I put together this list which details all of the female number 1 junior players for the past 7 years or so. It is very interesting to see how many of these players havent been able to progress into the senior WTA ranks (well top 20 in the world). However, from number 8 down.. most have moved onto the WTA Tour and had moderate success, in other words top 100 in the world.
1. Irina Khromacheva RUS (31 Oct 2011)
2. Sophie-An Mestach BEL (31 Jan 2011)
3. Daria Gavrilova RUS (23 Aug 2010)
4. Elina Svitolina UKR (21 Jun 2010)
5. Kristina Mladenovic FRA (08 Jun 2009)
6. Laura Robson GBR (30 Mar 2009)
7. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn THA (08 Dec 2008)
8. Arantxa Rus NED (07 Jul 2008)
9. Simona Halep ROU (19 Jun 2008)
10. Urszula Radwanska POL (10 Sep 2007)
11. Agnieszka Radwanska POL (26 Jun 2006)
12. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS (30 Jan 2006)
13. Victoria Azarenka BLR (31 Jan 2005)
14. Michaella Krajicek NED (30 Sep 2004)
15. Kateryna Bondarenka UKR (05 Jul 2004)
16. Sessil Karatantcheva KAZ (28 Jun 2004)
17. Kirsten Flipkens BEL (08 Sep 2003)
18. Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER (07 Jul 2003)
19. Vera Dushevina RUS (17 Mar 2003)
20. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE (18 Mar 2002)
21. Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (10 Dec 2001)
22. Eva Birnerova CZE (15 Oct 2001)
23. Kaia Kanepi EST (11 Jun 2001)
24. Jelena Jankovic SRB (28 May 2001)
25. Maria-Emilia Salerni ARG(29 May 2000)
26. Lina Krasnoroutskaya RUS (31 Dec 1999)
My favourite player on the list has to be Lina Krasnoroutskaya she was quite sexy!
Over at the DamnGoodList they have profiled the top 25 female tennis players. The list features so big names and some ladies who are still yet to actually make their mark on tour. Take a look and let us know what you think.
Players include:
Elena Dementieva
Tatiana Golovin
Sania Mirza
Marta Domachowska
and more..
Click here for the full list.
Name: Jelena Jankovic
Country: Serbia
Birthdate: February 28, 1985
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia then SFR Yugoslavia
Residence: Bradenton, Florida
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 177 cm or 5ft 9.5in
Website: www.jelenajankovic.net
Scouting: Jelena is one of the best female tennis players in the world. Jelena has great ground strokes on both sites and likes to play straight across the baseline. Her fitness levels are also very good, so once you start a match you have to be ready for a long encounter. Jelena however doesnt really like to be stretched on either side. Her backhand slice isnt very strong and tends to land short. If you can keep her around the baseline but mix up your depths at the same time.
In terms of her serve Jelena has quite a strong first serve and the second serve likes to go fo the forehand of her opponent. Jelena doesnt really have a very strong kick serve in her bag, but neither do most female players.
Name: Elena Dementieva
Country: Russia
Birthdate: October 15, 1981
Birthplace: Moscow, then Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Plays: Right-handed with a double handed backhand
Height: 180 cm or 5ft 11in
Website: http://eng.dementieva.ru
Scouting: Elena is a very offensive baseline player with solid groundstrokes on both sides, but her forehand is her main weapon. Elena has a very strong running forehand in particular and she tends to go for it a lot more, but this also means she makes a lot more unforces errors.
Elena is pretty much one of those players who comes to net only once in a match and that is to shake hands. She has great speeds and athleticism around court and her fitness levels are very high.
Elena’s main weakness is her serve. Her serve is very inconsistent at time and especially in tight situation of big matches. Once Elena starts to tire her serve drops a little shorter and with less pace. Her very obvious weakness is her second serve that is nearly always to her opponents forehand, because she cant hit a kick serve and her serves are just slice.
