August 1, 2008 
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Wild, Wild Women Joel Drucker Down goes Serena – twice pulling out of tournaments this month. Down goes Venus – withdrawing from LA. Ditto for Lindsay Davenport. Don’t expect to see much of Ana Ivanovic this summer in North America. Nor Maria Sharapova.
They’re all far more eager to head to Beijing for the Olympics. Now don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great how the Olympics has fueled the popularity and growth of tennis in many countries. But at heart, the motivation for these players trekking to Beijing has hardly a thing to do towards what I thought was the main mission of summer: building intensity for the U.S. Open. The Olympics is ostensibly a perk, a chance for tennis players to enjoy being part of a greater culture of sport and fame. In other words, every four years we can expect the North American summer hardcourt circuit to be gutted with excessive withdrawals, sparse fields and little of the highly-combative competition and rivalries that make tennis compelling. Do the players care that they are more or less slapping their own tour in the face? Why do I even ask? But as a number of TennisOne readers kindly (and not so kindly) pointed out after I wrote a companion column about the men’s game, the truth is that there will also be a lot of superb tennis going on this summer.
Even though she hasn’t even reached a Grand Slam final this year (or in her career), Jelena Jankovic is on the brink of attaining the number one ranking. She indeed could be the star of the summer. Having already played more events over the last 12 months than any player in the top seven, Jankovic’s superb movement, backhand and counterpunching skills make her an engaging player to watch. My hope is that she beefs up her serve and is still in sharp form come U.S. Open time. Down the ranks, how can one astutely assess the likes of Ivanovic, Sharapova or the Williams sisters when they’re hardly to be seen? It’s frustrating, and cruising the Internet to find out what time their Olympic matches will be is hardly going to make things better. Probably not until the second week of the U.S. Open will we have any idea how well these superstars are playing. Down the Ranks So instead, let’s look down the ranks to see who might well gain from this summer’s wide open universe. I’ve been impressed this year by the resiliency of Elena Dementieva. Her rock-solid baseline game has been quite forceful. It would be great to see if she made a big run in New York. I’ve less faith in such other veterans as the engaging Patty Schnyder, the kindly Daniela Hantuchova, and the mercurial Nadia Petrova. And I’m massively clueless when it comes to assessing Svetlana Kuznetsova. Her tools are significant, but it’s hard to tell what goes on in her head on big occasions.
But it’s the younger players who have the most upside. Anna Chakvetadze, Agnieszka Radwanska, Victoria Azarenka, Agnes Szavay, and Alize Cornet all stand on the brink of making big moves. Chakvetadze has been around a bit longer, and last year’s run to the U.S. Open semis was impressive. It will be interesting to see how the others compete in New York. Like Chakvetadze, Radwanska is an adroit counterpuncher. The others have big-time power, so let’s see if each can harness it in the year’s last Slam. Then there are the awkward adolescents. Dinara Safina’s run to the French Open finals was perhaps a breakout. Still only in her teens, Nicole Vaidisova has stumbled up, down, and back up. This spring she ended her coaching relationship with her stepfather to work with David Felgate (former coach of Tim Henman). I’ll be curious to see how she enhances her game. Marion Bartoli’s playing style and tortured demeanor have earned her a cult following. It’s a pity that she has such a horrible service motion and often competes with the joy of a dental patient. So many women, so many depleted tournaments – and the U.S. Open less than a month away. It’s a great time for someone to step up and grab hold of the year. Or better yet: Justine, we miss you dearly. As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
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