THE ABILITY to maintain composure on court is, of course, not a prerequisite of a champion. Various rages for perfection have accompanied many of the most stunning tennis exploits as well as some of the more appalling. But few players regularly experience such variant emotions within the space of just a couple of games as the latest Russian to make her presence felt in the women’s top 10, Anna Chakvetadze.

Now just one match away from her second quarter final in as many Grand Slam tournaments, the 20-year-old Muscovite rates as one of the most emergent talents on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Yet ask her what she would most like to accomplish in the forthcoming months and the answer is one of honesty rather than the bravado that suggests a major title. “More than anything I would like to find the way of becoming calm,” she admits with more than a tinge of embarrassment.

Perhaps it has something to do with studying for a psychology degree, partly by correspondence and occasionally in the classroom or lecture theatre at Moscow University, but Chakvetadze is highly analytical about her moods on court.

Moving through to the last 16 with her 6-4, 6-4 win over the infinitely more experienced Japanese Ai Sugiyama, she played with confidence and authority at the beginning of each set only to tighten with nerves and lose the ability to propel a first serve into play.

However, such clear demonstrations of anxiety is not totally unknown in women’s tennis. What was infinitely more unique was the ninth seed’s behaviour during her previous win against Hungary’s Agnes Szavay. At the beginning of the second set she was clearly so elated by her performance at winning the first that she walked back to the baseline struggling to contain her laughter.

Yet when she faltered in sight of victory and then, after a lengthy rain delay, allowed her opponent to take the match into a decisive third set, Chakvetadze was in such distress that tears were trickling down her face and she repeatedly looked courtside to Rainer Hoffman, the husband and coach of top 20 rival Patty Schnyder, with the expression of somebody who had lost all hope.

“He is just helping me out when he can,” explained Chakvetadze. “It is not easy to find the right coach that I can talk to and feel right with. I am a player that needs to be more calm on the court but I find it very difficult.”

Chakvetadze bears distinct similarities to two far more recognisable competitors. She plays in a way very similar to Martina Hingis in that she has no discernible big shots but instead plays the percentage game. But there are also parallels with Anastasia Myskina, the French champion of 2004 who trains at the same Vita Sport club in Moscow and is excited by the potential of her young compatriot.

“She’s a really smart girl on the court, in terms of the way she plays the game and moves, and she’s doing really a lot of good things,” said Myskina, who has spent more time analysing players in her assumed role of television commentator since experiencing a foot injury which continues to jeopardise her career.

One coach who has helped Chakvetadze is Robert Lansdorp, who not only prepared Myskina for her triumph at Roland Garros but was also integral in Maria Sharapova’s emergence. Following successful cancer surgery last year, a touring role is not possible for the Californian-based Dutchman, who previously guided Tracy Austin to the summit of the women’s game and did the same for Lindsay Davenport.

Lansdorp first began working with the 20-year-old Chakvetadze in March just before the back to back United States tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. The first event produced a couple of reasonably predictable victories but the second saw her reach the semi-final, eliminating three seeds on the way before falling to Justine Henin.

The pair will definitely reconvene later in the summer after Wimbledon when the tour moves to the United States and he is sufficiently enthused to maintain greater things could not be far away for the right-hander. “I compare her to Myskina,” he said. “She’s very intelligent and talented. There’s a lot of potential there. They were about the same age when they first came to me. Myskina was possibly a bit quicker but this girl hits a much bigger shot.”

Last October, Chakvetadze served notice of intent in her home city by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup thanks to a walkover victory against the injured Sharapova and an emphatically convincing performance over former French and US Open finalist Elena Dementieva. In the past year she has also registered three wins over Nadia Petrova, who 12 months ago was ranked the world’s third best player.