[tennis_guy]

sadly, Elena L probably wont be representing Russia
the way Anastasia's been playing, and her Tier II title points
will be evaporating in a couple of weeks, it's possible to see
her out of TOP 20 soon, which means it's gonna be a pretty
cool fight for those 3 spaces, or hopefully 4
my pick
1. Vera Z
2. Sveta
3. Maria S
send out the teens...
werent Elena and Nastya 18 when they played in Sydney
pretty cool lineup eh....
4. Dementieva

 

[Dava]

I think Elena will go to defend her medal. She loves the Olympics!

 

[Tennisace]

I thought the rules were changed so you can send 4 singles players? I would put Svetalana Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva in doubles. Then have Vera Zvonareva, Elena Bovina, Nadia Petrova, and Elena Dementieva in singles.

Maria, cant wait for the next Olympics...plus Sharapova could take advantage of the weak WTA draws during the Olympics.

 

[tennis_guy]

they do go by the ranking though right?
even though i think Dementieva is
probably the most famous tennis player after
Anna K and Maria S in Russia with her silver medal,
if she is not ranked high enough, she still cant go,
Jen didnt go in 2000 right?...

 

[the cat]

How many singles spots are they allowed? I hope the Russian Tennis Federation doesn't go by the rankings because Russia has a couple of possible 2004 Summer Olympic candidates whose rankings are hampered by the WTA Tour's Age Eligibilty Rules.

I like the tennis_guy's choice for the Russian team.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

one for sure will be Dementieva
next yr is too far away
alot can happen in that time
plus August is not a good time to be in Athens ( way too hot, thats when the Greeks get away)


Shamil Tarpischev will choose
as long as you make yourself available for Fed Cup then you are eligible to play Olympics

you don't have to go by ranks.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

some countries have 4 (only a few)
some 3, some 2 and alot have only 1

 

[drfunk015]

Re

How about Lina Krasnoroutskaya? She has a very bright future. Lina showed me a lot in Toronto. Not only her great talent but the way she handled herself in many tough matches with poise and maturity as a 19 year old. Zvonereva, on the other hand, completely lost it emotionally and pretty much destroyed herself in losing her quarter-final match last week in Toronto.

 

[tennis_guy]

one for sure will be Dementieva
next yr is too far away
alot can happen in that time
plus August is not a good time to be in Athens ( way too hot, thats when the Greeks get away)


Shamil Tarpischev will choose
as long as you make yourself available for Fed Cup then you are eligible to play Olympics

you don't have to go by ranks.

if they dont, then wont there be controversies?
how many are they sending next yr anyways?
coz the Olympics entrants should start gaining points now.

 

[Yak]

Remember that this is clay so Elena D and Vera are definate nominations in my opinion. What about Nastya and Dinara for the other two...

Don't send Maria on a claycourt because she is up to no good even if she won the Sea Island Challenger.

Doubles: Elena D and Nastya

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

its not clay, it was going to be clay but then they found out nearly all the top players would stay away as its just before US Open so they changed it to hard

 

[auntie janie]

Maria and Anna K. won't be eligible, they have not played Fed Cup. I think they will stick with the loyal Fed Cuppers Elenas B & D for sure, unless EB really takes a serious rankings dive again. Then the other(s) will depend on the ranking at the time the team will be chosen, and given the continual fluctuations in these players' rankings -- Nastya, where are you??? -- it could be ANYBODY. Nadia, Vera, Lina, Sveta, all have a GREAT chance if they continue their climbs. Tatiana Panova and Elena L? Very, very doubtful.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

Janie, it doesn't matter if you haven't played Fed Cup

all you need to say is you're willing to play it if you're not your country's top ranked players and that makes you eligible

its diff for the countries top ranked few girls, they have to play it.

 

[CJ07]

TBE, do you know if Kournikova has made her self available to Fed Cup in the last few years?

and what about Sharapova, she isnt even committed to moscow

 

[Gowza]

i want dinara to go but she needs to get her ranking up. douchevina is a slim possibility but hardly likley (she has a lot of talent but almost no experience and isn't ranked high enough to be considered - but i wish...).

i think vera z, sveta k, maria s have a great chance but lina k, petrova and dementieva are also up there in the rankings and myskina. if it's done on rankings it's done on rankings but otherwise i think the best team would be dementieva, sharapova and then either lina k or petrova but probably petrova. they may as well put in the players that have made big upsets because if serena and venus are there then they may have to do something special to get past them.

 

[drfunk015]

Re

There are so many Russians so it is hard to choose. But I'll go with my favorites. Sharapova, Lina K, Petrova and Dementieva.

 

[auntie janie]

Eggy, thanks for clearing that up for me. Of course it would not be fair to rule out players who made themselves available but were never chosen for the team due to so much great competition.

Still, I think those who have been chosen for the Fed Cup teams, or who are chosen later this year and also next year, will be the ones most likely to be sent.

I seriously doubt Safina or Sharapova would be chosen, as they are so young they will have many chances in the future, and they are well behind so many others in the rankings.