July 28, 1998

* 1998 Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships

* $25,000 Women’s USTA Challenger presented by Quantrell Cadillac-Volvo for the benefit of Lexington Habitat for Humanity

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The $75,000 Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships have become known for showcasing talented players who are on their way up the world ranking ladder. Local fans will want to come out to see the strong international group in this year’s field that they will be boasting about in a year or two.

All of the players in this $50,000 men’s ATP challenger and $25,000 women’s USTA challenger event are world class players already. With rare exception, all have world rankings and have spent years perfecting their games on the international junior circuit and now the professional challenger circuit, which is equivalent to baseball’s minor league. These players are fighting to make it to the Big Show – Grand Slam events like Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and major events on the ATP and Corel WTA tours like the Italian Open, The Lipton, and the Canadian Open. Even Steffi Graf started on this level, and Andre Agassi was playing challenger circuit events less than a year ago in his comeback into the world’s Top 20.

Fans who attended last year’s Fifth Third Bank Championships have already been rewarded by being able to say they saw Ramon Delgado play up close. Delgado upset none other than world No. 1 Pete Sampras at the French Open this year. And two weeks later, local fans may have recognized Samantha Smith as she was ousting Conchita Martinez at Wimbledon, the 1994 champion there and eighth-ranked player in the world. Smith was a quarterfinalist in last year’s Lexington tournament. For local fans who attended the Fifth Third tournament two years ago, they may remember Tommy Haas who was making his pro debut. Haas got lots of face time at Wimbledon this year while conquering Agassi, another former Wimbledon champion. So who are the ones to watch at the 1998 Fifth Third Bank Championships? Who are the ones you’ll be bragging to your friends about in a few years, saying you saw her back in Lexington and just knew she was going to make it big? Here’s a tip sheet:

Elena Bovina

A 15-year-old Russian siren (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) who stands at 6-1 and ran over the competition at her first professional event in May in El Paso. There, Bovina won through the qualifying rounds and didn’t stop until she won the title. The daughter of an Olympic water polo player, Bovina currently lives and trains at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. She’s known for a tremendous work ethic, training 11 times a week, practicing after matches and running every ball down like its her last. Elena is a wild card entry into the Fifth Third Bank tournament.

Bob and Mike Bryan

These twins are the future of American men’s tennis. They’ve been at the top of the junior ranks for years, and now they’ve dominated the college scene. In two years at Stanford, they led their team to back-to-back NCAA team titles, and as sophomores they teamed up to win the national doubles title. To top off this dream, Bob won the singles title this year to become only the second man in 35 years to complete the NCAA triple crown. This even tops John McEnroe’s stint at Stanford. In June, the brothers turned pro and will play doubles in Lexington while seeking to qualify for the singles draw. Their father and coach, Wayne, will give a clinic on Friday, August 7 to any kid who wants to take part.

Karin Miller

After playing her freshman season at Duke in 1996-97, the Florida resident turned pro and won the inaugural women’s event in Lexington last year as a qualifier into the main draw. She was ranked 226th in the world. Since then, she won another challenger event in Australia and played in her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon. She comes back to Lexington having reached a ranking of No. 100 and will be one of the top seeds. The fun-loving Miller is rumored to have a pierced tongue…see if you can find out.

Takao Suzuki

Only the hottest player on the challenger circuit right now. In his last three events, the 21- year-old from Japan has won two tournaments and reached the final of another. He also won all four of his singles matches in Davis Cup play this year. Suzuki is definitely the future hope of Japanese men’s tennis.

Lindsay Lee

It’s great to see Lee back on the circuit. She’s already won a challenger event this year, beating two seeds. She was on her way up the rankings a few years ago before being sidelined with injuries. In 1995, she improved her ranking from No. 305 to the Top 50 and was nominated for the COREL WTA TOUR Most Impressive Newcomer award. She has wins over Top 10 player Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and this year’s Wimbledon finalist, Nathalie Tauziat. A natural athlete, Lindsay started playing tennis at age 8 when a spectator at her baseball game suggested she try tennis because there was no future for a girl in baseball. At age 15, she moved from her home in Owasso, Oklahoma, to Atlanta to train. A country music lover, Lindsay will be right at home here in Lexington.

Cedric Kauffmann

Led the nationally-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team this year and reached an individual ranking of No. 3 in the nation. A native of Montsoult, France, Kauffmann graduated this spring after being named first team All-Southeastern Conference and to the All-SEC academic honor roll. He reached the second round of the NCAA Championships. He was considered one of the best singles players ever at UK, ranking in the collegiate Top 10 since his sophomore season. He became UK’s first collegiate Grand Slam finalist at the fall 1997 National Clay Courts. He played in this tournament last year, winning the world’s No. 155th-ranked player before falling to the top seed.

Kristina Brandi

The niece of Andy Brandi, coach of the NCAA-champion University of Florida Lady Gators. Tennis is obviously a family affair, as Kristina is coached by her father, Joe, who used to coach Top 10 player Conchita Martinez, and her mother competed in college. She has already collected two titles on the challenger circuit in 1998. Kristina almost pulled off a huge upset last year at Wimbledon when she won the first set against Monica Seles before the match was postponed until the next day because of rain, when Seles came back to win. Brandi has competed in Grand Slam tournaments since 1996. Former No. 1 doubles player Gigi Fernandez helped Brandi get started financially on the pro circuit as thanks to Kristina’s dad, Gigi’s first coach.

Michael Sells

Hails from another tennis family. His sister Jenny coaches at North Carolina State, sister Kris plays for Kansas, and sister Kathy plays for Duke. Michael was a collegiate player himself at Georgia where he earned singles All-America honors 1991-95 and reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 1994. He was ranked No. 6 collegiately in 1993. He’s reached the top 150 on the ATP ranking list this year and is top 100 in doubles. He has played in several ATP-level events this year, and also played in the French Open.

Annabel Ellwood

Aussie Annabel Ellwood handed Jennifer Capriati her first professional loss to a younger player at the 1996 U.S. Open. Her ranking reached as high as No. 57 last year and she has twice reached the semifinals at a COREL WTA Tour event. Annabel has several challenger circuit titles to her name. An outstanding junior player, she reached the finals of the Australian Open and U.S. Open junior events in 1995. She, too, comes from an athletic family: Her oldest brother, Jon, taught her to play; brother Ben competes on the men’s tour; and her father played Rugby Union for Australia.

Vladimir Voltchkov

The 20-year-old Belarussian broke into the world ‘s Top 200 after becoming the first man under the flag of Belarus to reach the third round at Wimbledon this year. He narrowly lost to former No. 1 Boris Becker 7-6, 7-6 at an ATP event earlier this year, and won a futures title in March. He captured the Wimbledon junior singles title in 1996, and is a member of the Belarus Davis Cup team. Voltchkov was the USSR national 14-and-under champion, and began playingtennis as a youngster when his father took him to the courts at the automotive plant where he works.