- Publish date:
It's Ova-whelming
[This articlecontains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
  | Strengths and Weaknesses | Personality Trait | Recent Telling Quote | Fashion Note | Factoid | Who Plays Her in the Movie | SI Nickname |
MARIASHARAPOVA Russia | Murderous ground strokes; bum shoulder may bluntserve | Icy cool | ‚ÄúI‚Äôve got a few Range Rovers in my garage, and I don‚Äôtfeel I need another car. Maybe I‚Äôll send [the wheels won in San Diego thismonth] to Russia‚Äù | Her little black cocktail tennis dress—she called ither ‚Äúnight dress‚Äù—was the talk of the Open last year | Favorite dessert is French crepes with Nutella | Téa Leoni | The Siberian Siren |
JELENA JANKOVIC Serbia | Muscular two-handed backhand; might be fatigued fromheavy schedule | Always cheerful | “In Serbia I cannot go out of the house without peopleon the street knowing who I am. I have a different look. I’m like a polar bear,because I’m a special species” | Wore an elegant long pink dress to the Wimbledon ballafter winning the mixed doubles with Jamie Murray | Told The New York Times that her favorite TV programis The Tyra Banks Show | Lucy Liu | Hammerin’ Jank |
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA | Athleticism, big forehand; lacks self-belief at keymoments | Boundlessly outgoing | “My head was very tired and was asking me to take themout” (when asked at Wimbledon about having removed her cornrows) | A headband and a purple or white tennis dress | Her brother, Nikolai, won a silver medal in teampursuit at the ’96 Olympics. Their dad, Alexandr, is a cycling coach | Julia Stiles | K-Net |
ANA IVANOVIC | Big serve, inside-out forehand; needs to work onmovement | Winsome | ‚ÄúI guess I can use this as experience. And next timeI‚Äôll be in that situation, I will probably know how to deal with it better‚Äù (onlosing the 2007 French Open final) | Loves photo shoots nearly as much as winningmatches—her website is filled with modeling poses | Superstitions include not walking on the lines on thecourt | Milla Jovovich | NirvAna |
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA | Fluid, clean ground strokes; mentally shaky | Detached | “Now I know much, much more how to deal with any kindof situation that comes my way. I understand that . . . it’s O.K. sometimes tohave a bad day” | One of the most downloaded players on the Internet;her 44-inch legs are the longest on tour | Avid golfer; her favorite club is a nine-iron, withwhich she scored a hole in one in Perth, Australia, in 2003 | Mischa Barton | Leg-O |
NADIA PETROVA | Hard serve, great hands; gets down on herself | Steadfast | “I can’t say I’m a great player, because it takeswinning a Grand Slam in my eyes” | Favors traditional white dresses and a whitevisor | Her mother, Nadezhda Ilyina, won a bronze medal at the’76 Olympics in the 4 x 400-meter relay | Michelle Williams | Game Ova |
NICOLE VAIDISOA | Big serve, ground strokes; hasn’t played sinceWimbledon | Ambitious | “Yeah, I’m definitely influenced by America but stillkeeping my one Czech mind” | At the Open she plans to wear an aquamarine dress forday matches and a shimmering black-and-gold dress at night | Held her 18th birthday party at Stereo nightclub inNew York City | Amanda Bynes | The Bouncing Czech |
TWENTY-ONE PHOTOS
FROM TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT: JESSICA KLUETMEIER; MICHAEL CAULFIELD/WIREIMAGE.COM; ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES; JOHN CORDES/ICON SMI; PIERRE VERDY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; JESSE GRANT/WIREIMAGE.COM; VINCENT CURUTCHET/DPPI/ICON SMI; JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES; PETER KRAMER/GETTY IMAGES; HEINZ KLUETMEIER; PIERRE VERDY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; MICHAEL TRAN/FILMMAGIC; DARRYL DENNIS/ICON SMI; PAUL HARDING/REUTERS; RABBANI AND SOLIMENE PHOTOGRAPHY/WIREIMAGE.COM; STEPHEN DUNN/GETTY IMAGES; KRISTIAN DOWLING/GETTY IMAGES; ANDREAS RENTZ/GETTY IMAGES; JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES; MIKE STOBE/GETTY IMAGES; JEMAL COUNTESS/WIREIMAGE.COM
