23. Ai Sugiyama

Born: 5/7/75 Nationality: Japanese Seeded: 23 World ranking: 25 Wimbledon best: Quarter-finals (2004) Recent record: 2004: Quarter-finals 2003: 4th round 2002: 3rd round

Ai Sugiyama's singles renaissance seems to have dramatically faded since reaching career-high ranking of eight in February last year.

She made her worst start to the season in a 15-year career with three straight first-round losses at Sydney, the Australian Open and Gold Coast, where she won her sixth and most recent title in 2004.

Hindered by knee and foot injuries, her season has continued in a similar vein with the diminuitive player managing to reach the last 16 of just three events.

At the French Open, she fell in the first round for only the third time in 11 trips to Roland Garros.

But Sugiyama may have reasons to be positive having equalled her best Grand Slam performance with a quarter-final appearance at SW19 last year.

Although she is still a potent force in singles, Japan's top-ranked player has been one of the world's best doubles exponents for some years.