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Profiles of Seeded Players at Wimbledon
Posted: Mon June 22, 1998 at 11:24 a.m EDT
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1. Pete Sampras, United States
Age: 27
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 170
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 54
Current world number one is looking for his fifth Wimbledon
crown in the last six years; won three straight titles from
1993-95 before his victory over Cedric Pioline in last year's
final; after going 1-2 in first three years at the All-England
Club, has amassed a 37-3 record at the event; struggling this
season despite winning two tournaments; lost number one ranking
to Marcelo Rios in March for four weeks and was in peril of
losing the top spot several times this season to Rios and Petr
Korda; needs to win crown to have a shot at retaining the top
spot; an early-round loss guarantees a a new No. 1; enters the
All England Club having lost three of his last five matches,
including a third-round losss in his final Wimbledon warmup at
the Stella Artois Championships; was ousted by Karol Kucera in
the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and stunned by Ramon
Delgado in the second round of the French Open; can match idol
Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg with 11 Grand Slam titles and move
within one of Roy Emerson's record of 12; his classic
serve-and-volley game makes him a favorite to win the title; is
63-14 lifetime on grass.
2. Marcelo Rios, Chile
Age: 23
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 140
Plays: Left-handed
Career Titles: 10
Has had a breakout year in 1998, leading the ATP Tour with five
titles and enjoyed a brief reign as the world's No. 1 player;
also leads the ATP Tour in match wins with 40; has won Super 9
titles in Key Biscayne, Florida, Indian Wells, California and
the German Open in Hamburg, as well as the Raiffeisen Grand Prix
in St. Polten, Austria and the BellSouth Open in New Zealand;
dethroned Pete Sampras as the No. 1 player in the world with his
victory at the Lipton Championships March 30th; an elbow injury
cost him the top spot after only four weeks when he was unable
to defend his Monte Carlo Open title in April; reached the
quarterfinals of the French Open but lost to eventual champion
Carlos Moya, blowing his chance at his second reign as the No. 1
player; won his first match at Wimbledon last year when he
advanced to the fourth round but lost his only grasscourt match
of the year at this week's Nottingham Open; will become No. 1 if
he wins th title.
3. Petr Korda, Czech Republic
Age: 30
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 160
Plays: Left-handed
Career Titles: 10
Won his first career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in
January; also a winner at the Qatar Open; started the season
with a 14-match winning streak but has gone 12-10 since; has
squandered five opportunities at gaining the number one ranking
but is currently ranked third; can earn No. 1 ranking by winning
Wimbledon over a player other than Marcelo Rios; has reached the
fourth round in three of his last four appearances at the All
England Club; won the 1986 Wimbledon juniors doubles title.
4. Greg Rusedski, Great Britain
Age: 24
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 190
Plays: Left-handed
Career Titles: 6
Hard-serving Brit was a quarterfinalist at the All England Club
last year, but is a question mark entering this year's event
having sprained his left ankle last week at the Stella Artois
Championships; reached his first career Grand Slam final at last
year's U.S. Open, losing to Patrick Rafter; began the season
with a 23-3 record but has won just two of his last eight
matches since; became the first British player to qualify for
the season-ending ATP World Championship in December. captured
lone title of 1998 at the European Community Championship in
February; also posted runner-up finishes at the Croatian Indoors
and Champions Cup events earlier this season; needs to win
Wimbledon to have any shot at claiming the number one ranking;
two of his six career titles have come on grass.
5. Carlos Moya, Spain
Age: 21
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 177
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 5
Earned his first Grand Slam championship at last month's French
Open; also a winner at the Super 9 Monte Carlo Open; is 1-2
lifetime at Wimbledon and just 2-6 on grass over his career;
could earn the number one ranking by reaching the final; aiming
to become the first player since Bjorn Borg (1980) to win the
French Open and Wimbledon in the same year; has won won only one
of two matches on grass this year, reaching the second round at
last week's Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany; proved himself
on faster surfaces by reaching the final of the 1997 Australian
Open.
6. Patrick Rafter, Australia
Age: 24
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 175
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 3
Won his first Grand Slam title last August at the U.S. Open;
also reached the semifinals of the French Open last year; has
reached the fourth round at Wimbledon two straight years; won
the Gold Flake Open in April but then dropped five of his next
six matches; has reached the semifinals at this week's Heineken
Trophy in the Netherlands; went winless in two tournaments on
clay this season; must win the title to be in position to gain
the number one ranking.
7. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia
Age: 24
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 179
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 16
Has won two titles this season, including last week's Gerry
Weber Open on grass, but has also suffered nine early-round
losses; is 28-8 lifetime on grass and 9-4 at Wimbledon, with a
quarterfinal result in 1995 his best showing; lost in the fourth
round last year; has not reached the third round in his last two
Grand Slam tournaments and did not play at the Australian Open
in January after spraining his left knee in a skiing accident in
the Austrian Alps; possesses excellent return of serve to go
along with all-court game; has a long shot to claim the number
one ranking but needs to win the title.
8. Cedric Pioline, France
Age: 29
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 175
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 2
Was a surprise finalist at Wimbledon last year after reaching
the fourth round in 1996 and the quarterfinals the year before;
has had a strong season, advancing to the final of the Guardian
Direct Cup at London in March and the Monte Carlo Open at Monaco
in April; won three five-set matches en route to the semifinals
at the French Open two weeks ago; has reached at least the third
round in his last eight Grand Slams and the fourth round in his
last six Grand Slam events.
9. Richard Krajicek, Netherlands
Age: 25
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 190
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 14
Became the first Dutchman to win a Grand Slam singles title with
his Wimbledon triumph in 1996, losing just one set the entire
tournament; fell in the fourth round to Tim Henman last year;
possesses one of the hardest serves in the game and the grass
suits his serve-and-volley style; won at St. Petersburg for his
lone title in 1998; has won 42 of 57 career matches on grass,
capturing three titles on the surface; was forced to withdraw
from his quarterfinal match at this week's Heineken Trophy in
the Netherlands with a left knee injury but expects to play at
the All England Club next week.
10. Alex Corretja, Spain
Age: 24
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 155
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 5
The 1998 French Open finalist has won just two matches at
Wimbledon over the last four years; fell in the third round of
the Australian Open in January but has rebounded to have a
strong first half of the year, winning at Dubai in February and
reaching the finals of the Super 9 German Open in May and Roland
Garros two weeks ago; fell to 3-4 lifetime on grass with a
first-round setback at last week's Gerry Weber Open; despite his
breakthrough at the French Open, has failed to reach the fourth
round in seven of his last 10 Grand Slam events.
11. Jonas Bjorkman, Sweden
Age: 26
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 166
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 3
Has started off slow this season, suffering 11 early-round
defeats; reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in
January; is 4-4 at Wimbledon, with his best showing a
fourth-round finish in 1994; advanced to only his second ATP
Tour semifinal of the year this week at the Nottingham Open;
also a semifinalist in Dubai in February; had a breakout year in
1997, winning an ATP Tour-high 69 matches and finishing a
career-high fourth; also led his country to the Davis Cup title,
sweeping the United States in the final; captured his first
three career singles titles last season, prevailing in Auckland,
New Zealand, Indianapolis and Stockholm, Sweden and advanced to
his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the U.S. Open.
12. Tim Henman, Britain
Age: 23
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 155
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 2
The number two British player brings a 21-16 record into
Wimbledon, the site of his most emotional triumphs; has reached
six quarterfinals this season, including the final of the Sydney
International in January and the semifinals at Key Biscayne in
March; plays his best in England, making it the quarterfinals at
the All England Club the past two years and the quarterfinala at
the Guardian Cup in London in March; grandfather Henry
Billington was a regular competitor at the All England Club in
the 1940's and early 50's, reaching the third round in 1948,
1950-51.
13. Andre Agassi, United States
Age: 28
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 165
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 36
Making his first appearance at Wimbledon since a first-round
loss to Doug Flach in 1996; the former number one player has
again jump-started his career, winning 30 of 38 matches this
year after going 12-12 in 1997; has won two titles (Sybase Open,
Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic) this season and reached the
final of the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne in March and
the BMW Open at Munich in May; did not play a warmup event for
Wimbledon and has not seen action since getting ousted in five
sets in the first round at the French Open by 18-year-old
Russian qualifier Marat Safin; trying to win Wimbledon for the
second time, having prevailed in 1992; one of only three men in
the field to have won the crown; is 23-7 lifetime on grass.
14. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia
Age: 26
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 180
Plays: Left-handed
Career Titles: 21
Hard-serving lefty has lost in the first round in his last three
Grand Slam tournaments and has failed to get past the second
round since reaching the quarterfinals at the 1997 Australian
Open; is 48-18 lifetime on grass and 31-10 at Wimbledon, with
runner-up finishes in 1992 and `94; won in his hometown of
Split, Croatia in February, but has lost in the first round nine
times this season; his poor play over the past year and a half
has dropped him from number four in 1996 to his current ranking
of No. 24.
15. Karol Kucera, Slovakia
Age: 24
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 165
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 3
Snapped a three-match losing streak in Grand Slam events by
reaching his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian
Open -- just the first time he got past the third round at any
Grand Slam event since he turned professional in 1992; started
the season strong, guiding Slovakia to the Hopman Cup, capturing
the Sydney International crown, in addition to his fine play at
Melbourne; reached the semifinals at the German Open in May but
had to retire with blisters on his feet; is just 3-4 all-time at
Wimbledon and owns a 14-9 career record on grass.
16. Felix Mantilla, Spain
Age: 23
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 162
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 6
Played in his first Grand Slam semifinal two weeks ago, losing
to eventual winner Carlos Moya; lost in the first round in his
Wimbledon debit last year; was a finalist at the Dubai Tennis
Open in February; won four titles in 1997, all on clay, and has
six career singles titles; won his first grasscourt match this
week at the Heineken Trophy in the Netherlands before losing in
the third round.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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