Up and Coming

Even though the five or so players atop the ATP and WTA rankings have seemed to establish their dominance, each year brings a new wave of young players seeking to overthrow the hierarchy. Or at least, climb up the rankings. Here are two players who I think have made great progress the past week.

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ANNA LENA GROENEFELD of Germany reached two WTA finals over the last two weeks. These two were her first two career final appearances in singles, and with them she is poised to make her first entry into the Top 20.

I first saw her on TV playing in the 2005 Hyundai Hopman Cup with Tommy Haas. She looked reasonably tall (5'11") with a great serve (good knee bend, spine flexibility), entertaining game, but a little chunky in the fitness department. She held up well in her singles and doubles matches; Germany's fall came when Tommy Haas had to retire with injury from his singles and their doubles match against Argentina.

She's had considerably greater success as a doubles player this year, scoring wins at Pattaya with Marion Bartoli, Toronto with Martina Navratilova, and Bali with Meghan Shaughnessy. She and Meghan work with the same coach and travel together these days, and at Bali it was clear that Anna-Lena had focused on her fitness. The two defeated two red-hot Chinese players, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi in straight sets.

Last week, Anna-Lena reached the final of the China Open, where she encountered Maria Kirilenko. Both of them were seeking their first career title, but in the end Kiri prevailed 6-3,6-4. This past weekend, Anna-Lena again attempted to win in the final, but she faced even tougher competition in Luxembourg in the form of Kim Clijsters, who was playing in her first tournament since winning the US Open. Clijsters won 6-2,6-4.

Still, these results are not bad for the 20-year-old, who debuted in April 2003 and began this year ranked #69. She's now ranked #19.

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Another youngster who jumped up the rankings this week, ANDY MURRAY of Great Britain came into the Thailand Open as a wild card after Tim Henman pulled out. He then proceeded to tough out matches with the higher-ranked players. He entered the Top 100 with a win over Robin Soderling, followed by a defeat of red-hot Robby Ginepri and home crowd favorite Paradorn Srichaphan. This performance brought him into his first career final--and it was against the #1 player in the world, Roger Federer.

Murray first made his mark this year at Wimbledon. After Tim Henman crashed out in the second round, Murray made waves by going through the first and second rounds in straight sets before losing to David Nalbandian in five sets. He was ahead two sets, but cramps and fatigue did him in.

This time, Murray's fitness was not a factor in his loss. Though he says that facing Federer fazed him, he went for his shots and acquitted himself well, losing 3-6,5-7. Afterwards, Federer had compliments for Andy's game.

From TheScotsman:
"He's got a repertoire of shots, he has slice, and his volley is alright. He reads games well," said Federer. "He has potential to become a good player. Consistency is what's missing in his game, and he's not 100 per cent sure of his game."

Though he began this year ranked #411, Murray is now ranked #72 in the world; he rose 37 spots last week. With all the positive press he's been getting from the British media, he's expected to rise even higher.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 12:23 PM