FanNation - The Republic of Sport

 The Beijing Olympics are now on the horizon, and while most armchair sports fans will probably be salivating over track and field athletics or glued to the events in the pool, an equally intriguing battle awaits at the new Olympic and Paralympic Tennis Centre. No, i don't mean the tussle between the troika of dominant players on the men's side. I am referring to the wide open competition for the gold medal amongst the world's leading female players. The uncertainty and often downright fragility of some of the WTA tour's leading lights guarantees compelling and sometimes even uncomfortable viewing. And Justine Henin's sudden retirement several months ago has created a power vacuum at the top of the game, the like of which we have not witnessed for many years.

The nature of the draw (64 entrants, no byes, straight knockout) creates the distinct possibility of early upsets. But when you factor in the pressure of playing for your country, and the unfamiliarity of the Olympic experience itself, only the bravest of men would attempt to forecast the outcome of such an unpredictable tournament. However, it remains likely that the eventual winner will be a player of pedigree. So let's examine the recent fortunes of the likely contenders for gold.

Where else to start but with the current world number one? Ana Ivanovic is enjoying a fantastic follow-up to her breakthrough year of 2007, capturing her maiden Grand Slam title on the clay in Paris, and claiming the top spot in the wake of Henin's departure. A runner's up showing in Melbourne, and capturing her sixth career title at Indian Wells prior to Roland Garros seemed to suggest that Ana was the new queen of women's tennis. But subsequent withdrawals and a poor showing at Wimbledon have cast some doubt over this supposed dominance. Perhaps suffering mainly from mental exhaustion after her Parisian run, Ana has played sparingly since - probably a wise decision with Beijing and the US Open Series right around the corner. With a 26-7 record on the year, and having finally proved her ability to win the big one, write her off at your peril.

Ivanovic's Serbian compatriot Jelena Jankovic is also clearly in the mix for the medals. This has been a consistent if not spectacular year for Jelena, who has again played a lot of matches and suffered from a variety of minor ailments during seemingly every tournament. What Jelena brings to the table is her stubbornness - she rarely bows out of tournaments early, and is a frequent quarter- and semi-finalist on tour. After capturing her sixth career title in Rome, Jelena rose to a career high number two in the rankings. Yet Wimbledon was a major disappointment with a shock defeat to veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn, for which she remarkably blamed being placed on an outside court during the tournament's busy fourth round Monday. Jelena remains an enigma - surprisingly she is still without a Grand Slam title, and she has often squandered chances to win the big matches. Will Beijing be her moment? I wouldn't bet on it.

Several months ago, you would have staked your house on Maria Sharapova taking home the gold medal for her native (or should that be adopted?!) country. Simply put the Maria of early 2008 was unbeatable, as she put together a dominating run in Melbourne to claim her third career Grand Slam title, and followed that up with victory in Doha. But injuries and complaints of fatigue arose, and Sharapova hasn't been the same player since. Her win at Amelia Island was unconvincing, and her 18-0 start to the season does seem a while ago now. She came ever so close to a first round exit at the French, and lost spectacularly to little-known Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round of Wimbledon, her earliest Grand Slam loss since her debut Slam season of 2003. On the other hand, Sharapova has often spoken of how much these Games mean to her. Perhaps she feels she needs to win the gold to finally win over the Russians, many of whom still have not warmed to her. Certainly her marketability wouldn't suffer if she won in Beijing, something else which will undoubtedly be of paramount concern to her camp. But she will have to deal with a trio of Russians determined to win the country's first female tennis gold medal before her.

The highest ranked of these three is arguably the least likely to do so. This has not been the best of years for Svetlana Kuznetsova. A disappointing Australian Open was followed by inconsistent results on the tour, and a final defeat to Elena Dementieva in Dubai was her eighth defeat in her last nine finals. She came through weak sections of the draw in both Paris and London, losing to the first difficult opponents she faced in each, Dinara Safina the former, Agnieszka Radwanska the latter (for the second time in a Grand Slam this year). Her withdrawal from Los Angeles this week has to cast further doubt over her chances in Beijing. However, this affable (off-court at least) St. Petersburgian has always been a loyal Federation Cup servant, and she will certainly give her all for her country in a few weeks time.

The veteran of the Russian tennis Olympians is Elena Dementieva, but as she has repeatedly proven this season, she is far from finished yet. Building on her biggest triumph in her home city of Moscow last October, Elena is putting together arguably her best ever season, certainly in terms of consistent results. A fine win in Dubai, her ninth career title, was followed by finals appearances in Berlin and Istanbul. And she overcame a truly horrific collapse against Safina at the French to enjoy her best Wimbledon performance ever. Now playing less tournaments than before, Elena seems to have blossomed, and her current ranking of five is only one short of her career high. While the much criticised serve has considerably improved, doubts still remain over Dementieva's mental toughness under pressure, as was ably demonstrated at Roland Garros and in her struggles to close out an inferior Nadia Petrova in their Wimbledon quarter-final. Elena does have Olympic experience though. She finished as runner-up to Venus Williams in Sydney 2000, which she still considers her greatest accomplishment. If she doesn't put too much pressure on herself in Beijing, there is no reason why she can't showcase her talent on the world's biggest sporting stage.

The last of the Russians is rising, and quickly. Dinara Safina proved at the French Open that she belongs in any list of the elite female players. Her comeback wins over Sharapova and Dementieva delighted the home crowd, and she went on to enter a spirited performance in her first Grand Slam final. Yet the true breakthrough was clearly in winning Berlin in May - proving to herself that she belonged up there with the best, while also allowing her to finally emerge from her brother Marat's shadow and become a star in her own right. Now sitting at her career high of nine in the rankings, and a late addition after Anna Chakvetadze declined to play the Games, Safina has to be considered a credible threat for an Olympic medal.

No discussion of the contenders would be complete without the Williams sisters. Love them or loathe them, you simply can't ignore them! Serena seems to have regained her love of tennis this season, and is now found participating on tour more often than her sister. She has on occasion flashed her dominance of old, winning three straight tournaments and 15 straight matches in capturing titles in Bangalore, Miami and Charleston in March and April. There or thereabouts in most big events, except for an early exit at the French, Serena must be considered among the handful of favourites for Olympic gold. Her desire is evident - a gold medal would complete her resume and leave her with little else to achieve in the sport. But as Wimbledon proved, there is still fierce competition for success with her older sister Venus.

Last but by no means least, Venus appears to be in top form. She looked fantastic in taking her fifth Wimbledon crown earlier this month without dropping a single set, and even Serena looked powerless to stop her. Yet it should not be forgotten that Venus has always been at home on the grass, and her hard-court form is not nearly as impressive, as a loss early this year in Memphis to then world number 143 Petra Kvitova underlines. There must be question marks over how few tournaments Venus now plays, and whether this will ultimately serve as the ideal preparation for the gruelling summer hard-court schedule ahead of her. On the other hand, Venus is already an Olympic gold medallist, lest we not forget, and winning Wimbledon in such a manner will have done wonders for her confidence. She should also be fresh, despite withdrawing from Los Angeles with alleged right knee tendonitis, and ready to mount a serious challenge in Beijing.

So there we have it. The main contenders for Henin's gold medal, who will surely have to battle themselves just as much as they do each other in the coming weeks. There will likely be early casualties, but it will nevertheless be a tremendous shock if the gold medallist is not one of these 'elite eight'. Yet the road to victory will be full of twists and turns, comebacks and implosions. Unlike their male counterparts, there are no robots at the summit of the women's game! The old adage still rings true - you should expect the unexpected. One way or another, it will make for great viewing. So the question remains...are you feeling Olympic yet?