myFABEtennis...: Alexandra Panova

Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic was a semifinalist here in Wimbledon in 1999 but due to her personal battles, she wasn't really able to fulfill her potential the way she would've wanted. What's great though now is she was able to win her first round match against Alexandra Panova, ranked #74, 46 63 64.

In the second round today, she shocked #9 player Marion Bartoli, 64 63.

She will meet #23 ranked Italian player, Roberta Vinci in the third round.

The top tier of the Russian contingent consists mainly of household names like Maria Sharapova or Elena Dementieva but there is a strong second tier of players just waiting in the wings of their more illustrious compatriots. This is evident in this year's Tashkent Open, where three of the four semifinalists came from Russia. It was no surprise then, that a Russian, Alla Kudryavtseva, took away the trophy, and her first WTA Tour title as well. Alla is currently ranked #82. This was Alla's path to the championship -

Finals - Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-4, 6-4

SFs - Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

QFs - Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 7-6, 6-3

2R - Alexandra Panova (RUS) 6-4, 6-2

1R - Yuliana Fedak (UKR) 6-4, 6-1

Alla won over higher-ranked Elena Vesnina, currently at #72. Her semi-final opponent, Evgeniya Rodina, is ranked at #109, yet she gave Alla all she could handle before losing the match. The fourth semifinalist was Monica Niculescu of Romania, who lost to Vesnina. She is currently ranked #81.

With this win, Alla should edge closer to the Top 50.