[Tennisace]

I'm really excited about the growing potential of Hungary playing a stronger role in women's tennis. So far they have the greatest success on clay with showings from Zsofia Gubacsi, Petra Mandula, Rita Kuti Kis, and up and comer Aniko Kapros.

Most of them have played rather streakily. Mandula had very little success after FO, cept for the 75K Poitiers. And Gubacsi earned her first title at Casablanca, and doing well in some qualifying events. How do you guys prospect Hungary's chances in 2002?

Too bad they have to face Spain in round one of Fed Cup. They could have been a threat on clay! <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> Hopefully they'll give Spain a good run! <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

 

[Randy H]

2 biggest hopes should be Aniko, who will be playing a fuller schedule on the WTA tour in 2002 now that her Junior days are over, and also talented Hungarian junior Virag Nemeth is one to look for in the future.

 

[Hurley]

Petra's chances against Arantxa are actually quite good. She led Arantxa by a set in one of the smaller clay tournaments earlier this year, and was able to push Arantxa into a third-set tiebreaker at the US Open, which she was very unlucky to lose at 5-7. <img src="frown.gif" border="0"> She also won a match at Wimbledon, which stunned the hell out of me (0-6 6-2 9-7 over Husarova!).

I don't think her ranking will ever get much higher than it is right now, but she could be a formidable leader of a Hungarian team in Spain, particularly with Gubacsi, Kuti Kis, and Kapros in the mix as well. That team is very dangerous on clay, and don't think Spain would want to play on another surface just to disrupt the Hungarians' chances -- Petra and especially Aniko would have a fighting chance against many of the Spanish girls on a faster surface (except for Serna and a healthy Conchita Martinez).

It is very nice to see them in the World Group.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

there's also Zsuzsanna Babos , another talented 16 yr old .

Virag Nemeth is very good , she's better than her sister Tunde.

Hope to see Virag play some ITF Circuit matches in 2002 , she's yet to play any

 

[Tennisace]

Hungarian BUMP! <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

 

[MS]

Hi,

I think Hungary has a 'dangerous' team. I think people in Spain think Spain will have really easy in the first round in Fed Cup, but I think the players will have to play their best in order not to have troubles.

Anyway, let's see what these Hungarians do in the future, because some of them seem to have a brilliant future.

 

[Jakeev]

There is more talent now coming out of Hungary since the days of Andrea Temesvari.

While, all the players mentioned seem to burst with talent, the one problem they all seem to have is a slight lack of fitness.

So far the best results any seem to have had is on clay and if they are going to continue to improve, the Hungarian women are going to need to take one more extra step.

Oh one more player that I like that has not been mentioned is Adrien Hegedus who upset Kuti Kis in a tournament I think either in Brazil or Hawaii. (too lazy to double check sorry)

[ December 03, 2001: Message edited by: Jakeev ]</p>

 

[Tripp]

And how about Kyra Nagy?<br />She's had some good results this year, but I have no idea about her age or her style of play.

 

[AleOrtu]

Aniko Kapros is playing better, she´ll have a great 2003

 

[Hurley]

And Petra finally got that win over Arantxa

 

[greenfire]

since the economy in hungary is not so well i am happy i'm not a hungarian. Thats why people there grow mature much quicker and the same goes for tennis. Its a way to escape out of poverty and get a lot of money that would make many hungarians to goggle their eyes.

 

[RiskeFan1]

Rita Kuti Kis had her bit of glory when she beat Capriati, but frankly I'll be shocked if she ever cracks the top 80 again.

Aniko Kapros could be top 50, but my god THAT SERVE! It's not as comical as it looks on TV, but when your first serve average is 73 MPH (as it was against Henin at RG this year), there is a major problem. Can you imagine if she played Monica Seles with those puffballs

Petra will be top 40 again, it's only a matter of time

Kyra Nagy didn't impress me at the Open this year. She lacks a weapon. She'll probably max out at 100 if she's lucky.

Zsofia has a serve slightly better than Aniko, but she's got a very pretty game. Ditto w/Aniko in the ranking department

 

[Hurley]

I'm probably the biggest Petra fan going, but Top 40? I'm not so sure. She definitely needs to improve her movement, and do to that she needs to improve her fitness and her posture.

Still, I expect her to have a better clay season in 2003 and get at least back into the Top 75.

 

[Jakeev]

I still say that if somebody would whip both Petra and Rita into shape they would be some powerful forces to be reckoned with. I don't think its too late for Rita but the clock is ticking. Petra I think can get there soon. Zsofia I think needs more muscle and not sure how the some of the rising starts are doing like Babos and Nemeth

 

[TS]

Arent Petra & Rita the same age?

Last time I saw Rita (in January) she was way too big for an elite athlete, and that is probably the reason why she is so far down in the rankings now...you cant expect to hang with the big girls (ironic wording) and hold a top 100 ranking if you arent in shape. Hope next year is a better one for her, she is a very sweet young lady.

 

[vicki]

wow! guys! you r talk about hungarian players!! great!! thank u!
if u wanna know something about petra mandula, please visit:
www.geocities.com/petramandulafans

and if u r any questions, i will answer all of you!

 

[vicki]

and yes, rita and petra are in the same age!!

 

[Monica_Rules]

I saw Petra play Lindsay at the US open if it wasn;t for the rain delay i'm 90% sure she would hav taken the second set she was hitting great shots and making Lindsay look so slow.

Rita has a greta few seasons 2000/2001 but since then things have gone bad!

 

[Hurley]

Rita is far too overweight at the moment. It's too bad, she does have quite a lot of talent and is an adorable young lady. Here's hoping she drops a lot of kilos over the off-season.

Petra has such powerful shots, but to get any higher than the 50-75 range, she'll need to work on her movement. It will be tough since she is a tall, strong girl. She doesn't need to lose that much weight, but she does need to improve her posture and get into better aerobic shape, in order to maximize every last bit of energy she has.

I would love to see a bunch of great years from Petra and the rest of the Hungarian girls!

 

[RiskeFan1]

Aniko has a weight problem but quite frankly I'm not really even sure how much off-court training will really help. She's a big girl and I don't think that's changing. She could definitely get a bit quicker but she was working her ass off during her practices at the US Open. I have a feeling it's not laziness and that this is a problem that will plague her during her career. It's a shame too because when she's in position to hit the ball she's top 20 material. She produces some beautiful shots and makes them look effortless.

I hope she makes it. I talked to her 3 out of the 5 days of the qualifying (she rode the same #7 Subway train as I did along w/her mom.) She really is a friendly girl. She happily posed for pictures and autographs with everyone who requested at the Open, win or lose