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Profiles of Seeded Players at Wimbledon
Posted: Mon June 22, 1998 at 11:25 a.m EDT
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1. Martina Hingis, Switzerland
Age: 17
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 115
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 18
Last year, the world's No. 1 player became the youngest female
in the Open Era to win a Wimbledon singles crown; this year, she
could face the player she dethroned as the top-ranked player,
seven-time champion Steffi Graf of Germany, in the final; was
dumped in straight sets by Monica Seles in the French Open
semifinals; already has suffered as many losses (5) as she did
all of last year; has won four tournaments this season,
including her second straight Australian Open title in January,
and leads the WTA Tour in earnings with over $1.4 million; has
held the No. 1 ranking for 64 consecutive weeks since displacing
Graf for the top spot on March 31, 1997; 1994 Wimbledon junior
champion.
2. Lindsay Davenport, United States
Age: 21
Height: 6'2 1/2"
Weight: 165
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 14
World's second-ranked player again will attempt to capture her
first Grand Slam singles title; reached the semifinals of the
Australian Open and the French Open, and defeated Martina Hingis
to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in February; is 11-5
lifetime at Wimbledon, but has suffered second-round losses at
the All England Club the last two years; best Wimbledon showing
was the quarterfinals in 1994; led the U.S. to a first-round Fed
Cup victory over the Netherlands in April; last season, finished
second behind Hingis with six singles titles and ended the
year ranked third in the world; captured the Olympic gold medal
in Atlanta in 1996.
3. Jana Novotna, Czech Republic
Age: 29
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 139
Plays: right-handed
Career Titles: 20
Has suffered two heartbreaking losses at the Wimbledon final in
the last five years; lost to Steffi Graf in the 1993 Wimbledon
final after taking a huge lead in the third set and wound up
crying on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder during awards ceremony;
last year, won the first set against Martina Hingis in the final
before falling in three sets; has compiled a 39-12 record
lifetime at Wimbledon; lost to Monica Seles in the French Open
quarterfinals; still in search of her first Grand Slam singles
title; captured her lone singles title of the year at the
EA-Generali Open in Linz, Austria in February and has reached
the final of three other tournaments, including this week's
Direct Line Insurance Championships in Eastbourne, England;
missed the Australian Open for third straight year as she took
her annual early-season hiatus; won the most prestigious title
of her career at last year's season-ending Chase Championships
in New York.
4. Steffi Graf, Germany
Age: 29
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 132
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 103
The former No. 1 player will make her return to the All England
Club for the first time since claiming her seventh Wimbledon
title in 1996; missed last year's Wimbledon after undergoing
season-ending knee surgery in early June; will be competing in
her first Grand Slam tournament since a quarterfinal loss to
Amanda Coetzer at last year's French Open; has compiled a
remarkable 66-5 lifetime record at Wimbledon, and a victory here
would tie her for second with Helen Wills Moody for most
Wimbledon singles titles, one behind Martina Navratilova;
returned to active competition in February in Hannover, Germany,
but strained her left hamstring one month later during a
quarterfinal match at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California;
inflammation of the right ankle kept her out of the French Open,
but she made her latest return at last week's DFS Classic in
Birmingham, England, where she reached the semifinals before
rain abandoned the event; reached the quarterfinals at this
week's Direct Line Insurance Championships in Eastbourne,
England before losing to Russian teenager Anna Kournikova; has
held the No. 1 ranking a record total of 374 weeks; was
displaced by Martina Hingis for the top spot in women's tennis
on March 31st, 1997, and could face Hingis in the Wimbledon
final.
5. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
Age: 26
Height: 5'6 1/2"
Weight: 124
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 26
Captured her third French Open title two weeks ago; is 32-11
lifetime at the All England Club, including losses to Steffi
Graf in the Wimbledon final in 1995 and '96; fell to Jana
Novotna in last year's semifinals; after going through 1997
without a singles title, captured her first singles crown this
year at the Sydney International in January before her victory
at Roland Garros; also reached the final at this week's Direct
Line Insurance Championships in Eastbourne, England; advanced to
the quarterfinals at the Australian Open; winner of four Grand
Slam titles and runner-up at eight other Grand Slam events;
first Spanish professional tennis player ever to hold a world
No. 1 ranking.
6. Monica Seles, United States
Age: 24
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 145
Plays: Left-handed (two-handed both sides)
Career Titles: 41
Just two weeks after her father passed away, she captivated the
crowd at Roland Garros and the tennis world by advancing to the
French Open final before losing to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario;
handed top-ranked Martina Hingis her fifth loss of the year with
a convincing straight-set semifinal victory; seeking the only
Grand Slam title that has eluded her; has won 16 of 21 matches
lifetime at the All England Club, but has lost in the second and
third round, respectively, the last two years; lost to Steffi
Graf in the 1992 final; led the U.S. to a first-round Fed Cup
victory over the Netherlands in April; former top-ranked player
has won nine Grand Slam titles, including four Australian Opens
and two U.S. Opens; missed 27 1/2 months after being stabbed
during a tournament in Hamburg, Germany in April 1993.
7. Venus Williams, United States
Age: 18
Height: 6'1 1/2"
Weight: 168
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career Titles: 2
American teenager still looking to find her game on grass; lost
in the first round in her Wimbledon debut last year and in her
tuneup for this year's Wimbledon was crushed by Natasha Zvereva
on her 18th birthday at this week's Direct Line Insurance
Championships in Eastbourne, England; is the only player to
defeat Martina Hingis twice this year, but lost to the
top-ranked player in the French Open quarterfinals, their fifth
meeting in 1998; captured her first professional title by
winning the IGA Tennis Classic in Oklahoma City in February and
captured her most prestigious title at the Lipton Championships
in March; has suffered only six losses in 37 matches this
season; recorded victories over her younger sister, Serena, at
the Australian Open and the Italian Open without losing a set;
fell to Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals of the Australian
Open.
8. Conchita Martinez, Spain
Age: 26
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 132
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 29
The 1994 Wimbledon title stands as her only career Grand Slam
championship; enters the All England Club as a question mark
after pulling out of this week's Heineken Trophy event in the
Netherlands with a shoulder injury; has won 23 of 28 matches at
the All England Club, but suffered her earliest Wimbledon exit
since 1992 with a third-round loss last year; ended a winless
drought of over a year by capturing last month's German Open;
advanced to her second career Grand Slam final in January at the
Australian Open, losing to Martina Hingis; fell to Iva Majoli in
the fourth round at the French Open; has advanced to at least
the quarterfinal round in 17 Grand Slam tournaments; had best
year in 1995, when she reached the semifinals at all four Grand
Slam tournaments and was named the 1995 WTA Tour Player of the
Year.
9. Amanda Coetzer, South Africa
Age: 26
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 122
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 6
Lost in her only grasscourt match at this week's Heineken Trophy
event in the Netherlands; has compiled a 9-8 record at
Wimbledon, including the quarterfinals in 1994; has lost in the
second round at the All England Club the last three years; won
her only singles title of the year at the Family Circle Cup
claycourt event in South Carolina in April; lost in the fourth
round at the Australian Open, but lost in the first round at the
French Open; was a giant-killer on tour in 1997, handing Steffi
Graf all three of her defeats before Graf underwent
season-ending knee surgery in June; captured two singles titles
in 1997 and became the first South African to crack the top 10,
finishing the year ranked fourth in the world.
10. Irina Spirlea, Romania
Age: 24
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 4
Has reached the quarterfinals in her two grasscourt tuneups for
Wimbledon, including this week's Direct Line Insurance
Championships in Eastbourne, England; had her best career
Wimbledon showing last year, reaching the fourth round, and has
won seven of 11 matches lifetime at the All England Club;
struggled in the early part of the season before winning last
month's Internationaux de Strasbourg in France for her first
title of the year; however, she followed that with a first-round
defeat at the French Open; made headlines at last year's U.S.
Open when she used obscene language in her post-match press
conference concerning Venus Williams following her three-set
semifinal loss; was subsequently fined by the WTA; also engaged
in a bumping incident with Williams during their showdown in New
York; lost to Williams' younger sister, Serena in the first
round of the Australian Open.
11. Mary Pierce, France
Age: 23
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 143
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 10
Was booed off the court following her second-round loss at the
French Open; did not compete in a grasscourt tuneup for
Wimbledon; has won eight of 11 Wimbledon matches, including a
quarterfinal showing in 1996; has won two titles in seven
tournaments played this year, capturing the Open Gaz de France
in February and the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Florida in
April; lost to Hingis in the Australian Open quarterfinals, one
year after meeting in the final at Melbourne; first and only
Grand Slam title came at the 1995 Australian Open; finished 1997
ranked seventh in the world after advancing the final of the
season-ending Chase Championships; represents France, but lives
most of the year in Florida; was voted 1997 Comeback Player of
the Year.
12. Anna Kournikova, Russia
Age: 17
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 123
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career Titles: 0
Reached the semifinals in her Wimbledon debut last year before
falling to eventual champion Martina Hingis; paid the price week
for earning her first career victory over Steffi Graf, spraining
her right thumb Thursday in her three-set quarterfinal victory
at the Direct Line Insurance Championships in Eastbourne,
England; however, she is expected to play at the All England
Club, much to the delight of male fans around the world; knocked
off four top-10 players en route to her first career final at
the Lipton Championships in March before losing to fellow teen
Venus Williams; earned first career victory in five tries over
top-ranked Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals at last month's
German Open; lost to Hingis in the third round at this year's
Australian Open and fell to Jana Novotna in a fourth-round match
that spanned two days at the French Open.
13. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland
Age: 19
Height: 5'6 1/2"
Weight: 125
Plays: Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career Titles: 3
Is surprisingly second behind countrywoman Martina Hingis with
three singles titles this year; captured the Tasmanian
International in Australia January, the Faber Grand Prix in
Germany one month later and last month's Yellow Pages Open in
Madrid; knocked off Amanda Coetzer in the first round at the
French Open en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal,
losing to eventual champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario; did not
compete in a grasscourt tournament prior to Wimbledon; has
suffered first-round losses each of the last two years at the
All England Club; has been a member of the Swiss Fed Cup team
the last three years.
14. Sandrine Testud, France
Age: 26
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 1
Reached the semifinals at this week's Heineken Trophy in the
Netherlands in her only Wimbledon tuneup; defeated Monica Seles
en route to the fourth round at last year's Wimbledon; has won
only five of 11 matches at the All England Club; advanced to her
first Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year's U.S. Open and
reached the round of eight at this year's Australian Open; lost
to Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round at the French Open; had
a breakout year in 1997, capturing her first career title in
Palermo, Italy and clinched the Fed Cup title for her country
last year in the victory over the Netherlands.
15. Dominique van Roost, Belgium
Age: 25
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 122
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 4
Has advanced to five WTA Tour finals this year, winning the ASB
Bank Classic in Auckland, New Zealand in January, but has fallen
short in four others, including last month's Yellow Pages Open
in Madrid; coming off a first-round loss at this week's Heineken
Trophy event in the Netherlands; has not fared well at
Wimbledon, going 5-6, including a first-round loss last year;
reached the third round at both the Australian and French Opens;
advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year's
Australian Open; posted her country's only two match wins in a
first-round Fed Cup loss to France in April.
16. Nathalie Tauziat, France
Age: 30
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 120
Plays: Right-handed
Career Titles: 4
Veteran will be making her 14th Wimbledon appearance; reached
her second career Wimbledon quarterfinal last year before losing
to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario; reached the semifinals at last
week's DFS Classic in Birmingham, England before rain caused the
tournament to be abandoned; lost in the first round at this
week's Direct Line Insurance Championships in Eastbourne,
England; captured her lone singles title of 1997 in Birmingham;
strong finish in the latter part of the year, including two other
final appearances, earned her a spot at the season-ending Chase
Championships in New York, where she reached the semifinals; was
a member of the Fed Cup-winning team that defeated the Netherlands
in last year's final; teamed with Alexandra Fusai to win the
deciding doubles match in the 3-2 first-round Fed Cup victory over
Belgium in April.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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