Watch out west, the east is catching up

With six players in the world top 20, Russia is the toast of women's tennis especially with Sharapova reaching the Wimbledon final.

Forget all about the Russians are coming - they've arrived.

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And they're bringing all of Eastern Europe with them.

With six players in the world top 20, Russia is the toast of women's tennis especially with Maria Sharapova having reached the Wimbledon final to follow Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva who contested the French Open last month.

But a look at those finding success in the Wimbledon girls' tournament reveals they have plenty of rising stars in the bank.

As International Tennis Federation (ITF) Head of Professional Circuits Jackie Nesbitt points out, there is no secret - that would have been bottled and sold by now.

But there are a number of factors that explain their raging success.

"There's the work ethic, which has always been very strong with the Eastern Europeans," Nesbitt told AFP.

"It's also important to be aware that in Eastern European nations in particular, tennis - rather than being a minority sport - is a main sport.

"It's one of the reasons perhaps why there is such a tradition of strong coaching. They've had good players in the past and they seem to be making good use of those players as coaches."

ITF director of development Dave Miley travelled extensively throughout the region when the Soviet Union broke up.

He noted a high level of sports science knowledge and a strong competition structure between the Soviet states, giving players valuable match practice.

There was also a good tradition of women's tennis, which perhaps had its roots in early education.

"In the school system, there is a very good system of sport, which means that the girls from a very early age are doing things like gymnastics as part of the school curriculum," Miley said.

"All kids that go to school, they're doing gymnastic and co-ordination type sport."

But one of the most crucial ingredients in the recipe for success is economics.

"The economic situation has been very poor in those nations for the last 10 years so there's a big incentive for those players to get another life for themselves through tennis," Miley said.

Sharapova knows all about that.

At the age of just seven, her father took a gamble on her talent, delivering her to Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida with just 700 dollars in his pocket.

Ten years later, Sharapova's hunger for success was obvious as she secured a place in the Wimbledon final.

But snapping at her heels are a host of Eastern European girls.

Outspoken Bulgarian teenager Sesil Karatancheva won the French Open girls' title last month after warning at an earlier tournament she would "kick Sharapova's butt."

The 14-year-old tripped over her words when Sharapova won their clash in Miami in three sets.

Limited by age-related rules as to how many tournaments she can play, Karantancheva is not at Wimbledon.

But, of the 64 players in the girls' draw, 26 are from Eastern Europe.

Twelve made it to the third round and six of them reached the quarter-finals.

The area in which economics is playing the biggest part is in allowing players to translate their junior success into results at professional level.

"Today it's a bit easier for high level players from Russia and from Eastern Europe to find a sponsor so they're getting the chance to travel and play more tournaments," Miley said.

Nesbitt agreed, saying that in 1996 there were 33 Eastern European tournaments on the pro women's circuit, compared to 48 now.

"There are more sponsors," she said. "They're not just investing in the sport, they're investing in the players.

"Perhaps it's little factors like finally being able to support yourself because more money is available to you. You used to lose a lot of people because they couldn't afford to play."