Player Profiles: Women

Kim Clijsters (1)

Birthdate: June 8, 1983 Country: Belgium Height: 5'8" Weight: 150 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 16

Seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam event for the first time in her career; earned top world ranking on August 11, the 12th player to reach gain that honor and first Belgian since the inception of computer rankings in 1975; she is the first to rise to No. 1 without any Grand Slam titles, ending Serena Williams' 57-week reign atop the rankings; earlier in August, she took over No. 1 spot in the doubles ranking for one week and is only the fifth woman to hold the No. 1 singles and doubles rankings during her career, joining Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport; tied with Justine Henin-Hardenne for the WTA Tour lead in titles with six, with two coming during the summer hardcourt season; four titles were won on the cement; was routed by fellow Belgian Henine-Hardenne in the final of the French Open; has reached at least the semifinals in all but one tournament this year, finally losing in the third round at Toronto last week; won at Sydney to begin the season; reached her first Australian Open semifinal, leading Williams 5-1 in the third set and holding two match points before losing in three sets; reached the finals at Antwerp and Scottsdale before winning the event at Indian Wells; followed that triumph with a semifinal at Miami; lost another final at Berlin, but became the first Belgian ever to win the Italian Open; passed $1 million mark in season earnings at Rome; other Grand Slam runner-up showing also came at the French Open; lost in the fourth round of the U.S. Open last year after reaching a career-best quarterfinal in 2002.

Justine Henin-Hardenne (2)

Birthdate: June 1, 1982 Country: Belgium Height: 5'5" Weight: 126 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 12

Captured her first career major at the French Open; ended Serena Williams' bid for fifth straight Grand Slam title with a win in the semifinals; became the first Belgian to win a Grand Slam crown; WTA ranking rose to a career-high No. 3 following Roland Garros; tied Kim Clijsters for the WTA Tour lead in titles with her sixth in the Canadian Open; has won 12 matches in a row, also taking the crown at San Diego, and 16 of her last 17 - her only loss in that span was to Williams in the semifinals at Wimbledon; reached the semifinals at Sydney in January before posting her career-best Australian Open finish by getting to the semifinals; advanced to the semifinals at Antwerp and saved a match point in the final against Monica Seles to capture the Dubai crown in February; upset Williams and ended the American's 25-match winning streak to win the final at Charleston in April; followed that triumph with a semifinal effort at Amelia Island; became the second woman in German Open history to defend her title when she saved three match points in the final against Clijsters in May; has advanced to the fourth round three straight year at the U.S. Open - her worst major.

Lindsay Davenport (3)

Birthdate: June 8, 1976 Country: United States Height: 6'2 1/2" Weight: 175 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 38

Still trying to regain her world No. 1 form after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in January, 2002; spent nine weeks on crutches and underwent intensive rehabilitation before returning to action in mid-July 2002; claimed lone title of the year at Tokyo in February and was runner-up four times, including at hardcourt events at Indian Wells and Los Angeles; reached the final this week at New Haven; her 38 WTA Tour singles titles ranks her 10th on the all-time list, including three Grand Slam crowns; her first major came at the 1998 U.S. Open and added the trophies of the 1999 Wimbledon and 2000 Australian Open to her haul; is 42-11 lifetime at the U.S. Open, having reached at least the semifinals five of the last six years.

Venus Williams (4)

Withdrew from the tournament with a stomach muscle injury.

Amelie Mauresmo (5)

Birthdate: July 5, 1979 Country: France Height: 5'9" Weight: 152 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 9

Missed Wimbledon due to a rib muscle injury; returned to action this month at the Canadian Open and lost in the quarterfinals; advanced to the semifinals at this week's event in New Haven; injuries have been the story for this talented player; missed the Australian Open with right knee cartilage inflammation that kept her off the court for nearly four months; returned for the Paris and advanced to the final; missed more time with an acute throat infection but won her only title of the year in Warsaw in March; was runner-up at the Italian Open before losing in the quarterfinals at the French Open; made it to the semifinals at the U.S. Open for the first time in her career last year after advancing to the quarterfinals in 2001; reached her lone Grand Slam final at the 1999 Australian Open.

Jennifer Capriati (6)

Birthdate: March 29, 1976 Country: United States Height: 5'8" Weight: 134 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 13

Triumph this week at New Haven, to win her first tournament since the 2002 Australian Open; struggled early in the season due to off-season surgery to remove sun spots on both eyes; was runner-up at Miami in April and Stanford last month; also reached semifinals at Dubai, Indian Wells, Amelia Island, Berlin and Eastbourne and quarterfinals at Rome and Wimbledon; has not been able to beat the players ranked above her in order to break out of her title drought; had to withdraw from Toronto last week with a right pectoral strain; owns three career Grand Slam; is 25-11 lifetime at the U.S. Open, reaching the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals last year.

Anastasia Myskina (7)

Birthdate: July 8, 1981 Country: Russia Height: 5'8 1/2" Weight: 130 1/2 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 4

Achieved a career-best Grand Slam showing at the Australian Open in January; collected her third career singles title at Doha, cracking the world top-10 rankings for the first time at No. 10 and surpassing $1 million in the WTA Tour final; reached the quarterfinals at Dubai before enduring consecutive first-round defeats at Indian Wells and Miami; bounced back in April by winning Sarasota; reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time; helped Russia reach the Fed Cup semifinals; has not played well during the summer hardcourt season; has never advanced past the third round in four appearances at the U.S. Open.

Chanda Rubin (8)

Birthdate: February 18, 1976 Country: United States Height: 5'6 1/4" Weight: 128 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 7

Won a pair of tournaments for the second year in a row, triumphing at Madrid and Eastbourne; had advanced to at least the fourth round at five straight Grand Slams until losing in the third round at Wimbledon; reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in January; also advanced to the semifinals at the Pan Pacific Open later that month but withdrew from Memphis with a left knee injury suffered in Tokyo; was a quarterfinalist at Indian Wells in March and then returned to the top 10 for the first time since October 1996; reached the quarterfinal on hard courts at Miami in April and at San Diego in July; withdrew from Los Angeles because of a right shoulder tendinitis and the right shoulder rotator cuff tendinitis with a partial tear.

Daniela Hantuchova (9)

Birthdate: April 23, 1983 Country: Slovakia Height: 5'11 1/4" Weight: 123 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 1

Has not been able to build on her breakout season of 2002 and now is dealing rumors that she has an eating disorder; the tall and slim Slovakian reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and became the first woman from her country to be ranked among the top five in January, when she also appeared in the Sydney quarterfinals; got to another quarterfinal at the Paris Indoors and the semifinals at Antwerp in February; after a poor spring hardcourt season, played well on the clay, with a quarterfinal showings at Charleston, Amelia Island, and the German Open; lost in the second round at the French Open, but advanced to the quarterfinals at Eastbourne on grass; has lost in the third round or earlier in four U.S. Open prep tournaments this summer; reached the quarterfinals at Flushing last year.

Magdalena Maleeva (10)

Birthdate: March 10, 1976 Country: Bulgaria Height: 5'6 1/4" Weight: 123 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 10

Captured her first career grasscourt title in July at Birmingham and now has won tournaments on all surfaces; with her win, climbed to No. 12 in the rankings for her highest position since October 27, 1996; broke out of a slump earlier in June by reaching the fourth round of the French Open; has lost in the early rounds 13 times this year; reached three other quarterfinals, including Los Angeles in July; best result at a Grand Slam was the quarterfinals at the 1992 U.S. Open.

Elena Dementieva (11)

Birthdate: October 15, 1981 Country: Russia Height: 5'11" Weight: 141 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 1

Won her first career title at Amelia Island on clay in April; defeated four seeds en route to the crown, including world No. 4 Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semifinals and world No. 6 Lindsay Davenport in the final; lost in the first round at the Australian Open and the French Open; reached the semifinals at the Paris Indoors in February, the fourth round at Miami in March and the quarterfinals at Sarasota in April; has reached a pair of quarterfinals on grass at Birmingham and the Ordina Open; advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second straight year; her best showings during the summer hardcourt season were semifinal finishes at Toronto and New Haven; her best Grand Slam result was a semifinal showing at the U.S. Open in 2000.

Conchita Martinez (12)

Birthdate: April 16, 1972 Country: Spain Height: 5'7" Weight: 130 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 32

Reached the final at Eastbourne in July and the semifinals at Indian Wells in March; appeared in four other quarterfinals, including the French Open; reached the quarterfinals at Rome, recording two top-10 wins at a tournament for the first time since 1997; advanced to the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the 11th time in Paris, but first at a major since 2001 Wimbledon; lost in the early rounds this summer at Los Angeles, San Diego and New Haven; appeared in two semifinals at the U.S. Open in 1995 and 1996.

Vera Zvonareva (13)

Birthdate: September 7, 1984 Country: Russia Height: 5'7 3/4" Weight: 130 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 1

Is having a breakthrough season; won her first WTA Tour title at Bol, Croatia in April; also reached the semifinals at Vienna in July and seven more quarterfinals, including four Tier I events and a Grand Slam; at Roland Garros, the 18-year-old from Moscow defeated Venus Williams to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal; her win over world No. 3 Williams was her first over a top-five player; broke into the world top 20 for the first time; one of five Russians to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon - a Grand Slam record; withdrew from San Diego and Los Angeles due to a left elbow injury; advanced to the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open last week; played the 100th match of her career in the first round at New Haven this week but lost in the second round; reached the third round in her debut at the U.S. Open last season.

Amanda Coetzer (14)

Birthdate: October 22, 1971 Country: South Africa Height: 5'2 1/4" Weight: 119 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 9

Snapped a two-year title drought at Acapulco in May; reached the quarterfinals in Sydney to start the season; was runner-up in Memphis before her triumph in Mexico; continued her successful streak in Indian Wells, upsetting the defending champion and third seed Daniela Hantuchova en route to a quarterfinal finish; posted mediocre results until advancing to the quarterfinals early this month at Los Angeles; at the U.S. Open, she has alternated first- and third-round losses since reaching the quarterfinals in 1998.

Ai Sugiyama (15)

Birthdate: July 5, 1975 Country: Japan Height: 5'4 1/4" Weight: 121 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 4

Reached the fourth round at the French Open to advance past the third round at a Grand Slam since making the fourth round of Roland Garros in 2002; matched that result at Wimbledon; struggled at the season until Scottsdale in March, when she claimed her fourth career singles title - her first at a Tier II event - over Kim Clijsters; later reached the semifinals at Rome; advanced to the semifinals at Los Angeles this summer; paired with Clijsters to win the French Open and Wimbledon women's doubles crowns; has lost in the second round at the U.S. Open the last three years and seven of the last eight appearances.

Elena Bovina (16)

Birthdate: March 10, 1983 Country: Russia Height: 6'2 1/2" Weight: 159 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 2

Recorded her best Grand Slam showing at last year's U.S. Open; started the season with her fifth career WTA Tour semifinal appearance at Gold Coast; reached the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time; after making early exits at Tokyo and Scottsdale, she reached the fourth round at Indian Wells, did not win consecutive matches until last week at Toronto, where she advanced to the quarterfinals.