Year 2001 Players To Watch
by Prip

Last year's early list of players to watch had surprising results, to say the least. Tathiana Garbin, who had started ranked at 126, ended up reaching a ranking high of 38 before being taken out of the game due to illness. Jelena Kostanic, on the other hand, had a great start at # 82, but had a miserable year and is now perching at the edge of the top 120. With a new coach and a lot of recent changes going on in her game, the Croat will probably need a transition period that lasts up to mid April at least and then a second regulation period until just after Wimbledon before getting back on track, if nothing extraordinary happens. Nevertheless, big things are still in store for the talented young Croat.

The third player to be placed on the "To Watch" list this year is Elena Bovina of Russia. She has been keeping to the smaller events, apart from the Grand Slam events and her hometown event in Moscow. Posting steady results and even getting through qualifying in her first Grand Slam event, Roland Garros where she took out recovering top seed Mariana Diaz-Oliva, Elena has improved her ranking from just inside the top 400 to 134 at the end of last year.

At 6'3", it's not surprising that Elena has a big serve. Despite being that tall, she appears to be well coordinated, and is fairly quick around the court. Typical of any player from the Bollettieri Academy (where she spent two years training), she hits the ball very hard, but unlike most of Bollettieri's players, she is capable of more patient play. She can attribute this to having worked with coach Roustam Zabirov since the age of 11, except for the two Bollettieri years. Playing mostly from the baseline but often coming in to finish points, the strong Russian manages to get away fine despite a late backswing and reluctant footwork.

At 18, concentration is not too much of an issue with Elena, and she has a lot of determination in her head. Keeping a very intense look throughout her matches, the Russian can be counted on to dig in and play hard when the going gets tough. Because she is new to the tour, it is still uncertain how she reacts to or draws on a crowd, but with her long blonde hair and striking looks, she can count on a portion of the crowd for support. The only thing she has to really watch out for is her tendency to take her time between points and getting fresh racquets, which will very likely to rub the other players the wrong way.

2001 List of Players to Watch
(in absolutely no particular order at all)

Maria Emilia Salerni
Ana Isabella Medina Garrigues
Elena Bovina