Tommy Haas
THE LOWDOWN: Out all of 2003 with a shoulder injury, “The Stud” roared back last season to finish in the Top 20… Winning combination of swagger and substance, Haas won last year’s Mercedes-Benz Cup event and posted best-ever quarterfinal finish at the Open… One to watch.
Svetlana Kuznetsova
THE LOWDOWN: Last year’s US Open champ loves mixing it up on cement… “The Contender” reached the quarters at Los Angeles’ JPMorgan Chase Open and the Olympics on the hard stuff in ’04, and this year reached that same point at the Australian Open and Indian Wells… Quiet and unassuming, she’s a legitimate threat to make
noise in the Series.
Marat Safin
THE LOWDOWN: With an explosive inner fire, “Mr. Unpredictable” is capable of blazing his way through any draw—or going up in flames... Safin is particularly lethal on hard courts, winning the ’00 US Open and this year’s Aussie Open… Barring a major meltdown, he figures as a US Open Series favorite.