Patty Schnyder Profile

 Although Patty Schnyder has been on the women's tennis circuit for just on 18 years, the 30-year-old Swiss from Basel has never taken the biggest prize of all, a Grand Slam title.

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland smiles as she celebrates her women's singles third round match over Alicia Molik of Australia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, 20 January 2007 The closest she's ever been to this goal was at the 2004 Australian Open where she reached the semifinals. Although she has always battled with her consistency, she has done relatively well on the WTA circuit.

Schnyder is probably best known for her wins over top players, making her an unpredictable opponent.

Schnyder's main claim to fame is that she has defeated four Top 10 players consecutively, with her scalps including those of  Serena Williams, and former great, Jennifer Capriati.

Schnyder also caused an upset in the 2006 Charleston Championships when she defeated top seed and defending champion, Justine Henin, in the semifinals. This victory ended Henin's 27-match winning streak on clay. After her fantastic display at the semis, Schnyder again fell foul of inconsistency and lost to Russian, Nadia Petrova in the final.

Like Nadia Petrova, Patty Schnyder has the ability to consistently upset higher ranked players, earning herself a reputation as a giant killer. And Schnyder will need to pull off a few giant killings if she is to take her first grand slam title at the 2010 Australian Open.