- a stocky, deeply tanned Russian who likes to smash rackets as well as forehands
- the finest female athlete the landlocked southern African nation of Botswana has produced
- a long-haired 25-year-old Texan who has soared to world-class level since moving to Los Angeles to train with the veteran coach John Smith.
- the flashy but streaky 29-year-old Spanish left-hander,
- a tanned and boyish-looking 47,
- a raven-haired baseliner seeded 11th,
- a sturdy polyglot who once trained at an academy in France,
- the flashy Frenchman with the one-handed backhand that generates ooh-la-las worldwide,
- a big-hitting Australian who reached the final here last year,
- a slender, smooth-moving Slovakian veteran who was once ranked No. 5 but is seeded 28th here this year and has long lacked a closer’s instincts.
- the powerful if mechanical Swede
- a 20-year-old Canadian qualifier with a boyish face and a manly serve,
- a 6-foot, 250-pound bundle of grit
- the former nightclub bouncer who spent many of his timeouts scowling or screaming at the Wildcats.
- the hard-living Finn who swept the normal hill and large hill in 1984 and 1988 before injuries and self-destructive habits brought him back to earth for good.
- the erratic Czech power baseliner,
- the resurgent, newly married American,
- the 6-foot-10 Croat, a rainmaker of aces, tiebreakers and quick-point matches from Wimbledon days of serve-and-volley yore
- a crafty qualifier who had never played in a Grand Slam tournament but who, through the vagaries of the draw, found herself facing an all-time great on the most famous court in tennis in her debut.
- the huge-hitting and unpredictable Czech
- a determined 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga.,
- a 24-year-old extrovert whose matches are routinely eventful
- the hard-hitting 29-year-old American who has slipped from the top 10 this year
- a fashionista with a flamboyant streak
- a petite and quick-footed Czech baseliner
- a flat-hitting 31-year-old
- a solidly built 18-year-old Russian
- an emotive, versatile 21-year-old
- the tall Californian
- a German with a big serve for his modest height
- the huge-serving though mentally fragile Swede.
- the expressive son of a butcher whose intensity and ability to swim to an occasion have made him one of Japan’s most prominent athletes
- whose back story may be longer than any forehand she has ever hit.
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