Translated material
Our number is 14
The female Kremlin half is good and without home intrigue. Participation of Jennifer Capriati and Ameli Mororemo turns the Moscow tournament into a very high ranking competition, which can not be said about the meeting in the Olympic representatives of the stronger sex. The first issue is last year's finalist Scheng Skhalken - Medium player. The Dutchman, apparently, will never get rid of the Renoma of the tennis player stable and boring; Numerous Latinos, among which at the last moment there was no David Nalbandan, will probably not be able to show the best game on a hard synthetic carpet. So from the guests, only the future rival of the Russian national team in the Davis Cup, the indisputable leader of the Belarusian tennis, Max Mirny, deserves special attention. And not only in a single category, but also in the steam room. In Moscow, Maxim will perform with Indian Mahesh Bhupati, which, however, is not so important. On the last two "Cups of the Kremlin" Mirny became a winner with different partners - in 2001 with Sandon Station, in 2002 - with Rozhe Federer. And in the world group Davis Cup brought his team, playing with Vladimir Volchkov ...
And ours? Well, they, of course, are all assembly, even Marat Safin. But we have not expected miracles from them for a long time. And none of the Russians is already conducting the usual struggle for a worthy place in the world classification. But with the girls the thing is just the opposite. Anastasia Myskina flies home from Leipzig in a great mood. Having passed the first racket of the world in the semifinals, Kim Klisters (due to the injury of Belgians, but with an equal struggle), the 22-year-old Muscovite took a step towards the cherished eight and, of course, is determined to take one more in front of her stands. Nastya is still the tenth in the rating list, but it is possible that the sisters of Williams will not go to the final tournament of the year, and the eighth position will be enough. At the same time, each score at the finish of the season is important. A year ago, by the way, Myskina lost at the very start, which should add her assertiveness this time.
The situation of the current first racket of Russia Elena Dementieva at first glance is more volitional. In the so -called championship race (rating for 2003), Lena was already ahead of Amelie Mororemo and, given the possible refusal of the sisters, goes to the finish of the five -year race of the fifth. It will be difficult to lose your place Dementieva. But you should not try - you need to play at least no worse than Amelie Mororemo (not forgetting about the semifinals of the Federation Cup with French women). And everything will be fine.
In the first round, by the way, the four favorite of the tournament are freed from games. So the start of Morozmo, Dementieva, Myskina and Capriati (the American, by the way, after last year’s refusal, before the start of the tournament, decided to repay the debt and this time, on the contrary, came at the last moment) can take place only on Wednesday. But even without leaders, the women's tournament promises to be interesting, it is no coincidence that its prize fund - a million three hundred thousand - almost one and a half times more than the total fees intended for men.
And for comparison: the 34th racket of the world Australia Alisiya Molik had to play in a qualification tournament, while men without selection got a good acquaintance of the Moscow tennis public, two-time Kremlin Cup Champion Mark Rosse. Today, the Swiss veteran plays tennis mainly for its pleasure and takes 129th place in the rating list. This was enough for him to directly appear for his favorite Moscow tournament. Although Rosse's furrows, of course, will not spoil and even attract extra hundreds of spectators to the stands. In the days of the decisive matches of the public, it will be enough, but at the start of the tournament additional incentives may not be superfluous.
09/29/2003 / Alexander Shaparovsky