Good news: Monica has recovered from the ankle-sprain which
contributed to her 2r loss to Klara K.oU.K.aL.ová at the Australian
Open, and is ready to defend her Qatar Open title! :-)

"I am keen to win the title again," Monica said. "I have fully
recovered from an ankle-injury. I played well in Tokyo, losing only
in the final. And then Lindsay Davenport played great tennis."


Monica could meet Iroda Tulyaganova at Doha! It would be in the semi-
finals, though, and Iroda first has to get past Antonella Serra-
Zanetti, fifth seed Elena Likhovtseva, and third seed Magdalena
Maleeva. Iroda is a brilliant but inconsistent player; you never know
how she's going to do in any given match, no matter whether her
opponent is Lindsay Davenport or Conchita Martínez-Granados.

Monica has a considerably more straightforward path to the semi-
finals, with a first-round bye followed by Lina Krasnoroutskaya or a
qualifier, and then a possible quarter-final against Conchita
Martínez - the only singles player who's been on the WTA Tour longer
than Monica, and with a ranking of #39 no longer the force she once
was.

I hope Monica and Iroda do play each other in the semis, as I have
been waiting for their first meeting for a long time now. Of the five
players other than Monica of whom I am a fan, Iroda is the only one
Monica has yet to play. Iroda is a very powerful and exciting player,
very versatile, with amazing athleticism - one of the few players who
could challenge the Williams sisters if she develops to her full
potential.

I believe Iroda is already capable of giving Monica a good match -
she came even closer to beating Davenport at the Australian
Open than Monica did in the Tokyo final! My loyalty would be with
Monica, partly because she is my favourite player of all time, and
more specifically because she is the defending champion at Doha.

Anyway, a Monica v Iroda match would certainly not be short of
searing two-handed backhands - or voluptuous beauty! ;-)

Qatar Open website:
http://www.qatartennis.org/ladies/pages/index.php

I hope Iroda does a photo-shoot in the desert this year! :-) :-)

--
Andrew Broad
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/seles/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/tulya/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/irodatulyaganova/