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My Top 5 Performers
1. Venus
Williams
2. Jennifer
Capriati
3. Andre Agassi
4. Lleyton
Hewitt
5. Gustavo
Kuerten
5a. Goran
Ivanisevic |
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Overrated
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Gustavo Kuerten
Yes, he led the Champions Race for most of the year. But on surfaces other than
clay, he was utterly mediocre. A player who never in his career has made it past
the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam other than the French Open, Kuerten bailed on
Wimbledon and went through a Kafelnikovian streak in the fall, losing nine of
his last 10
matches.
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Underrated
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Jelena Dokic
Her father mercifully absent from the headlines, the Yugoslavian quietly turned
in a stellar year, winning three titles, including the Italian Open, and
finishing 2001 ranked No. 8. An all-surface player and one of the few endowed
with the power to hang with the Big Babe Brigade, 18-year-old Dokic should
continue her climb next season, particularly now that the age-eligibility
shackles are off.
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Annoying
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Highly suspect "injuries"
Back pain, indigestion, wrist irritation, the sniffles. The trend of players
using "injuries" to withdraw from events is verging on the absurd. The
Williams sisters have been the most egregious offenders, but they were hardly
alone. Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis both bailed on the Canadian Open at
the last minute, but miraculously recoverd to play in the following weeks. After
three idle weeks, Amelie Mauresmo pulled out of a Wimbledon tuneup citing
"exhaustion." Even Pete Sampras was fined for opting out of the D.C.
tournament with an 11th-hour "hand injury." These owies turn off fans
and -- more critically -- sponsors. They also perpetuate the unfortunate image
of the tennis player as a pampered prima
donna.
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Breakthrough
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Lleyton Hewitt
For all the controversy he courted, Hewitt was fast gaining a reputation as a
talented player unable to summon a game when the stakes were highest. Though
ranked in the top five for more than a year, heading into the 2001 U.S. Open he
had not only failed to win a major but also hadn't even won a Masters Series
event. That ended in Flushing Meadows, where he relied on pinpoint returns,
exceptional quickness and unshakable will to reel off seven wins, including a
comprehensive thrashing of Pete Sampras in the final. He punctuated his smashing
year by winning the Masters Cup in Sydney -- thus finishing 2001 as the
top-ranked
player.
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Uplifting
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Jennifer Capriati
If you don't know her tale by now, you likely haven't figured out how to log
onto the Internet either, so there's no sense repeating it here. Says no less a
figure than John McEnroe: "She's the greatest story in sports in the last
20 years." Runner-up: Goran Ivanisevic. Destined to be recalled as a
first-rate flake, the 30-year-old Croat armed with an elephant-gun serve and a
devil-may-care demeanor was the unlikely Wimbledon
champ.
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MVP
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Venus Williams
Never mind what the rankings say. After defending her Wimbledon and U.S. Open
titles, Reebok's $40 million woman left little doubt that she's the queen of the
hill.
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Storyline to follow in 2002
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Sisters' seriousness
Will Venus and Serena cease treating tennis as temp work and realize their
destiny as the No. 1 and 2 players? Will Andy Roddick avoid a sophomore slump
and continue his rapid ascent? Will Pete Sampras get a second wind or continue
his slow burn? Can Martina Hingis find her misplaced confidence? Will Anna
Kournikova finally ... oh, never
mind.
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