I will try to comment a little bit on your list and maybe add a few to look for.
Agnes Szavay- Certainly a very bright prospect. Should be top 10 within a couple of years, but is still very young and you have to expect some ups and downs. Has a world class backhand so she has a good matchup against lefties and players with weak backhands, but she has to improve her forehand which is way too erratic. I saw her live in Acapulco almost 3 years ago and she has made huge improvement since then, so I espect her to end up around rank 15 in 2008.
Victoria Azarenka- Big talent with a very big game. Can be erratic and can be vulnerable to players who are making few mistakes. She is a little bit of a raw talent still and needs to work on technical aspects of her game. If she can cut down on her unforced errors she will be top 10 pretty quickly.
Julia Vakulenko- Not sure if she is top 10 potential. She will turn 25 next year and should have shown more already. She has been having some serious mental issues and for periods of the year she is just not able to win against anyone. But she has shown lots of talent and has a big game, but needs to cut down on the unforced errors to really threaten the top players. She is what I call a "flow player" cause when she is on she is pretty much unstoppable for players outside top 20.
Sara Errani- One of the new and bright Italian generation. She is one of the players I need to take a closer look at but seems to be better on slower surfaces and she also seems to be a "flow player". Seems to have few unforced errors and should be interesting to back against the more mechanical players.
Pauline Parmentier- Made great improvements in 2007 and seems to be a good all round potential. Not sure about top 20 cause the top 20 will be very crowded in the next few years.
Karin Knapp- Very promising player. I think she has more potential than Parmentier, for example. Very good on both clay and hardcourt. She is an interesting combination of power and few errors and is also young enough to have development potential. Has shown that she can threaten good players and with some more experience she should be be able to reach rank 20 or so in a couple of years.
Kateryna Bondarenko- Very promising player and especially indoors and on grass. She is more of a counter puncher relying on errors from the opponent. Good to back against mechanical and error prone players, but she is struggling against more classy and crafty players.
Dominika Cibulkova- Very promising player, although I don't see the comparison with Nadal. She is a player from the Czech tennis tradition and plays very flat but is not very error prone as many of the players from Czech Rep/Slovakia. Already a good player on clay and can already be expected to beat 20-30 ranked players there, but has improvement potential on faster surfaces. She is a little bit mechanical still, but that has to do with the schooling she has had, but should be a top 20 player within a couple of years.
Raluca Olaru- Is part of the very interesting wave of new players from new Easter European countries like Romania, Hungary and Poland. She is quite a flashy player but like you said a raw talent. If she can polish her technique a little bit and cut down on the errors she has the potential to move into the top 30 within a couple of years. I think she has more potential than Cirstea cause she has more firepower.
Urszula Radwanska- Is a very interesting player. She is still very young but possibly as talented as big sister Agnieszka. They have exactly the same schooling through their father. Differently from many other tennis prospects they haven't had big sponsors to rely on. It was just the hard work they did with their father that made them good. She disappointed me a little bit in 2007 but should be able to break though in 2008. She is a good matchup against mechanical and error prone players but is vulnerable against players who are more crafty spin based players.
Timea Bacsinzsky- She is somewhat of a Paszek light for me, but more error prone. Has had very good moments showing good potential, but too long periods of mediocricy. Could break through this year, and especially on clay and at home in Zurich on indoor hard.
Sorana Cirstea- Possibly the cutest girl in tennis
. But she has shown some potential on the tennis court also. She is more of a consistency player than Olaru and will probably spend her career between 25 and 40 in the world. Has a good matchup against mechanical error prone players below 25 in the world but might also shine against better players on a good day.
Mariya Koryttseva- She is one big questionmark for me still, and I am looking forward to see her play. Showed improvement towards the end of 2008. I imagine her being similar to other Ukrainian players which means relatively good power and security from the baseline, but not top 20 potential.
Julie Ditty- Certainly a player to watch and one it is possible to make good money on. Unlike many Americans she is not basing her game on power, but more on consistency. I saw here live in Acapulco in 2004 and she has made big improvements since then. Could be good to back against mechanical error prone players in the range 30-60.
Casey Dellacqua- Is finally taking her tennis seriously and it is showing. She has lost much weight the last 6-8 months and she is more mobile as a result of that. She has a big serve and is profiting on that and can be a good back against pretty much any player below 20 in the world when she is in form. Seems to be a flow player also.
Agnieszka Radwanska- Very promising player, but it is important to understand when to back her. She is good too back against pretty much any error prone player outside the top 10. She is struggling against players who puts more spin on the ball and who are able to combine that with power and consistency. Very much a counter puncher but she has her limitations because of matchupproblems against the top 10 who is not giving many errors away.
Lucie Safarova- Incredible potential, but is very much a flow player. She is quite mechanical without a whole lot of touch. When she is on she will beat anyone but when she is off she makes a bunch of errors which makes it smart to go against her when she is playing players in the top 30 with a low error count.
Virginie Razzano- Had a very big and impressive year. Very big potential when she is on, but is quite vulnerable because she has a low margin for error. But it seems like she made a big step forward in 2007 and that she became more consistent. When she is on she is a good back against players from 15-30 in the world because she can blow anyone below top 15 off the court on any given day.
Tamira Paszek- Incredible talent. Needs to lose some weight but she is already very well schooled technically. Strange to talk about some of the other girls as young. This girl is still 16!! Very good mix between power and consistency, and she is also very clever on court. Jelena Jankovic comes to mind as someone similar, but Paszek has more potential because she is more powerful and she is smarter.
Then I will add a few none mentioned players:
Michaella Krajicek- Struggled in 2007 with a blood disease, but if she can overcome that she is immensly talented, and especially on fast surfaces. Has a big, flat game that is most effective indoors and on grass, but she can also perform on fast surfaces. Still very young so she has time.
Alize Cornet- This is a very interesting player. She has great consistency, and she has also added some power to her game. Her serve has improved a lot in 2007 and she is also going for her shots a little bit more. Very good matchup against mechanical flathitters so look for those matches. She is a clay specialist, but is improving on faster surfaces as well.
Caroline Wozniacki- This girl has potential! I guess she will reach somewhere around 30-40 in 2008. She has been a standout in Scandinavia since she was 8-9 years old and seems more fitted to fast surfaces, and especially indoors and grass. In the long term she will certainly be a top 20 player. Good and balanced game between power and consistency.
Aravane Rezai- This player is just raw power. She has to lose weight to be able to play top players who are able to return some of her bullets, but once she gets that in place this is at least a top 20 prospect. She also needs to increase her consistency, and for that she also needs to lost weight. Her style is very flat and very hard!
Angelique Kerber- She is part of the new and quite talented generation from Germany. She is a leftie and should be able to use that to her advantage. She is consistant and also able to go for her shots. Should be a top 30 prospect in the long term.
Tatiana Malek- Same generation as Kerber and quite talented, especially on clay and indoors where her vicious slice is effective. Maybe not quite as talented as Kerber, but not far away. Usually slicing her backhand and going for her shots on her forehand which makes her a tricky oppontent for some players.
Ahsha Rolle- I expect this American 22-year old to make a jump this year. She has a huge serve and like Dellacqua she has finally put more attention to physical training which makes her able to stay in rallies with more mobile and higher ranked players. She is now 116 in the world, but should be able to get into the top 50 next year. She will probably be good to back against any non consistant player outside the top 30.
Julia Goerges- I haven't seen this player yet, but the reports say that she is the most talented in the new German generation. If the reports are right she should be able to get into top 50 already in 2008.
Ayumi Morita- This new Japanese girl is very interesting. She is Sugiyama's old coach's new prospect. She is playing two-handed from both sides and is a good mix of power and consistency. She has already showed some attitude which is not a bad sign when talking about new prospects. She is extremely fast and should therefore be a very good back against players with bad mobility. Her speciality is fast surfaces but I think she will develop into a good allrounder. She is still only 17 so she has time to improve.
Alla Kudryavtseva- Quite talented player but still some work to do. She is not all power like many other Russians but is a good matchup against mechanical and error prone power hitters below top 30.
There are a bunch of new girls coming up now and I think these will make a jump up the ranks. Some of them I haven't seen so I might have to hit the road since they rarely are shown on tv. Maybe the most importan thing in tennis betting is to see a player early to take advantage of a market who really doesn't see them until they are in the top 100.
-Petra Cetkovska
-Ekaterina Makarova
-Renata Voracova
-Evgeniya Rodina
-Katie O'Brien
-Andreja Klepac
-Olivia Sanchez
-Varvara Lepchenko
-Alberta Brianti
-Nika Ozegovic
-Alisa Kleybanova
-Yulia Fedossova
-Abigail Spears
-Sophie Ferguson
-Marina Erakovic
-Monique Adamczak
-Raquel Kops-Jones
I could write more but it would take me the whole day...
Cheers
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