THIS WEEK: The Tier II tournament in Tokyo didn't produce too many surprises, with top seed Davenport beating second seed Seles in the final. Davenport achieves some breathing space as she battles to keep second away from the Williamses. Amanda Coetzer continued to struggle against quality opposition - this time a 6-0 6-4 loss against Amy Frazier (steady at 15, WTA #22 -> #20) after dropping a set to Maureen Drake (up from 67 to 65, WTA #47). This is hardly the form of the #7 in the world, which is how the WTA computer rates her. By SRI she is now 23rd.

The other tournament this week was a Tier III in Luxembourg, and its neighbour Belgium took advantage of the location. Five Belgians appeared in the quarter-finals, including all four in the top half of the draw! Five players made important marks this week:

- Kim Clijsters swept through her first four matches (including qualifying) losing just ten games. She then belted Anke Huber and defeated countrywomen Els Callens, Sabine Appelmans, and Dominique van Roost (6-2 6-2) to take the title. Last week the SRI Rankings computer rated her about 31st, provisionally. Instead she makes a spectacular debut in the Top 50 Women at 13 (WTA #83 -> #50). She is only 21 points from the top 10!

- Lina Krasnoroutskaya, in just her fourth tournament, made it to the semi-finals. She's only a blip in the distance at the moment, but learn how to spell that name!

- Magdalena Maleeva (didn't she retire?) won through qualifying and beat Novotna in the main draw. If she plays a few more matches, she'll qualify in the top 30 again.

- Justine Henin continues to impress. Her provisional rating puts at the fringe of the top 20, but she needs more experience to justify that.

- Henin was beaten by the resurgent Sabine Appelmans, who is our winner of the week, up from 48 to 41 (WTA #49 -> #42), after some time outside the SRI Rankings Top 50 Women.

SRI Rankings Top 50 Issue #W83. 28th Sep 1999
Rank	Name	Rating Points	Rank Change	WTA Rank
1	Martina Hingis	1816	0	1
2	Lindsay Davenport	1765	0	2
3	Serena Williams	1743	0	4
4	Venus Williams	1685	0	3
5	Monica Seles	1500	0	5
6	Mary Pierce	1348	0	6
7	Anna Kournikova	1173	+1	16
8	Barbara Schett	1148	+1	8
9	Sandrine Testud	1135	+1	13
10	Chanda Rubin	1120	+1	24
11	Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario	1109	-4	15
12	Nathalie Tauziat	1105	+1	11
13	Kim Clijsters	1099	NQ	50
14	Conchita Martinez	1085	0	14
15	Amy Frazier	1077	0	20
16	Amelie Mauresmo	1076	-4	12
17	Dominique van Roost	1071	0	10
18	Jana Novotna	1059	-2	18
19	Mary Joe Fernandez	1049	0	38
20	Julie Halard-Decugis	1044	-2	9
21	Elena Likhovtseva	1033	0	17
22	Jennifer Capriati	1020	-2	30
23	Amanda Coetzer	991	-1	7
24	Anke Huber	991	-1	25
25	Patty Schnyder	941	-1	23
26	Silvia Farina	928	+3	27
27	Ruxandra Dragomir	926	-2	21
28	Natasha Zvereva	916	-1	22
29	Irina Spirlea	915	-3	19
30	Lisa Raymond	911	-2	34
31	Ai Sugiyama	906	+1	26
32	Jelena Dokic	889	-2	40
33	Silvija Talaja	889	-2	35
34	Karina Habsudova	873	-1	43
35	Nathalie Dechy	845	-1	28
36	Henrieta Nagyova	840	-1	33
37	Ines Gorrochategui	827	0	63
38	Fabiola Zuluaga	825	-2	52
39	Anne-Gaelle Sidot	824	-1	32
40	Magui Serna	793	+2	36
41	Sabine Appelmans	789	+7	42
42	Maria A. Sanchez Lorenzo	782	-2	41
43	Corina Morariu	778	-2	39
44	Gala Leon Garcia	771	0	54
45	Cristina Torrens Valero	759	-2	51
46	Angeles Montolio	758	-1	58
47	Brie Rippner	754	-1	68
48	Mirjana Lucic	749	+5	45
49	Sandra Nacuk	747	+1	97
50	Anne Kremer	739	-3	31
NQ	Justine Henin	1047	NQ	86
NQ	Magdalena Maleeva	973	NQ	130
51	Cara Black	739	-2	62
53	Sylvia Plischke	720	-2	29
58	Tamarine Tanasugarn	709	-19	78

Rating Winners:
Sabine Appelmans	+38	(SF Luxembourg 99)
Ai Sugiyama	+34	(SF Tokyo 99)
Elena Likhovtseva	+24	(2R Tokyo 98)
Mary Joe Fernandez	+23	(2R Tokyo 98)
Anna Kournikova	+22	(QF Tokyo 98)
Mirjana Lucic	+22	(1R Tokyo 98)
Lindsay Davenport	+19	(W Tokyo 99)

Rating Losers:
Tamarine Tanasugarn	-86	(SF Tokyo 98, 1R 99)
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario	-69	(RU Tokyo 98)
Amelie Mauresmo	-39	(QF thrashed Tokyo 99)

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

blurb version 3.0