Wimbledon 1997: Best of the rest of British: The six-packs who aim to keep the home fires burning

Greg Rusedski

Age: 23. Born: Montreal.

World Ranking: 37th.

BIG-SERVING left-hander who renounced Canadian citizenship to become a British subject two years ago. Has since been a regular member of Britain's Davis Cup side and rivals Tim Henman to be national No 1. A winner of three ATP singles titles, he has reached two finals this year - at the Croatian Indoors where he lost to Goran Ivanisevic and in San Jose where he withdrew with a wrist injury after taking the first set off Pete Sampras. His injury bothered him for three months, but, now he is fit again, his meeting with the seventh seed Mark Philippoussis could be the tie of the first round, especially if both men realise their 140mph serving potential. His best Wimbledon was in 1995 when he reached the fourth round.

Mark Petchey

Age: 27. Born: Loughton, Essex. World Ranking: 183rd.

DAVIS Cup player whose career has promised more than it has delivered. His world ranking is well below his lifetime best of 74th, achieved in August 1994. Apart from winning almost $600,000 in career prize money, he has five times reached the men's singles second round at Wimbledon and has victories to his credit over the Grand Slam singles champions Thomas Muster, Michael Chang and Michael Stich. A winner of three ATP Challenger events, he also partnered Danny Sapsford to doubles titles in Istanbul and Nottingham last year.

Chris Wilkinson

Age: 27. Born: Southampton.

World Ranking: 222nd.

ANOTHER Davis Cup player whose finest competitive moment came at Queen's in 1993 when he beat Ivanisevic to reach the third round of the Stella Artois Championship. He reached the third round of Wimbledon in the same year, and repeated the achievement in 1994 and 1995. His world ranking has dropped dramatically from his career-best showing of 114th in September 1993.

Danny Sapsford

Age: 28. Born: Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

World Ranking: 265th.

GUTSY right-hander who won this year's Reebok Tour events in Cardiff and Eastleigh. His world ranking is 87 spots below his best position which he held only 15 months ago. He lost to Henman in the men's singles second round at Wimbledon last year, but won the men's doubles titles in Istanbul and Nottingham with Petchey.

Luke Milligan

Age: 20. Born: Barnet, London.

World Ranking: 295th.

ONE of the surprise packets of last year's Wimbledon, reaching the third round before falling to Henman. He also made his Davis Cup debut against Ghana in 1996, winning both his singles rubbers, and improved his world ranking by 150 places during the year. The son of a north London taxi driver, Milligan has struggled to qualify for ATP tournaments this year and has been largely confined to satellite events. Accordingly, his world ranking has fallen back from last year's high of 217th.

Andrew Richardson

Age: 23. Born: Peterborough.

World Ranking: 232nd.

TALL (6ft 7in) left-hander who marked his Davis Cup debut against Zimbabwe this year with a five-set victory over the world No 46 Byron Black. After finishing overall champion of the LTA's 1997 indoor satellite circuit, he is world ranked 232nd, the best of his career. However, his only Wimbledon singles appearance, in 1992, resulted in a first-round defeat.

Samantha Smith

Age: 25. Born: Epping, Essex.

World Ranking: 121st.

BECAME British No 1 towards the end of 1996 after overcoming an ankle injury and chicken pox during the first half of the year. This year she has qualified for the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne and was unbeaten in five singles matches as Great Britain won promotion from Fed Cup Europe/Africa qualifying group 2 in Turkey. She was the most successful British player on the WTA tour in 1990, reaching the third round at Eastbourne and the quarter-finals in Athens and Sao Paulo. Her highest world singles ranking was 103rd, achieved in September 1991, a year before she quit the tour to study history at Exeter University. She represented Great Britain at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and reached the women's singles quarter- finals at the 1995 World Student Games in Japan.

Shirli-Ann Siddall

Age: 22. Born: Liverpool.

World Ranking: 201st.

ENJOYING the best season of her career so far, having won nine satellite titles - three singles and six doubles. As a consequence, this Dorset- based player's world ranking is now below her previous best of 204th five years ago when she made the third round at Edgbaston and second round at Eastbourne. She has twice reached the women's singles second round at Wimbledon - in 1991 and 1994 - and partnered Danny Sapsford into the last 16 of the mixed doubles in 1996.

Lucie Ahl

Age: 22. Born: Exeter.

World Ranking: 222nd.

AN upset victory over Smith in the recent Surrey Grass Court Championships in Surbiton helped to lift Ahl to her highest world ranking (220th) last month. On this year's satellite circuit, she has appeared in two finals and three semi-finals before reaching the second round of the DFS Classic at Edgbaston. Last year, she won four satellite titles - two singles and two doubles. Her brother, Dan, is a former top British junior.

Claire Taylor

Age: 22. Born: Banbury, Oxon.

World Ranking: 208th.

VICTORY in the Reebok Tour event in Corby and a runners-up finish behind Siddall at the satellite tournament in Birmingham have helped to propel this young left-hander to her highest world ranking. She improved 100 places in the rankings last year during which she won a satellite tournament in Texas and reached the women's singles second round at Wimbledon where she lost to Mary Pierce. Her senior Wimbledon debut in 1994 resulted in a memorable Centre Court defeat by Martina Navratilova.

Lorna Woodroffe

Age: 20. Born: Epsom, Surrey.

World Ranking: 257th.

ANOTHER fast-improving player who has won five titles so far this year. Her singles successes were the Reebok Tour event at Eastleigh and satellite tournament in Sunderland, and she has also won three doubles titles, two of them with her regular partner Julie Pullin. She made her Wimbledon debut in 1993, losing to the 11th seed Manuela Maleeva, but was injured for most of the following year.

Julie Pullin

Age: 21. Born: Cuckfield, Sussex.

World Ranking: 255th.

THIS Leicester-based left-hander is the reigning national singles champion and also won her second national doubles title last year with Woodroffe. This year she has won the satellite singles in Bournemouth plus two doubles titles - at the Birmingham satellite and Redbridge challenger events.