Will a Russian Woman win Roland Garros?
Maria Sharapova is the new Number One ranked female tennis player following Justine Henin’s sudden retirement. Sharapova is followed by 13 other Russian women who are ranked in the top 100. In fact, there have been many Russian women ranked in the top 20 let alone the top 100 for several years. Nonetheless, Anastasia Myskina is the only Russian woman to win the title at Roland Garros. Maria Sharapova, who has now
won titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and Australian Open, is one French Open title away from a career Grand Slam. Clearly, Sharapova, who won a clay court tune-up in the U.S., has a legitimate chance to win the French this year. However, she is not the only Russian woman in the hunt... Svetlana Kuznetsova has been hovering around the very top of the women’s rankings for the past couple years and although she has not had a spectacular year so far, she is due to win a second Grand Slam title. There are also several other Russians who have played well during the clay court season including Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze. What’s surprising about the Russian women the past couple years is that besides Sharapova, none has won a Grand Slam title since 2004. Given how many Russian women have been entered in the main draw at the Grand Slams the past few years, it’s a little surprising that they haven’t snagged one or two more Grand Slams. However, the top of women’s tennis is now even more wide open than in the past, so they another chance at Roland Garros this year…
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