Zvereva Protege Squeaks by Graf Protege

Remember when Natasha Zvereva was an up-and-coming singles player? Then she got to the finals of the French Open in 1988. It was the best and worst thing that ever happened in her career. Steffi Graf demolished her in the finals 6-0, 6-0. Zvereva never reached another singles Grand Slam finals. Instead, she emerged as one of the greatest doubles players ever, winning Grand Slam after Grand Slam event with Gigi Fernandez and adding real spark and fun to the doubles tour that it didn't see again until Martina Navratilova returned to it and started winning event after event in her 40s. (And with a U.S. Open mixed doubles title in Navratilova's last professional match last year, just shy of 50.)

Navratilova's now retired (again), but Zvereva's back. At least, her doppelganger is. No player has looked as much like Zvereva on the professional tour both in both her humor and intensity as Jankovic, who many are declaring will dominate the women's tour one day. Despite her win last night over Tatiana Golovin, I have my doubts, and I think these doubts arise mainly because she reminds me so much of Zvereva. That and the fact that even though Jankovic has skyrocketed to the elite ranks in women's tennis, lately she's plateaued. Has she peaked? Or does she just need to retool and fine-tune a little more? Not everyone is a child prodigy a la Hingis or Seles. Navratilova was in some ways a late bloomer on the tour. Overweight and unfocused at her career's beginning, she didn't dominate the game on arrival. Should I be comparing Jankovic with Navratilova instead? It seems laughable, doesn't it? With Navratilova, one doubts there ever could be a comparison.

But Djokovic, also from Serbia, and Jankovic are the future of tennis, some say, perhaps wishing for a flashback to the heady days of champions from the same country, such as Becker and Graf, or Hingis followed on the heels by Federer.

Yet at the Rogers Cup last night, Tatiana Golovin looked like a resurrected Steffi Graf in the first set. No one has reminded me as much of Graf since Kim Clijsters first came on the scene. Running around her backhand time and time again and walloping her forehands for awe-inspiring winners, Golovin looked like the champion, not Jankovic, whose serve turned into jelly right before the crowd's eyes. Both Grand Slam mixed doubles champions in their own right (Jankovic this past year at Wimbledon and Golovin at the French in 2004 when she was just 16), these two ladies were running to the net like no one on the men's or women's side has done in a match in quite some time. Give them some lighter balls on the tour and I believe we would have a new #1 and #2 right now!

I went to bed after the first set, assuming that Golovin would trounce Jankovic and meet Henin in the next round. But Jankovic apparently either got it together or Golovin choked. Jankovic attributed her victory to serving better in the second two sets. And her serve was admittedly God-awful in the first set, which hardly promises great things for her going forward. (Should I be comparing Jankovic instead to Elena Dementieva, only without as powerful a forehand or half as much determination?)

My assumption that Golovin was headed for another upset was wrong, so maybe my excitement over Golovin's play and skepticism about Jankovic will be too. But if Golovin's play in the first set against Jankovic in the first set is any indicator of what's to come, the rest of the women on the tour all may want to consider packing their bags and spending much more time on the doubles' tour.