New Stars Emerge

The last couple weeks on the ladies Tour have been dominated by a very familiar group of players -- those we've become used to seeing in the later rounds of the Majors and the ones who've been staples in and around the top-ten for most of the year.

But at the slightly smaller events this week we're starting to see some new faces last into the latter matches. It's not that the tournaments are without star power -- winners of the last two Grand Slams are in both draws -- but it's a couple others who have potential to really make an impact.

At the HP Open in Osaka, some of the year's break-out stars are continuing their momentum. U.S. Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber, just a shade off her career-high ranking, has only dropped seven games in her first two rounds. And Petra Cetkovska, who began the year ranked #142 in the world, has followed up well on her fourth-round run at Wimbledon -- she's now made her third Tour quarterfinal since July.

But the true player to watch in Japan might be veteran South African Chanelle Scheepers. A true journeywoman, the twenty-seven year old has never finished a year ranked inside the top one hundred. But since nearly defeating Francesca Schiavone at the U.S. Open and then earning her first career title in Guangzhou immediately after, she's vaulted into everyone's attention. She had a tough second round match against doubles champion Yaroslava Shvedova and faces a more-than-intimidating Sam Stosur next, but the girl knows how to persevere and I wouldn't put an upset past her.

The ladies in Linz have been similarly impressive. Fes champion Alberta Brianti hadn't made much of an impact in the intervening months, but a dominating win over uber-tough Sabine Lisicki in the first round put the Italian back on the map. And Ksenia Pervak, who won her maiden crown in Tashkent back in September, has a very good chance to make a dent in the draw when she takes out Daniela Hantuchova later today.

But here I've got my eye on qualifier Sorana Cirstea. Once ranked #23 in the world, the young Romanian hasn't followed up on her French Open success from years ago -- this year alone she's lost in or before the second round of seventeen events. But two ITF titles, including one last month in Saint Malo, may have helped her turn things around -- she began her run in Austria with a fairly easy win over Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tamira Paszek and then staged an impressive come-from-behind win over world #15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova -- her first top-twenty win in over a year. She'll next face either Brianti or Lucie Safarova, neither an opponent to be overlooked, but certainly less of a challenge than what she's already faced.

Sure it's getting late in the year and there's not a lot of time left to make a big move in the rankings. But as their seasons wind down it sure looks like they're all looking to get momentum moving in their direction. And as they prep for 2012, now might be the perfect time to come out swinging.

New on the Scene

The ladies in the winners' circles this weekend are far from household names. But with the four who contested the trophies all going after their maiden crowns, it might not be long before they find themselves more in the spotlight. Twenty-year-old Ksenia Pervak came to Uzbekistan with on of her more successful summers. She'd made the fourth round at Wimbledon with wins over Shahar Peer and Andrea Petkovic and run to the finals at Baku. A shade off her highest-ever ranking, the fifty-second ranked player was still the top seed in Tashkent and worked her way through the draw without dropping a set. There she met little-known Czech Eva Birnerova, a pro for almost ten years who's spent most of her career making a mark on the ITF tour. She had a tougher road to the championship match, having three set victories two rounds in a row and advancing when Alla Kudryavtseva retired up a set in their semi. Easily the less experienced player in Saturday's match, Birnerova didn't put up much of a fight, allowing Pervak to win about two-thirds of her return points, breaking serve seven times. It was only the Russian's second final of her career, but with the way she's been playing this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see her around much more in the coming months. In Quebec City the stakes might have been a little higher, as the top four seeds all held rankings at least better than fifty. But world #23 Daniela Hantuchova was stopped in the third round by New Zealand's Marina Erakovic on the way to her first ever Tour final -- she hadn't made a semi since 2008. On the bottom half of the draw, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, fourteen times a doubles champion, benefitted from the early departure of Lucie Safarova as she made her first final since Prague last year. Though Erakovic got off to a good start, the tables turned quickly and the Czech #7 -- ranked globally at #75 -- only dropped one game in the last thirteen. Playing some of her most aggressive tennis now, at twenty-five years of age, she should see her profile in the sport much enhanced. All these ladies have the potential to do some damage among the ranks of the top stars, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them take the confidence they gained this weekend into future matches. It could take a while for them to make the biggest impact, but they've certainly shown how capable they are of doing it now.

The Also-Rans

The summer hardcourt season kicked off with a bang this past week, with the first events of the season not only rewarding the champions, but also showing the potential of some rising stars that could very well cause some trouble for the favorites in the coming weeks.

At the inaugural Baku Cup in Azerbaijan, eventual champion Vera Zvonareva got momentum back on her side after some disappointing losses in recent weeks. Her victory over Ksenia Pervak in the final scored her a twelfth career trophy and her second of the year. But more importantly, it put her back on the radar as she looks to improve on her U.S. Open run from last year. It wasn't the toughest draw, of course -- she never faced an opponent ranked in the top fifty -- but you can never discount the confidence another title brings with it.

But the better stories out of Baku may have come from the ladies who didn't ultimately walk home with the title. Pervak has been climbing her way up the WTA rankings all year and is coming off her best ever showing at a Slam after making the fourth round at Wimbledon. This past week she notched a one-sided win over former top-twenty player Aravane Rezai on her way to her first Tour final, and though she wasn't able to get a real grip on her match versus Zvonareva, she certainly reiterated that she can hang with the big girls.

Anna Tatishvili didn't make as deep a run as these other ladies, but the young Georgian continues to improve her game. After beating Maria Kirilenko in Charleston and giving Yanina Wickmayer a run for the money at the All England Club, she seems to be hitting her stride now. She came back from a break down in the second against Vera in their quarterfinal match and managed to force a third -- dealing the only set lost by the Russian all week. She may not be that far into double digit rankings, but if she remains consistent she could be a real force soon.

A little closer to the U.S. Open, the men began their hardcourt prep in Atlanta. In a rematch of last year's final Mardy Fish once again prevailed over John Isner, further cementing himself as the top-ranked American in the sport. After dropping the first set and finding himself down a break early in the second, he came back from 1-5 in a tiebreak and saved two championship points -- one on Isner's serve -- to force a decider. With momentum back on his side, he finished off the match, winning all but six points on his first serve and firing off thirteen aces. It was his first title in a year and comes at an opportune time, as he looks to keep the momentum of what's been his most successful year on Tour. If he keeps it up, he could very well be a real contender at the next Major.

But a couple other hopefuls will be doing their part to dash his hopes, and their performances down south go a long way to proving that. Nineteen-year-old Ryan Harrison, long-touted as the next great thing in American tennis, continues to improve his game on the big stage. After breaking out at the U.S. Open last year, he claimed a set from Robin Soderling at Roland Garros, and forced David Ferrer to a fifth at Wimbledon. He hasn't yet beaten a top ten player, but by making the semis in Atlanta he's shown his resolve to put up a fight. And something tells me things are going to turn in his favor pretty soon.

India's Somdev Devvarman may not have made as big a splash on Tour, but quietly plodding away he's been able to increase his ranking well into the top hundred. He beat Marcos Baghdatis and Xavier Malisse in Indian Wells and stunned Milos Raonic a week later in Miami. He's lost the only two finals he's played -- most recently to fellow college star Kevin Anderson in Johannesburg -- but he's really getting a strong foothold against the biggest threats in the game. Now at his highest career ranking, he may be in a position to cause some real damage in New York.

It's of course too early to pick the real contenders for the year's last Grand Slam, but even if some of these guys didn't come away with trophies this past week, they each made the case for themselves as potential favorites -- and spoilers -- over the next month and a half. And everyone else should truly sit up and take notice.