Will the 14 years-old Canadian junior be the next Carling Bassett?

1050 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Randy H, Nov 21, 2001

~SunFlower~

Discussion Starter · Nov 20, 2001

[admin edit: pics removed at the request of their host]

Will the 14 years-old Canadian junior Katarina Zoricic be the next Carling Bassett?

She currently trains at Evert Tennis Academy. She is SO TALL! Let's see how she fares professionally:

Currently WTA ranked 1115 and played 4 pro events so far:

1) ITF 10K Montreal, CAN Lost 1R in main draw

2) ITF 10K Lachine, CAN Lost 1R in main draw

3) Bank of the West Classic; Sanford, California, Tier II Qual R1 M Pelletier def. K Zoricic-WC 7-6 6-2

4) ITF 25K Vancouver, CAN Lost 2R in qualifying draw

In a junior event, she has teamed up with Tatiana Golovin last week in the Chanda Rubin event in Texas. They lost in the final. Very proud of her!

She must be something! I have always want to cheer for a new Canadian (where I come from!) player since Carling Bassett left the tour.

I haven't found one until this Katarina Zoricic hit me! She's only 14, a few months older than Maria Sharapova! I love her smile, very friendly (see above). I should have seen her in Vancouver when she was competing this past summer! Damn! I will follow and watch her a few times in Vancouver and Montreal next summer for sure! I want to see her!

GO KATARINA! JUST DO IT FOR CANADA!

<img src="graemlins/bounce.gif" border="0" alt="[Bounce]" /> <img src="graemlins/bounce.gif" border="0" alt="[Bounce]" /> <img src="graemlins/bounce.gif" border="0" alt="[Bounce]" />

If you have more info about her, post here and let me know! <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[ November 20, 2001: Message edited by: Sharky ]

[ November 20, 2001: Message edited by: Poe ]

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TheBoiledEgg

· #2 · Nov 20, 2001

good luck to her , Canada def needs someone just like the Brits do.

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per4ever

· #3 · Nov 20, 2001

What a cutie!!!!!!!!! a lil young 'though <img src="graemlins/kiss.gif" border="0" alt="[Kiss]" /> <img src="graemlins/kiss.gif" border="0" alt="[Kiss]" />

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Randy H

· #4 · Nov 20, 2001

Katarina's been one of Canada's top young prospects for a while now, she's got talent definetly, and she's already one of the top ranked Canadian juniors at the U18 level. Hopefully she will continue to improve <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> I first read about her about 3 years ago in one of my tennis magazines for OTA (Ontario Tennis Association) which is the province she plays for, and she was already winning lots at the U12 level of team competitions for our province. It's great that she's down at the Evert academy now (she used to play at the Toronto Tennis Academy), so I think that was a good move by her, and hopefully her and Beier Ko will keep on doing well <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

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the cat

· #5 · Nov 20, 2001

Sharky, do you really consider her as Canadian as a Canadian born tennis player? Katarina is quite attractive. She should be Russian! Sharky, Katarina is already much bigger and stronger than Maria Sharapova, your favorite player. Well, she's only an inch taller than Maria. But she's already 30 pounds heavier than Maria. What are you going to do if Katarina combines great size with very good talent, and beats Maria in the future? Will you like that? Or, will that make you mad at Katarina?

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~SunFlower~

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 21, 2001

Thanks Randy H for posting some info about Katarina Zoricic. Have you see her in person? <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

I got more info about Carling Bassett's career. Her best results in Grand Slams are:

Aussie Open: QF in 1983 @ age 15

French Open: QF in 1984 @ age 16 and QF in 1986 @ age 18

Wimbledon: 4th RD in 1983 @ age 15 and 4th RD in 1986 @ age 18

US Open: SF in 1984 @ age 16

 She was in the Top 20 from 1981-91. She was Canada's top-ranked player from 1982-86. Her highest WTA ranking is 8th in 1985. She defeated Gabriela Sabatini 6-0 6-4 in Feb 1985. She also defeated Lindsay Davenport 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in Apr 1992. She has two WTA titles. One in Hershey, Pennsylvania in Feb 1983 at age 15. The second one is Strasbourg, FRA in May 1987 at age 19.

I definitely think she was the best Canadian player in the WTA Tour at the time. But the age eligibility rule was adopted and time has changed: we have a very strong and powerful field in women's tennis in these days. I don't think Carling would be in the top 20 these days but maybe in the top 40-50.

Let's hope that Canadians Katarina Zoricic and Beier Ko can be as good as Carling Bassett. And also let's hope that they can reach into the top 20.

Cat, trust me, Katarina or Beier can't beat Maria Sharapova for sure. Maria is far better talented and mental toughness. Let's hope that they never meet Maria in the matches! I will see Katarina, Beier and hopefully Maria (she has to be in the Junior Canadian Open, oh god I really pray very hard!) in the summer. After I watch them playing and practicing, I would be able to tell you all about it!

[ November 21, 2001: Message edited by: Sharky ]

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the cat

· #7 · Nov 21, 2001

Sharky, thanks for the info. What are you doing up at 6:05 am est? What do you remember about Carling Bassett? I thought she could have been better than she was. Didn't you? Injuries hurt her game, though. Just like with Anna Kournikova. As I recall, darling Carling was even skinnier then than Anna is now. I'm sure her frailty led to alot of her injuries.

P.S. - Sharky, please read my post in "general messages" about whether it's a mistake for IMG to market Maria Sharapova as the next Anna Kournikova. And then post a response. Thanks. And Happy Thanksgiving!

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Randy H

· #8 · Nov 21, 2001

Carling is by far the most successful Canadian singles player of all time, only 2 other players on the women's side (Helen Kelesi, and Patricia Hy-Boulais) ever reached a grand slam quarterfinal, and neither reached a semifinal. Also, Carling's the only Canadian singles player to ever reach top 10 status. Unfortunately her career was derailed by a few factors. One, was the passing of her father who was her idol growing up. When he passed away, she lost a lot of her spirit for the game, because he was the one who inspired her to become a professional tennis player. At around 16 years old he died of cancer, and that was a very difficult experience for her (she claimed it the most difficult thing she's ever had to overcome). Also, the "injuries" Carling had were a cover up from even her days at Bolletieri. She had been having trouble with anorexia and bullemia for years since she was at around 13 years old, and likely due to the pressure she had of always being in the spotlight. She missed a lot of time, and became extremely thin towards the mid to late eighties because of this secret. It took collapsing and being rushed to an emergency room for her to finally realize how serious it was. Also, she married Robert Seguso, and had children shortly after. She did continue her career, but she never really had the dedication after that too because she had other things in her life.

As for Katarina, I've yet to see her play in person though I've seen many articles on her in OTA magazine along with results as far back as her U14 playing events on the Ontario Nike Circuit, plus a couple of times on T.V. I've seen her on more local sports shows featuring tennis, so followers of junior tennis in Canada or Ontario should know who Zoricic is because she's one of the most promising players Nationally and Provincially.

Hard to say how far her and Beier can go, but I hope far. Beier unfortunately has a disadvantage of being fairly short, but who knows. Sonya Jeyaseelan a year ago was in the top 50 and she's only 5'2 so it's not impossible. Coincidentially Beier and Sonya played in Quebec City this fall and Sonya had to go to 3 sets to beat her. In Katarina's case, she's definetly not at the level Sharapova's at (I reckon Katarina would get thrashed in all honesty), but she's still very young, and she does have a good game (helped by a pretty tall body for someone so young), so I think as time progresses she will be able to move up more as a threat.

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