THE SCOOP: SATURDAY, JULY 28

Anna’s back, to play San Diego

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

PALO ALTO, CA. – The Anna Wait is over. Now the Anna Watch has begun.

Kournikova will return to competition next week at the $750,000 Acura Classic
in San Diego after not having played a tournament since February due to a
stress fracture in her left foot.

"I am so excited to be back playing and competing every day," said Kournikova
in a statement released through her agency, Octagon. "I love playing tennis.
This is what I do and I can't wait to get back on the court."

The No. 13 ranked Russian will compete in both singles and doubles at the
July 30-Aug. 5 tournament, which also features the top four: Martina Hingis,
Jennifer Capriati Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.

Seeded No. 9, Kournikova will receive a bye and play the winner of the match
between Australia's Nicole Pratt and Bulgaria's Pavlina Nola. If she manages
to score a win there (which isn't guaranteed, given what a squirrely opponent
Pratt can be), she could face No. 5 seed and '01 Roland Garros finalist Kim
Clijsters in the third round. Ouch.

Tennisreporters.net hopes to visit with Anna on Monday or Tuesday. Keep your
long blonde ponytails crossed.

JENNIVER MOVIN’ ON UP
W ith Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4) quarterfinal loss to
Meghann Shaughnessy at the $565,000 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on
Friday, Jennifer Capriati has moved up to a career high number two in the WTA
Tour rankings. After failing to defend her Bank Of the West title, Williams
drops to number three in the rankings. Capriati, who is the reigning
Australian Open and French Open titlist, is still 1301 points behind No. 1
Hingis, but has few points to defend in the coming months and has a good
chance to catch the slumping Swiss by the U.S. Open. Capriati is on Hingis'
side of the draw in San Diego and could face raging Jelena Dokic in the third
round.

The Acura has one of its best draws in memory – a 48-woman event that is so
stacked with name players it looks like a Masters Series event.
Here's some more potential third round matches to salivate over: Meghann
Shaughnessy-Monica Seles; Elena Dementieva-Sandrine Testud; Barbara
Schett-Lindsay Davenport; and Venus Williams-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
Davenport, who is still alive at the Bank of the West, will also pass
Williams in the rankings on Monday if she manages to win the title. But as
she said on Saturday after blasting Monica Seles, she needs to do more than
just pass Venus in the rankings, she needs to start beating her again. Venus
has taken Lindsay out in their last three Slam contests.