by Ed Toombs
We pay tribute this week's to three of the hot hands in tennis, veteran Magdalena Maleeva and Argentine adolescents Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian. And we also pay tribute to some intrepid Davis Cup warriors who literally had hot and cold hands.
Teenage Argentines shine in South America
It is well known that Argentina has become not only the dominant South American tennis nation, but also one of the world's tennis powers. The presence of seven Argentines in the top 100 (all ranking mentions will refer to the Entry Ranking) speaks for itself. And just in case anyone might think that this success is a flash in the pan, consider the emergence of two former junior stars now making waves on the tour: Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian. The teenagers ? 18 and 19 years old respectively ? s tood out at this week's tournament in Viña del Mar, Chile, with Coria reaching the semifinals (as of this writing) and Nalbandian the quarterfinals.Coria's rise to prominence from the junior ranks, where he was the world's best in 1999, was startling. He began 2000 with a ranking of #737, and by year end he was already checking in at #88. Late last year he showed he was more than ready for the big events by outrageously dominating the tough Copa Ericsson Challenger circuit in Latin America, winning four straight tournaments on both hard courts and clay. It took tour regular Gastón Gaudio to bring Coria's 20-match winning streak to a close, at the season-ending Grán Copa Ericsson.
This season Coria has shown no signs of nerves at the bigger tour events. He has already reached the quarterfinals in Bogotá, in addition to his fine showing in Chile this week. His youthful good looks, dynamic tennis and confident swagger has already made him a major draw at the South American tournaments, and even made him the subject of a photo shoot at the Australian Open. The rest of the world will surely be discovering Guillermo Coria very soon.
If Coria is the hare of South American teen tennis, David Nalbandian is the tortoise. A year older than Coria, Nalbandian was also a junior star in the late 1990s, notably winning the 1999 U.S. Open final over Roger Federer and losing to? Coria in the 1999 Roland-Garros final.
David struggled initially to make his mark at the professional level, but on the strength of successive quarterfinals in Bogotá and Viña del mar appears to be ready to rumble on the main tour now. The discreet Nalbandian, one of the rare redheads in Argentina, has impressed observers with a mature, all-court game that makes up in precision and variety what it might lack in power.
Certainly all eyes will be on the two rising teenage stars when the ATP makes a stop in Buenos Aires, for the first Argentine tour event since 1995.
Nice wins for Maggie indoors
Many of the top women are exercising their tennis prowess on the European indoor circuit these days. The biggest story ? and a very gratifying one at that ? has been the marvelous form displayed by the veteran Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva.
Photo by Christopher Gerby, On The Line
After a slow start to the season, Magdalena has been on fire in the indoor events, reaching the semifinals in Tokyo and Paris, and the finals (as of this writing) in Nice, in successive weeks. Most notable was her straight-set defeat of world #3 Venus Williams in the Nice semifinal.
Maggie Maleeva had been a top 10 player in the '90s, reaching a high of #4 in 1996, but many fans had completely forgotten about her in recent years. Understandable, since 1998 and 1999 were basically lost years for the youngest of the Maleeva sisters. Maggie missed 11 months recovering from shoulder surgery, and then unluckily suffered a stress fracture in her forearm shortly after she returned to the tour in 1999. Maleeva had also seemed to have difficulty dedicating herself wholly to tennis, as she has always had many off-court interests. Among them, as our Chris Gerby has noted in past reports, was her role in the anti-Communist movement in her native Bulgaria.
Maggie had shown some fine signs of a return to form in late 2000, reaching the Luxembourg final in September and claiming the coveted On The Line Comeback Player of the Year award. After her fine run of success this month, she should be ranked #16 or higher, depending on the result of her Nice final against another resurgent player, Amélie Mauresmo.
Maggie Maleeva will turn 26 in April, so she should be in her prime. She is a versatile player who marries a strong baseline game with an increased willingness to adventure to the net. "I didn't start the year well," Maleeva told the press in Nice, "but it's a long season. And there are still three Grand Slam tournaments left to play." We wish her well as she attempts to translate her indoor success to the hard courts and clay this spring.
Davis Cup blows hot and cold
We salute the exploits of Yevgeny Kafelnikov's Russians, Roger Federer's Swiss, and the six other winners in first round play in the World Group of Davis Cup last weekend. But some of the most intriguing drama, as always, takes place in the more obscure zonal groups, where extreme meteorological contrasts were evident.Brrrr! The India-China tie was played in an indoor arena in wintry Beijing. When the Indians arrived on the scene, they were shocked to see that the arena's heating system had "mysteriously" broken down, and the players were forced to compete in sub-freezing conditions. "I couldn't feel my fingers", lamented one of the lads from the tropics, Mahesh Bhupathi, after a practice session. Led by their ace Leander Paes, who played his matches in a track suit and woolen cap, the Indians survived the fr eezing conditions and overcame a game Chinese challenge to prevail 3-2.
Hot hot hot! Quite the opposite was the case in Ascunción, Paraguay, where Venezuela challenged the home nation in a tie that was hotly-contested in every sense of the word. A heat wave had descended on the Paraguayan capital, and for all three days the players faced 40 degree temperatures (104 Fahrenheit) and relentless sun. Ramón Delgado leveled the tie at 2-2 for Paraguay on the final day with a courageous 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 over Jimy Szymanski. "It was really tough out there for them under the sun," commented P araguayan captain Victor Pecci. "In the last two sets Ramón's legs were hurting, but with massages and a lot of guts he was able to win."
Delgado's valour was in vain, however, as José Antonio de Armas played the hero for Venezuela in the fifth and deciding rubber. I am sure that the brave Paraguayan and Venezuelan athletes would have gladly cooled off in that frigid Beijing arena after their heat torture in Ascunción!