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june 2005
By Richard Osborn
No doubt about it. We’ve had a hell of a run. From BJK and the Ice Maiden to Tracy, JCap and Mary Joe; from Zina to Lindsay to the Williams sisters, the U.S. has continuously held real estate among the women’s top 10. But in the midst of a Russian Revolution, a certain sense of uneasiness has begun to creep in. We’re suddenly faced with the cold, hard reality that we haven’t produced an impact player since a cornrowed, 17-year-old Serena Williams burst onto the scene and won the ‘99 U.S. Open. When you sit down and compare America’s prospects to the rest of the world’s, it gets ugly. Fact is, it doesn’t appear there’s anyone waiting in the wings.
“There’s a little distance between the footsteps. We don’t have anybody close on their heels. It would be foolish to say that we did,” said Jean Nachand, the USTA’s director of women’s tennis. “But we definitely have some talent, some players who are starting to emerge. Do we have a huge group? No. But in women’s tennis, it doesn’t take a long time until you find somebody who blossoms.”
Nachand and her USA High Performance colleagues are crossing their fingers in hopes that 17-year-old Jessica Kirkland is ready to flower. Last year, the 5-foot-9 righthander from Dayton, Ohio won the Orange Bowl (the first American to do so since Luanne Spadea 15 years ago) and the USTA 18s National Hard Courts, before advancing to the U.S. Open Junior final and claiming consecutive $25,000 ITF Circuit titles in Mexico. Currently ranked No. 192 on the WTA Tour and No. 20 on the ITF charts, she proved that she just may be ready for primetime when she reached the fourth round at the ‘05 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells (with wins over Marion Bartoli and Jill Craybas).
“A lot of other girls can learn a lot from Kirkland,” said USA High Performance chief Eliot Teltscher. “She has a high enough WTA ranking so she doesn’t have to play junior ITF events, but she’s willing to test herself to see if she can handle the pressure.”
She may not play with a lot of variety, but Kirkland consistently steps up to the baseline to dictate play. Teltscher says she could make an impact on tour in the next two years. “She could use some work on her serve and forehand, but she’s clearly headed in the right direction,” he said.
There are currently six Americans in the top 50, but it’s an aging vintage. With injuries becoming all too commonplace, it’s unlikely that either Davenport (28) or Capriati (29) will have enough gas left in their respective tanks to play beyond ‘06. And how long can Amy Frazier (32) and Lisa Raymond (31) keep on keepin’ on? As it stands, Venus (24) and Serena (23), when healthy and focused, are our only long-term sure-bets. Let’s just hope we can keep ‘em interested.
Meanwhile, those post-Iron Curtain Russians keep coming. In ‘04, Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova combined to claim three out of four Slams, Sharapova winning Wimbledon at the age of 17. And Dementieva, Petrova, Zvonareva, Bovina, Likhovtseva, Kirilenko, Linetskaya, Safina (feel free to pause for a breath here), Douchevina, Chakvetadze, Jidkova, Panova, etc. are champing at the bit behind them. Moreover, this year’s three hottest prospects are all Euros: Tatiana Golovin, Ana Ivanovic and Nicole Vaidisova. With competition growing stiffer every year, you can’t help but wonder if we’ve lost our edge. Critics claim that America’s young guns have it too good. They’ve become complacent; they simply don’t have that fire, that rise-above-adversity hunger.
“We agree with them,” said Nachand. “There’s a bit of merit in there. We’re trying to change the culture — one player, one coach and one parent at a time.”
“The rest of the world has really stepped it up — especially Russia,” echoed USA High Performance women’s coach Wade McGuire. “We’re trying to keep up. But we don’t want to be just keeping up - we want to be the best.”
The good news is there is a number of promising U.S. juniors who have a shot at respectable pro careers. Question is, can they become top-50, let alone top-10 players down the road? In addition to Kirkland, Alexa Glatch, Vania King, Jennifer-Lee Heinser, Andrea Remynse, Julia Cohen, Yasmin Schnack, Elizabeth Plotkin, Krystina Marcio and Mary Gambale have posted some impressive results.
Glatch, a 15-year-old from Newport Beach, recently swept the 18s singles and doubles at the Easter Bowl and has climbed to No. 8 on the ITF charts. Last year, she spent 12 weeks on the road, winning two ITF crowns in South Africa and excelling at the U.S. Open juniors. She also reached the semis at the 18s Super Nationals, where she fell to Kirkland. Whether the 5-foot-11 Glatch will be a full-time pro by ‘06 remains to be seen, but it’s likely in the cards if she keeps progressing.
“She’s part of a great core group that should really push her,” said her coach, former Stanford standout Katie Schlukebir. “It’s her choice whether she is going to get better and keep up with them or quit. I really like her attitude. She’s gifted. She has the athleticism and the potential to go far, but then it’s going to be up to her how far she can go.”
King made significant strides at the ‘04 Orange Bowl by reaching the quarters, and earlier this year swept the singles and doubles at ITF events in California and Thailand to give her an ITF ranking of No. 14. While she isn’t the tallest player out there (she’s 5-foot-5), the 16-year-old from Long Beach is a hard worker and gifted enough to hang in there with more physically imposing players. She’s developed a good forehand and remains competitive.
“Don’t count her out of a pro career,” Teltscher said of King. “She’s been a little up and down, but appears to be turning the corner.”
But while Kirkland, Glatch and King have seen their stock rise, when you put their numbers side-by-side with other international teens, like Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria, who, at 15 has already cracked the Top 100, it’s clear we’ve fallen behind. Who knows — perhaps the USTA’s gamble on consolidating its player development program by installing bicoastal training centers in Carson and Key Biscayne will pay off. Only time will tell.
“Our goal is to bring the players together. The more you get them practicing together, playing against one another, the better everyone’s going to become,” said McGuire. “The more of that environment that we can create the more rapidly our players are going to improve.”
© 2005
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