THIS WEEK: The French Open of 1999 came close to 1997's bizarre set of players winning through to the second week. That year, only three of the quarter-finalists were in the ATP top 50! Let's have a look at the semi-finalists this year, noting that three of the favourites were beaten in the quarters: LAST WEEK THIS WEEK SRI SRI ATP SRI ATP Rank Clay Rank Rank Rank Dominik Hrbaty 30 20 31 22 18 Andre Agassi 2 (10) 14 2 4 Andrei Medvedev 86 120 99 37 30 Fernando Meligeni 33 22 55 27 26

In a wide-open field, three of these players were not all that surprising. Hrbaty came through a very weak section of the draw (as did Medvedev), while Meligeni had a tough draw, but was one of the few claycourt specialists whom the SRI computer ranked more highly than the ATP did. Agassi is no dud on clay, but had only played four matches on the surface in the previous 12 months. The real surprise was runner-up Medvedev. Here are all his results on clay from the start of last year onwards: Barcelona, April 1998 1R (q)Roberto Carretero d. (11)Andrei Medvedev 7-6(5) 7-6(7) Monte Carlo, April 1998 1R Andrei Medvedev d. Goran Ivanisevic 4-6 6-2 7-6(7) 2R (6)Alex Corretja d. Andrei Medvedev 7-6(4) 6-4 Munich, April 1998 1R (2)Jonas Bjorkman d. Andrei Medvedev 2-6 6-4 6-0 Hamburg, May 1998 1R Albert Costa d. Andrei Medvedev 6-3 1-6 7-6(3) Rome, May 1998 1R (15)Michael Chang d. Andrei Medvedev 6-2 4-6 6-3 French Open, May 1998 1R Andrea Gaudenzi d. Andrei Medvedev 7-6(5) 6-1 0-6 2-6 6-1 Bastad, July 1998 1R Andrei Medvedev d. (q)Bernd Karbacher 6-2 6-1 2R Andrei Medvedev d. (5)Richard Fromberg 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(2) QF Andrei Medvedev d. (3)Andrea Gaudenzi 6-3 6-4 SF Andrei Medvedev d. (7)Dominik Hrbaty 6-3 7-6(2) F (1)Magnus Gustafsson d. Andrei Medvedev 6-2 6-3 Palermo, October 1998 1R (5)Francisco Clavet d. Andrei Medvedev 6-2 6-2 Estoril, April 1999 1R Andrei Medvedev d. (WC)Carlos Costa 1-6 6-2 7-6(4) 2R (6)Felix Mantilla d. Andrei Medvedev 6-3 6-2 Barcelona, April 1999 1R Albert Portas d. Andrei Medvedev 6-4 6-1 Monte Carlo, April 1999 1R (q)Ivo Ljubicic d. (WC)Andrei Medvedev 5-7 6-0 6-1

After the loss to Ljubicic, he took four weeks off. How's that for a French Open preparation?! Apart from the week in Sweden where he made the final, Medvedev had gone 2-10 on clay. To turn that around was quite amazing. Medvedev has been ranked as high as 16th on the SRI Rankings computer back in March 1995, but this week he leaps back into the Top 50, up from 86 to 37 (ATP #99 -> #30).

Another entry into the SRI Rankings Top 50 comes from Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who made the final of a Challenger event in the Czech Republic. He's currently ATP #113, but we expect bigger things.

SRI Rankings Top 50 Issue #M93. 8th June 1999
Rank	Name	Rating Points	Rank Change	ATP Rank
1	Pete Sampras	1151	0	3
2	Andre Agassi	1114	0	4
3	Patrick Rafter	1094	0	2
4	Richard Krajicek	1069	0	5
5	Greg Rusedski	1022	0	13
6	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	1017	0	1
7	Gustavo Kuerten	1010	0	7
8	Todd Martin	1000	+1	12
9	Mark Philippoussis	982	-1	10
10	Tim Henman	976	+4	6
11	Karol Kucera	973	0	14
12	Thomas Enqvist	969	0	20
13	Alex Corretja	964	-3	8
14	Marcelo Rios	959	-1	9
15	Jerome Golmard	945	+2	23
16	Felix Mantilla	931	0	16
17	Francisco Clavet	931	+1	22
18	Magnus Larsson	914	+6	39
19	Younes El Aynaoui	904	+3	35
20	Lleyton Hewitt	903	+1	42
21	Carlos Moya	898	-6	11
22	Dominik Hrbaty	884	+8	18
23	Nicolas Kiefer	883	-4	21
24	Jason Stoltenberg	883	-4	45
25	Thomas Johansson	882	0	19
26	Tommy Haas	874	0	17
27	Fernando Meligeni	866	+6	26
28	Magnus Gustafsson	855	-5	47
29	Jonas Bjorkman	845	+2	32
30	Vince Spadea	843	+2	29
31	Goran Ivanisevic	843	-3	15
32	Albert Costa	837	-3	25
33	Michael Chang	830	-6	57
34	Sebastien Grosjean	815	0	31
35	Jiri Novak	806	+6	49
36	Juan Carlos Ferrero	799	NQ	113
37	Andrei Medvedev	794	+49	30
38	Byron Black	788	+2	37
39	Scott Draper	782	-1	43
40	Marat Safin	777	-4	36
41	Boris Becker	774	-2	82
42	Wayne Ferreira	772	+1	28
43	Jim Courier	768	+1	61
44	Jan Siemerink	762	+1	34
45	Jan-Michael Gambill	762	-3	50
46	Stefan Koubek	760	+6	51
47	Fabrice Santoro	760	0	46
48	Justin Gimelstob	748	-2	66
49	Marc Rosset	748	-1	33
50	Xavier Malisse	745	-15	109
51	Nicolas Lapentti	744	-2	27
53	Bohdan Ulihrach	736	-3	40
55	Thomas Muster	729	-18	90
63	Mariano Zabaleta	703	-10	24
96	Marcelo Filippini	643	+40	87

Rating Winners:
Andrei Medvedev	+127	(RU French 99, 1R 98)
Marcelo Filippini	+76	(QF French 99, 1R 98)
Dominik Hrbaty	+41	(SF French 99, 3R 98)
Magnus Larsson	+38	(2R def Kucera French 99, 1R 98)
Fernando Meligeni	+31	(SF French 99, 4R 98)

Rating Losers:
Thomas Muster	-67	(QF French 98, 1R 99)
Carlos Moya	-59	(W French 98, 4R 99)
Xavier Malisse	-55	(1R French 99)
Michael Chang	-32	(3R French 98, 1R 99)

[ wo - walkover, wd - withdrew, ret - retired, def - defeated ]

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