Russian Roulette

This can happen when a house is left unoccupied too long. It may not come to pass right away, taking a few weeks or even months, but eventually someone is going to take up residence and begin changing the wallpaper and rearranging the furniture.

Or walking off with trophies.

Women’s tennis turned into Russia House in 2004, after Venus and Serena Williams vacated the premises and Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne left after only a short stay.

Russian women won the final three Grand Slam titles of 2004 -- Anastasia Myskina took the French Open, Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon and Svetlana Kuznetsova was U.S. Open champion. Two of those finals were all-Russian affairs; Elena Dementieva was runner-up in Paris and New York.

Four of the top six seeded positions for the upcoming Australian Open belong to Russians. The top two are Lindsay Davenport and France’s Amelie Mauresmo. Following Davenport and Mauresmo are Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova and Dementieva.

Another Russian, Vera Zvonareva, has not reached a Slam final but is seeded ninth at the Australian Open, making it five Russians in the top 10. Defending champion Henin-Hardenne, 2004 runner-up Clijsters and Jennifer Capriati, who won here twice, won’t play in Melbourne because of continuing ailments.

The Russians were able to step into the breach created by an avalanche of injuries sustained by other top players in 2004. But do they have legitimate staying power now that Serena and Venus Williams are relatively healthy?

Or were they simply Slam squatters?

Longtime coach Robert Lansdorp, who has worked with Myskina and continues to assist Sharapova when she comes to Southern California to train, considered that question last week.

“I think you are going to get more of them,” he said, gleefully mentioning that he was speaking while taking a break from coaching a 14-year-old from Moscow.

Lansdorp acknowledged the obvious, that such a dramatic upper-echelon turnover would not have happened without injuries to the likes of Venus and Serena Williams, Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters. The last time all four appeared in the same Slam was Wimbledon in 2003.

“Maybe not en masse,” he said of the Russian arrival. “Myskina probably would have done it anyway. Maybe Dementieva. Maybe Kuznetsova. But I think without [the injured players], the field is a little bit weaker and so they have a little bit more of an opportunity to get into the top 10 or the top five. If you had Serena at her best and Venus at her best, it would have been a little bit tougher.

“Maria would have done it, regardless. But that many, that might not have been the case.”

Brad Gilbert, best known for his successful associations with Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, has worked with enough leading female players to provide a succinct scouting report.

“Tennis is like a treadmill,” he said. “You get off and it keeps going. Nobody is missing you because everybody is moving up a spot. If you’re out on the football team, it’s bad enough that somebody is taking your spot. But you’re still on the team. In tennis, there’s no team.”

Gilbert used another analogy to describe the rise of the opportunistic Russians.

“It’s like you’re a second-string football player,” he said. “You get an opportunity and you become a star. Whether or not the gap was there, there was an opportunity there. They’re all good and young and hungry. They seem to play more. ... They’re pretty darn durable.”

Statistics support Gilbert’s contention. Kuznetsova and Dementieva last year each appeared in 22 tournaments. Myskina played in 19. Despite age eligibility restrictions, Sharapova played in 20 events. Zvonareva did the heaviest lifting -- 26 tournaments.

“It’s probably going to be hard to maintain,” Mauresmo said of Russian dominance at the Slams. “But there are so many Russian players that when one is playing not so good, then you see another one coming and taking the opportunities. ... It’s going to be interesting to see how they do, to make sure they improve again.”

In an interesting twist, another player could be ready to take advantage of the injury breach, after the Australian Open.

One of the best-known gap-fillers was Martina Hingis of Switzerland. She stepped into a void in the late 1990s, winning five Slams, including three in 1997.

This was in the fading days of the Steffi Graf/Monica Seles era and just before the Williams sisters started winning Slams. Dismayed by her inability to cope with the power game and beset by foot injuries, Hingis has not played a tournament since late 2002. But she never officially retired.

And so comes the news that Hingis is returning to the tour at a tournament that starts Jan. 31 in Thailand, weighing a possible comeback.

“I guess I’m not too surprised,” Davenport said. “I thought she would come back. I think she’s a good enough player to come back.”

Hingis is 24. She has stayed around the sport as a commentator and has been taking mental notes, observing the absence of Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne and Capriati, the possible retirement of Davenport and the waning interest of the Williams sisters.

Sounds like the Russians aren’t the only ones ready to take advantage of vacancies in the neighborhood.

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New Kids From the Old Bloc

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Four of the top six seeded women’s players in the Australian Open, and five of the top nine, are from Russia, none older than 23. A look:

3. ANASTASIA MYSKINA

Age: 23

2004 record: 55-18

2004 singles titles: 3

Overall singles titles: 9

Major titles: 1 -- French Open (‘04)

Last 5 Australian Opens: ‘04-QF, ‘03-QF, ‘02-2nd, ‘01-DNP, ‘00-DNP

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4. MARIA SHARAPOVA

Age: 17

2004 record: 55-15

2004 singles titles: 5

Overall singles titles: 7

Major titles: 1 -- Wimbledon (‘04)

Last 5 Australian Opens: ‘04-3rd, ‘03-1st, ‘02-DNP, ‘01-DNP, ‘00-DNP

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5. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA

Age: 19

2004 record: 60-23

2004 singles titles: 3

Overall singles titles: 5

Major titles: 1 -- U.S. Open (‘04)

Last 5 Australian Opens: ‘04-3rd, ‘03-1st, ‘02-2nd, ‘01-DNP, ‘00-DNP

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6. ELENA DEMENTIEVA

Age: 23

2004 record: 39-23

2004 singles titles: 1

Overall singles titles: 4

Major titles: 0 (Best: F, French Open ‘04, U.S. Open ‘04)

Last 5 Australian Opens: ‘04-1st, ‘03-1st, ‘02-4th, ‘01-3rd, ‘00-3rd

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9. VERA ZVONAREVA

Age: 20

2004 record: 54-27

2004 singles titles: 1

Overall singles titles: 2

Major titles: 0 (Best: QF,

French Open ‘03)

Last 5 Australian Opens: ‘04-4th, ‘03-1st, ‘02-DNP, ‘01-DNP, ‘00-DNP

The Other Top Women

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1. LINDSAY DAVENPORT

Country: United States

Age: 28

2004 record: 63-9

2004 singles titles: 7

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2. AMELIE MAURESMO

Country: France

Age: 25

2004 record: 63-11

2004 singles titles: 5

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7. SERENA WILLIAMS

Country: United States

Age: 23

2004 record: 39-9

2004 singles titles: 2

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8. VENUS WILLIAMS

Country: United States

Age: 24

2004 record: 44-12

2004 singles titles: 2

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10. ALICIA MOLIK

Country: Australia

Age: 23

2004 record: 46-20

2004 singles titles: 3