This week Mr Ed fights off his post-Wimbledon hangover by jetting to Vienna to appreciate the rapid rise of Iroda Tulyaganova, then stopping off in Newport to observe the belated successes of Martin Lee, before winding up in in the Swiss Alps to witness Marc Rosset's alarmingly brief retirement.

Iroda scatters seeds in Vienna

Iroda Tulyaganova continued her quiet but steady march to the upper echelons of the WTA with a outstanding outing in Vienna this week. Following an impressive triumph over the struggling top seed, Elena Dementieva, the 19-year-old dominated a solid clay-courter, fifth-seeded Paola Suárez, to book a date in the final with Patty Schnyder.

The 5' 7" (1.70 m) right-hander out of Tashkent, Uzbekistan has negotiated an excellent path so far in her young career. After a superb junior stint that saw her win the 1999 girls' event at Wimbledon, the Uzbek made a virtually seamless transition to the professional ranks. In 200 she became the first Uzbek to capture a WTA title, winning the crown in her hometown of Tashkent. She continued her progression this year with a big win over Mary Pierce in Strasbourg, and by reaching the semis of a grass court event in the Netherlands just before Wimbledon.

A dedicated athlete, Tulyagonova told the media in Vienna that her success has come from hard work. "Over the past five months I have been working very hard on my fitness and training," noted Iroda. "It's starting to pay off." Already in the top 50, Tulyagonava is assured of improving on her present ranking, a career high #48.

It is tempting to assert that Tulyaganova is another addition to the seemingly endless flow of talented young Eastern European players, except it wouldn't be true. Although her native Uzbekistan was a part of the Soviet Union, from which it became independent in 1991, it is actually in Asia. Iroda's feats have not gone unnoticed in her homeland, where she is already gaining celebrity status.

The next step in young Iroda's career is to begin making statements at the higher-profile events. With a strong game that is not without its share of power ? she blasted a 119 mph serve earlier this year -- Iroda Tulyaganova will be interesting to follow as she attempts to make a name for herself at the marquee tournaments.

The next British hope? Martin Lee?

Each year, Wimbledon brings with it two certainties: big serves and strong nerves will be rewarded, and British newspapers will be filled with hand-wringing about the sorry state of professional tennis in the British Isles. Suddenly, English lefty Martin Lee's somewhat tardy development as a professional prospect should give the jaded British tennis writers some hope, in light of his run to the finals in Newport this week.

The 23-year-old Lee, a former world junior number one, had a conspicuous lack of success in the pro ranks until this year. In fact, he had become a poster boy for the uncanny knack of the British system for failing to develop promising young talents.

In Lee's defense, it should be noted that he had some rough luck with injuries, notably groin surgery that forced him to miss the first half of the 2000 season. Still, Lee's results were nowhere near what one would expect from a lad with such an outstanding junior record. Martin admits that part of the reason for his pro failures was the pressure placed on him by the high expectations. "In England, if you're a top junior, people expect you're going to go straight into the top 100 when you turn pro."

At the start of this year, Lee's play picked up after he began working with Gloria Budd, a "mental trainer" whose task was to calm down the excitable player. In January, Lee's coach, David Sammel, sounded a note of cautious optimism. "I think if he sustains the mental progress he has made," wrote Sammel on his web site in January, "he will make a big move soon. You heard it here first."

Indeed, Martin Lee has made his move in recent months. Catching a break by getting into the Nottingham draw last month as a "lucky loser" following the withdrawal of Fabrice Santoro, Lee defeated fellow Brits Lee Childs and Arvind Parmar before losing in the quarterfinals to that most English of Englishmen, Greg Rusedski. Then at Wimbledon, Lee posted an easy straight-set triumph over Italian hyper-veteran Gialucca Pozzi before falling to the British number one, Tim Henman.

This week in Newport Martin Lee has continued to pick up valuable wins, notably over defending champion Peter Wessels and third seed Davide Sanguinetti. He became the first Brit other than Henman or Rusedski to reach an ATP semifinal since 1994, when Mark Petchey turned the trick, also in Newport. And a brave three-set win over another young man to watch, American James Blake, earned Lee his first ATP final.

The son of a tennis coach, Lee, who is known for his avid football fandom (he is a supporter of Millwall), will be in the top 100 for the first time in his career when next week's rankings are announced. It will be interesting to see if the Englishman can continue his rapid improvement.

Marc Rosset's change of heart

Marc Rosset, the 6'7", 30-year-old from Switzerland, terrorized his fellow pros for much of the 1990s with his massive serve and forehand, achieving his most glorious moment at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where he won the gold medal.

However, the giant from Geneva has had a horrible 2001. After losing in the first round of Wimbledon to Magnus Larsson, he announced that he was hanging up his sneakers for good. "This was definitely my last singles match of my career," announced Rosset (he was still alive in the Wimbledon doubles when he uttered those words). "There comes a time when you have to realize that enough is enough."

But wait? don't plan on a Marc Rosset retirement party quite yet! Imagine our surprise when we saw Rosset listed in the draw of the clay-court tourney in Gstaad this week. Rosset admitted that his retirement announcement was hasty. "First I have to settle some personal problems," said Rosset in Gstaad, "and then I can concentrate on my tennis again."

The first match of Marc's unretirement was far from successful, as he lost yet again, this time 4-6, 3-6 to the Argentine Gaston Gaudio. It was Rosset's eighth straight loss, and 14th in his last 15 matches. That's enough to give anyone retirement thoughts.