[Volcana]

I do not believe that Anna Kournikova will ever return to top ten status. Nothing against Anna. But while she's been away, a lot of players have improved. Not counting the soon-to-be-retired Nathalie Tauziat, TEN of the top 13 players are 22 years old or younger. The other three are Monica, Jenn and Lindsay. So even if there are injuries, there are 13 top ten players right now, really. There just isn't a spot in the top ten for Anna to occupy. She'll have to battle Meghann, Jelena and Elena just to occupy the #10 spot.

rk age b-day
01 (21) 30 Sep 1980 M.HINGIS
02 (25) 29 Mar 1976 J.CAPRIATI
03 (25) 08 Jun 1976 L.DAVENPORT
04 (21) 17 Jun 1980 V.WILLIAMS
05 (18) 08 Jun 1983 K.CLIJSTERS
06 (22) 05 Jul 1979 A.MAURESMO
07 (19) 01 Jun 1982 J.HENIN
08 (27) 02 Dec 1973 M.SELES
09 (20) 26 Sep 1981 S.WILLIAMS
10 (18) 12 Apr 1983 J.DOKIC
11 (34) 17 Oct 1967 N.TAUZIAT*
12 (22) 13 Apr 1979 M.SHAUGHNESSY
13 (20) 15 Oct 1981 E.DEMENTIEVA*

22 (20) 07 Jun 1981 A.KOURNIKOVA


*Oct birthday so I counted it

 

[ptkten]

While I agree that there are is a larger amount of youngsters in the top 10 right now, I do believe that there is an opportunity to knock them out of the top 10 or 13. I am not 100% sure of Mauresmo, Clijsters and Henin quite yet. They had good results but Clijsters and Henin have never had the experience of defending points and I have a feeling it's going to be difficult for them to defend their grand slam finals, particularly Clijsters since she is not all that solid on clay normally. I have that feeling with Mauresmo as well, except that she never defends her points well and she has a whole lot coming off at the beginning of the year and if Venus and Serena play more like they say, it will be more difficult for her to gain that many titles. I believe that Dementieva will not really move up any higher in the rankings unless she gets more adapted to playing on the clay and grass. As for Meghann Shaughnessy, there have been many players such as her in the past. They have one great year and then the pressure succumbs them. I want to see how she does next year as well. Because Kournikova had been consistent for the previous three years prior to her injury, I can sort of tell where her talent level is and that she is not a fluke, but with the players such as Henin, Clijsters, Mauresmo and Shaughnessy it is difficult to tell where they will be in the rankings next year. I am not saying that I think Kournikova will be in the top 10 next year, because probably some of those players mentioned will stay in or move up into the top 10, but I want to wait and see if they are actually any better than Anna.

[ October 07, 2001: Message edited by: ptkten ]

 

[ys]

Two points:
first, nobody's questioning Anna's ability to be in Top 10. The question is, whether she is the same person physically that she used to be. You can see that she is much skinnier that before the injury. If she left just a bit of her oncourt speed, she is in trouble. Look what happens to Amanda and Arantxa. Speed was their major weapon, it is not longer what it used to be. For Kournikova is the speed was equally crucial.

second: Dementieav doesn't have to adapt to clay, clay is her favourite surface.

 

[ajayares]

I understand the point you are making and that's your opinion, however how can Anna have missed the window of opportunity, when she was already ranked in the top 10, and would have still been there, if it was not for her injury..

Who's to say that one of the for mentioned players will not suffer a similar fate??? and miss almost the whole year..
I think it is going to be hard for Anna to get back into the top 10 in 2002 (mainly due to the fact she will not be seeded in too many tournaments she plays), however 2003 is a different case..

Anyway as for Anna losing her speed, well just judging from the highlights of Anna's matches during the Moscow event, I can safely say that it does not appear to be the case..

[ October 08, 2001: Message edited by: ajayares ]

 

[NejedlyKanepi]

ok im respecting everyones opinions. my own is that anna can totally still make top 5.

as for mauresmo: she has no points at the french to defend really and she can honestly take the title so hopefully next year shell do better (hoping more still that its not at the expense of kournikova's success as applicable to this thread)

 

[Volcana]

With her athletic ability, if Anna had gotten her head together in the last two years, she'd be ranked where Kim Clijsters is right now, and would have a couple of Tier I wins under her belt. She's lost a lot of development time. Even if she comes back to where she was in 1999, everyone else is two years better. And there are so many young players in the top 15, Anna can no longer wait for the current top ten to get old.

Anna had made it into the top ten at least twice, so I agree that we can assume that she still has top 20 talent. But the top ten now is better than it was two years ago. And Anna is not only not any better than she was two years ago, she's worse. She's coming off injuries and its understandable. But if she's still a top ten player, she needs to show results.

 

[apoet29]

I really don't think that the game has passed Anna by. Look at Capriati. Everyone was proclaiming her a has-been at 25 and this year, she has made a remarkable comeback. Look at Seles, she continues to make comebacks all the time, including her remarkable run this summer defeating top players for the first time in 3 years.

It is truly up to Anna. When she puts her mind to it, she can play incredible tennis, but mentally she needs to get tougher. The game continues to improve and Anna's game is not improving with it.

It is difficult to judge any athletes career. Who would have thought that Anna would still be searching for a first tournament win after 5 years on the tour? Who is to say that Henin, Clijsters, Mauresmo, Dokic, Shaughnessy, Dementieva or any other young player will not live up to their potential next year? I agree that Anna's consistent talent has shown that she is not a fluke, but if you are going to say that a consistent player, who has good results, but no tournament wins is not a fluke, then why are players with equal consistency and tournament wins flukes? That does not make any sense. Yes, Anna has more experience, but she has never utilized it to her best advantage. Meanwhile, these young players in two-three years have surpassed Anna's singles results.

I hope that Anna can make a comeback in 2002 and produce that first of many tournament wins. I won't be easy, especially since she will have to comeback from a low ranking, but I think that will be her motivation. Plus, if she can pair up with Hingis or Schett for doubles next year, that will give her some much needed match practice and doubles wins can only increase her confidence.

There is no reason that Anna cannot have the same results as Mauresmo, Henin, Clijsters, etc, but she HAS TO WANT IT. It is all up to her.

 

[XMan]

ptkten, your believe that Henin or Clijsters would have lots of difficulties to defend their points and stay in the top ten has no grounds at all. I would believe you if they had only 2000 points, but they have 3000+ points. Clijsters is solid on clay.
However I believe that Anna can and will make it to the top ten again because she has the talent to do it, she only needs selfconfidence , she has to believe it herself.

 

[the cat]

I think Anna can make it back to the top 10. Her main problem has been injuries. Every year since 1997, Anna has suffered a major injury. The competion is younger and stronger now. Anna will always have trouble with the likes of Dokic and Clijsters. They are younger and stronger than Anna. And they are much stronger mentally. I hope Anna can stay healthy. Then she can find her form and entertain her fans. Top 20? Top 10? Either would be fine. As long as Anna is healthy, she will be an exciting player. Udachi Anna!