The following article on Tamira Paszek is by Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog. This post is part of On the Baseline Tennis News’ 2008 Players to Watch Series.
When Aaress asked me to write a guest post on the topic of which players may become well-known in 2008, I did not need to think for long before choosing Austrian Tamira Paszek.
First, I would like to shortly introduce Tamira to those who are maybe not so familiar with her.
She is a fresh, 17-year-old born in Dornbirn, Austria.
She has an interesting family background: her father was born in Tanzania, raised in Kenya, and lived in Canada, while both his parents are from India, and Tamira’s mother was born in Chile, but was raised in Austria. Pretty impressive, don’t you agree?
Why do I think Tamira Paszek is a player to watch in 2008?
First, numerous statistics speak for themselves.
The 2005 season was Paszek’s first pro season, and she crowned it with her first titles on the ITF Circuit in both singles and doubles, as well as a Tour main draw debut at Linz where she reached the second round and became the youngest player of the season to win a Tour main draw match.
In 2006, at the age of only 15 years, 9 months, and 18 days old, as a qualifier, Paszek won the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz, for her first Tour title, in only her third singles main draw. This made the then-No.259 Austrian teenager the seventh-youngest singles titlist, as well as third-lowest ranked singles champion in Tour history.
The 2007 season really propelled Paszek onto the tennis scene and made her the topic of many discussions. Paszek debuted at all four Grand Slams in 2007, and reached the fourth round both at Wimbledon and the US Open, disposing of No.17 seed Golovin and No.12 seed Dementieva at Wimbledon, and No.24 seed Schiavone and No.11 seed Schnyder at the US Open for three Top 20 wins.
These achievements helped Paszek climb the rankings from No.181 at the start of the year to her current ranking of No.41.
Additionally, Paszek is the youngest player in the Top 280, and only seven of her seventeen losses have been to players ranked outside the Top 20.
Besides all the mentioned facts, why is Tamira Paszek so special?
When you watch her play you immediately notice her maturity. Paszek plays as if she is very experienced because she is not afraid of anyone (she took world No.1 Justine Henin to three sets in Dubai) and is capable of improving her game in important moments.
At the French Open Paszek lost to Henin 7-5 6-1, but recovered from being 0-5 down in the first set! Aside from this mental power, Paszek is famous for her wicked two-handed backhand, while her physical strength enables her to hit every ball as if her life depended on it.
I hope this is enough evidence to support my opinion that Tamira Paszek is a player that will most certainly challenge the top racquets in women’s tennis.
Therefore, keep an eye on this girl!
Marija Zivlak writes about women’s tennis at www.womenstennisblog.com.
[...] Tamira Paszek May Pose Threat to Top Tennis Players in 2008 Tamira Paszek may be the youngest player in the top 280, but she pushed Justine Henin in close matches twice in 2007. Marija Zivlak from Women’s Tennis Blog believes that Paszek’s maturity and aggression may be the ticket to a successful year in 2008. [...]
[...] promised that I will inform you when my article about Tamira Paszek gets published, and here it is: Tamira Paszek May Pose Threat to Top Tennis Players in 2008. Hope you'll like [...]
Right you are — Tamira will be dangerous to everyone next year. Consider this: after starting the year ranked #187, and barely 16 years old(!), she went 10-13 vs the world’s top 40 players. Really amazing! Looking for her to crack the top 20 in 2008. Go Tami!
Another great write-up! I saw her beat Tati Golovin (she of the red pants) at Wimbledon this year, and there is no doubt she will continue to make her mark on the tour.
Others I have been watching over the years are
Soran Cirstea, Ioana Olaru, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova andCaroline Wozniacki!
I cant wait for the new season to start.
cheers
Jim
Marija,
Excellent article – thank you for participating in our series!
Paszek has a bright future and I agree that she will be one of the rising stars to watch in 2008, especially at Grand Slams.
I’m very excited to see what Paszek does in 2008. She is a bright, young star on the tour.
It is surprising (in a good way) that such a young player has a strong mental game. Although, I do recall Maria S. and Serena W. having a much stronger mental game in their younger years as well. I wonder if it’s time on the tour or simply age (or a combination) that can cause a player’s mental game to waiver.
Hi everyone, thank you all for your nice and valuable comments. All we can do now is wait for the 2008 season, and see if Paszek will continue her rapid rise. I strongly believe she’ll realize her potential and we won’t be disappointed.
Aaress, thank you for inviting me, I’ll be glad to work with you again.
Paszek is pretty great already, and she’s 17 now with so many places to go. Taking out Golovin, Dementieva, Schiavone, and Schnyder at the slams in her first showing at them is pretty great. She’s one of my favorite players, easily, and the one I’m looking for to see the progression in ‘08.
Good luck Tamira!
[...] Tamira Paszek by Women’s Tennis Blog, interview with Paszek by On the Baseline [...]