[Volcana]

There are probably 20-25 players with can reasonably hope to end 2002 inthew top 10. Some are long shots, but, all have every reason to see themselves with a chance.

The current top ten of course.

01 Lindsay Davenport<br />02 Jennifer Capriati<br />03 Venus Williams<br />04 Martina Hingis<br />05 Kim Clijsters<br />06 Serena Williams<br />07 Justine Henin<br />08 Jelena Dokic<br />09 Amelie Mauresmo<br />10 Monica Seles

After that

11 Sandrine Testud - Was player like a top 10 player at year's end no doubt.

12 Meghann Shaughnessy<br />15 Elena Dementieva

Both are young. Both are close. Normal maturation should make both better.

14 Silvia Farina Elia - I think last year was as good as it gets for her, really. But if she can find a little more serve, she might somehow rise to #9 or #10.

16 Magdalena Maleeva - This is it. Last year was a time to aclimate. She's never going to be physically better than she will be next year.

20 Iroda Tulyaganova - If there was any room in the top ten, I'd expect ther to get there next year. She's going to have a hard time making the top 15. Just too many good, experienced players.

xx Mary Pierce - If she returns in form, someone's getting squeezed out of the top ten.

Long shots ready for their first big run

28 Daja Bedanova<br />34 Lina Krasnoroutskaya - A slight disappointment. I actually expected her to end the year in the top 25. Anybody know what happened?

That's my 20 probables. There are a couple vets on the comeback trail who could shock me. Loooooong shots

21 Barbara Schett<br />37 Patty Schnyder<br />42 Iva Majoli<br />53 Chanda Rubin

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

Lina could only play a few tournaments after Wimbledon(5 in total) cos of age restrictions and that held her back and also disappointment of not playing the 3rd FED CUP rubber , she was left out <img src="frown.gif" border="0"> <br /> <br /> Now she's just recovering from a back injury picked up in Zurich which caused her to miss FED Cup Finals.

Once she's free from May , she can play alot more and will be going places.<br /> <br /> Its no coincidence Lina's best results came when she played quite a few tourns together and also from playing qualies.

<br /> Other long shots :<br /> Nadia Petrova ...... if she starts to win tiebreakers (2-12 in 2001) she will not only gain confidence but rack up some pretty good wins , she took Davenport to 7-6 7-6 , then followed that up by losing another 7-6 7-6 to Tauziat.

Daniela Hantuchova .... she will definately crack top 20 and shoot onwards and upwards. got a very good 2nd kick serve which will make a big difference against the best..

 

[Brian Stewart]

I concur with most of the original post. People quickly forget that Chanda was #11 at the time of her injury with Holly Parkinson between her and the top 10. She was ranked ahead of half of the current top 10, and playing better even than some of them did this year.

I would rate Kournikova's chances at even. She'll return to the top 10, but will she get her game back together in time to do it this year? I think giving her unlimited wild cards under the new exempt rules wil actually hinder her progress, as she'll stick to more big tourneys, where she'll be unseeded.

I wouldn't rule out a vet such as Coetzer, Sanchez-V, or Martinez making a run. I think at least one of them will make a charge at it.

I don't forsee a "new" face being there. I think it will be from among those that are currently there, are very close, or have been there before. We will be hard-pressed to see a new entry into the top 15.

[ December 06, 2001: Message edited by: Brian Stewart ]</p>