups:

1. Ana Ivanovic SCG [19] lost to Anastasia Myskina RUS [9] | 2-6 3-6
2. Flavia Pennetta ITA [16] beat Elena Dementieva RUS [7] | 6-3 4-6 6-3
4. Karolina Sprem CRO v. Agnieszka Radwanska POL [WC]

Vote!