Age: 20. Best performance: Fourth round 1998

At the start of the year the Russian went five tournaments without winning a match and was fined for not trying in his first round defeat in the Australian Open.

In February he sunk to 127th position in the Champions Race.

But since then, the turnaround has been remarkable. He has risen to fourth place with wins on clay in Barcelona and Mallorca and reached the final in Rome.

He confirmed he can play on hard courts when he beat Levy Harel of Israel 6-2 6-3 to win the Tennis Masters Series event in Toronto.

Last year at Flushing Meadows he lost in the second round in New York to Czech Jiri Novak in five sets.