Fliderstadt Preview:

Again Jelena went down last week in the second round to tough and soon-to-retire Amanda Coetzer of South Africa. I hope that the same fate does not occur at this tournament in Filderstadt, Germany, as Jelena has unfortunately slipped down the rankings to number 8 in the world following Lindsay Davenport’s final appearance. However, she currently has no points to defend and so this is a great opportunity to gain some quality points that could lift her up the rankings, especially considering Justine Henin has to defend a final appearance from last year while Davenport attempts to defend her title.

Now most people would think that Jelena’s draw is fairly difficult but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few upsets along the way that could free her draw up a little bit. To begin with, her second round opponent was decided yesterday when Tatiana Panova upset Silvia Farina Elia in straight sets 6-3 6-2. She is a strong competitor and runs things down but hopefully will not be as tough a competitor as she could be, especially since Jelena is now being coached again by her father, Damir. The last time these players met was in the final of the Sarasota Open where Jelena crunched Panova in straight sets 6-2 6-2 and also holds a 2-0 head to head record against her.

If successful, Jelena’s QF opponent should be Amelie Mauresmo who has had quite a successful year on hard courts despite the lack of quality players she has had to play when compared to other seeded players. Her first round opponent has caused Mauresmo a lot of trouble in the past with Mauresmo only winning in a 6-4 third set both times, but these matches only occurred in 1999 and a lot has happened since. If successful there, Mauresmo will most likely have to play Magdalena Maleeva, fresh off a title last week in Moscow where she was able to defeat three top ten players (including Mauresmo), a great accomplishment! She is also a great indoor player and could cause Dokic quite a large amount of trouble in the QF if she is indeed able to beat her second round opponent, who ever she may be.

Other than that, there is a very low possibility that Anne Kremer would make it past the first round, particularly when looking at her recent performances where she has lost in the early rounds, thus decreasing her confidence levels.

Next on Jelena’s agenda will once again be Davenport who has always been successful against Jelena despite how close some of their sets have been. I am optimistic that Jelena could put up a very good fight and if she is on fire, like in San Diego, who knows….she could win! Anastasia Myskina could very well upset Kim Clijsters in the opening round and so challenge Davenport in the QF, but like their recent match in August, Davenport came out on top winning the match 6-2. Clijsters, on the other hand, could pull through, beat Davenport in the QF and face Jelena in the semis where a very close encounter could occur. Good quality points available if Dokic can beat any of these players though, regardless of how far she gets.

Jelena’s dream final opponent, according to the seeds, could be one of the following players, all of whom she has beaten this year:

· Capriati: Jelena retired in their last match after a great set of tennis where Capriati won 7-6 (5). Unfortunately, Jelena retired down 0-4 in the second set. She did, however, beat her in three tough sets in San Diego and so if she is able to keep up a good momentum, the title could very well be hers.
· Henin: Dokic last beat her in straight sets 7-6 (3) 7-6 (3) in Hamburg and has a great opportunity of winning the tournament if she can progress this far.
· Hingis: still coming back from an injury, Hingis looks to be in devastating form after literally being blown off the court by the Russian and Jelena’s double partner, Nadia Petrova in straight sets 6-2 6-2. If she has regained her form, she could still put up a tight match against Capriati or Henin but it looks unfortunate for the Swiss Miss to progress to this stage of the draw. Last result: Dokic d. Hingis 6-4 6-3.

GOOD LUCK JELENA!

Predictions:

Dokic d. Panova 6-3 6-3
QF: Dokic d. Maleeva 2-6 7-6 (8) 6-4
SF: Dokic d. Clijsters 4-6 6-4 6-4
F: Dokic d. Henin 6-4 6-4[/QUOTE]