In 2000, Virginie Razzano won an epic battle in the French Open final at Roland Garros. The eight-seeded Frenchwoman stunned her home nation, winning 5-7 6-4 8-6 to claim a Major championship. Razzano had reached the top of the tennis world with her compelling victory.

The only catch was, that was the girl's title -- Virginie Razzano was just 16. Now, seven years on, Razzano might feel like she is on top of the tennis world, especially after the last two weeks she has had on the Asian swing of the Tour.

Twelve days ago, Razzano had traded sets with Jill Craybas, an American journeywoman barely ranked inside the top 100 in the first round of a Tier III tournament in Guangzhou, China. After a sizzling summer in which Razzano had wins over players like Sania Mirza, Anna Chakvetadze and Nadia Petrova, the 23-year-old had lost in the second round of the US Open and was struggling against Craybas.

'At the age of 23, perhaps a discovery of the form that brought Razzano a junior-level Major can be the same formula for success on the pro tour'


Ten sets later, Razzano had not only defeated Craybas, but had won five straight matches (losing only 22 games the entire week) to win Guangzhou -- her first WTA Tour title in her eight-year career. Somehow that win was bigger than the one in 2000 in Paris.

This week in Tokyo, at the Japan Open, Razzano marched to a much similar beat. Waltzing through her first three matches, the eighth seed was briefly challenged by Flavia Pennetta in the semi-finals before stunning Venus Williams 4-6 7-6(7) 6-4 to win the title.

Suddenly, Virginie Razzano has arrived. After reaching a career-high number 33 last week, she will enter the top-30 (perhaps even the top-25) following her win in Tokyo.

As many tennis players, fans and writers suggest, the fall season is the time for higher-ranked players to take time off and and that is when the lower-ranked players can pad their rankings. For Razzano, however, the recent success is anything but "padding". Instead, with confidence-building wins like this she will not only feel more competitive at the top tier, but should also be more motivated to work hard over the off season leading up to the Australian Open.

Perhaps Razzano is one of tennis's "late bloomers". She was ranked as high as number three in the world when juniors like Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were competing, but now, at 23, perhaps her discovery of the form that brought her a junior-level Major can be the same formula for success on the pro tour.

With a lethal forehand, improved movement and a surge of confidence, Razzano now can use her clicking game with the added boost of being seeded at the Australian Open in January where she can try to reach the fourth round of a Major for the first time since the 2006 US Open.

And after that, the girl who won the 2000 French junior championship might just be the woman to contend at Roland Garros 2008.