|
|
Capriati's draw is similar to the French By Mary Joe Fernandez Special to ESPN.com The winner at Wimbledon is going to be one of the heavy hitters.
In the top half of the draw expect Jennifer Capriati or Serena Williams to get through. In the bottom half of the draw, Lindsay Davenport's chances are good. She should face Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals and Venus Williams in the semifinals. The winner will come out of one of those four women. Capriati's draw is similar to the French Open in that she has Serena Williams and Martina Hingis on her side of the draw. Even though Capriati, Hingis and Serena Williams did not play a warm-up on the grass, they should get their confidence after a couple of matches. Capriati has the most belief of anybody right now. Serena Williams started to play better tennis at the French, and Hingis is trying to break a two-and-half year drought of not winning a major. The defending champion Venus Williams is lacking matches after losing in the first round at the French Open. It will be more important for her than anyone else to get through her opening matches to start feeling like she can defend her title. She has a couple of good grass-court players to face to get through to the quarterfinals where she's set to meet Amelie Mauresmo or Nathalie Tauziat. The 1999 Wimbledon champion and last year's finalist, Davenport is also looking for more matches considering that until this week she had not played a tournament since the Ericsson Open. She has shown pretty good form though thus far at Eastbourne and grass courts suit her game very well. She could face a challenge against Jelena Dokic and Clijsters. But with her big first serve and her penetrating ground strokes -- if her knee holds up -- I see her getting through.
Players who can do some damage
Two youngsters who have made big strides are Elena Dementieva and Justine Henin. They could pull off some surprises. Someone who's game is suited perfectly to grass is American Lisa Raymond. She's in a good section of the top half to create a couple of upsets. In the bottom half of the draw, Dokic, Mauresmo and former finalist Tauziat are potential threats. Dokic reached the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and won the Italian Open last month. Mauresmo has one of the best records this year and surprisingly got knocked out in the first round of the French, but she has shown she can play on all surfaces -- including fast ones. Tauziat, a veteran Frenchwoman, just won her eighth tournament on Birmingham's grass courts. She's the last true serve and volleyer. If her game is on she can give someone a wake-up call. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
Washington: Sampras is king until he's beaten Capriati gets her act together again Cool Capriati ready for third Grand Slam Capriati's A-Game ESPN's Mary Joe Fernandez and Chris McKendry analyze Jennifer Capriati's Grand Slam hopes. wav: 1040 k | Listen |
|