June 18, 2004
Wimbledon Preview - The Dark Horses
LONDON - There are some players that are naturally gifted when it comes to
playing on grass, and with Wimbledon just around the corner, they are eager
to show that they can play with the big girls. We now have a look at the dark
horses of the tournament - in other words, the unheralded players who we
think have a good chance of making some noise here and perhaps, draw
permitting, making it through a few rounds and maybe into the second week.
Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
Making the junior final of Wimbledon in 1995 was a sign of things to come for
the American-born Tanasugarn, who lives and trains in Thailand. Since then,
she has achieved many successes on grass courts, including early on the ITF
Circuit with four tournament wins, as well as making the final of Birmingham
in 2000 and two quarterfinal appearances in 2003 and this year. Her greatest
achievement is making the fourth round of Wimbledon for five straight years
between 1998 and 2002, and in seven years has compiled a 17-7 record at the
Grand Slam. Her overall grass court record is 40-23 - the sixth most number
of grass court match wins of any active player on Tour. Ranked No.60 and
unseeded coming into this year's Wimbledon, she plays world No.86 Anna-Lena
Groenefeld of Germany in the first round.
Magui Serna (ESP)
The Spaniard's mix of angles and slices works well on the slick grass courts,
which is clear when one looks at her history on the surface. Her overall
grasscourt record is 27-21, which includes a 9-6 mark at Wimbledon. Although
she has not made it past the second round at the All England Club in a few
years, she made the fourth round in 1998, and improved that result by making
the quarterfinals in 2000, defeating newly-crowned French Open champion Mary
Pierce along the way. Ranked No.49 this week, she opens against Eleni
Daniilidou of Greece, the No.30 seed, who also enjoys playing on the grass,
having won the title in 's-Hertogenbosch in 2002, making the fourth round of
Wimbledon as well that year.
Akiko Morigami (JPN)
Ranked No.56 in the world, Morigami has had many successes on grass courts.
On the ITF Circuit she won titles in Saga, Japan in 2001 as well as in
Surbiton earlier this year. She also made the semifinals of Gifu, Japan last
year. She has had success in Birmingham, making the round of 16 the last two
years, and at Wimbledon last year she made the third round. In her young grass
court career she has a 5-4 record, including 2-1 at Wimbledon. This year,
Morigami faces a tough test in the first round against No.15 seed Patty
Schnyder of Swizterland.
Shinobu Asagoe (JPN)
Ranked No.42 in the world this week, Asagoe has fond memories of last year's
Wimbledon, where she upset the No.9 seed Daniela Hantuchova in the second
round 12-10 in the third set on the way to a fourth round appearance. She
equalled this career best Grand Slam recently at Roland Garros. Asagoe also
had a stunning run to the final of Birmingham last year. Her career grasscourt
record is 13-9, including 4-3 at Wimbledon. Asagoe faces a tough test against
No.26 seed Lisa Raymond in the first round next week.
Saori Obata (JPN)
Of the three Japanese women who have recently moved up towards the higher
rankings, Obata is currently the highest at No.41. Although she only has a
5-8 career record on grass, including 1-2 at Wimbledon, the 26-year-old is a
threat on the grass, having won the ITF Circuit grass court tournament last
year in Fukuoka, Japan, as well as making the final of Gifu that year. Obata
opens at Wimbledon against Czech qualifier Eva Birnerova.
Tatiana Golovin (FRA)
The Russian-born Frenchwoman , currently ranked a career-high No.50 in the
world, is our last dark horse primarily based on the fantastic result she
enjoyed at Birmingham just a few weeks ago. In her first grass tournament on
the WTA Tour, Golovin had straight-sets wins over No.15 seed Elena Likhovtseva,
Daniela Hantuchova, the aforementioned Asagoe and Anne Kremer before taking
out No.9 seeded compatriot Emilie Loit in three sets to make the final, where
she lost in three sets to No.3 seed Maria Sharapova. Golovin faces
75th-ranked Russian Alina Jidkova in the first round at Wimbledon, which
starts Monday.
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