Article by Glyn James

LINZ PREVIEW

          This week, Jelena plays in the Generali Ladies Linz, Austria.  It is a Tier II event with $585,000 of prize money, and is brought to you by Bank Austria Creditanstalt and Generali Gruppe.  It is, as you may have guessed by now, played on the fast indoor courts, and you can catch the action at the Design Centre Linz, Europaplatz 1, 4020 Linz.  Alternatively, the more affordable option is to watch the coverage on TV.

Here are the TV listings for the event:

EUROSPORT - TUE 2:00-5:00, WED 2:00-4:45, THU 2:00-4:45, FRI 2:00-4:45, SAT 2:00-5:00, SUN 1:30-3:00.

TW1 - TUE 5:00-9:00, WED 2:00-6:00, THU 4:00-8:00, FRI 2:00-6:00, SAT 1:45-3:00.

*all times are Central European Times & P.M.

          Latest news around the tournament is the withdrawal of the defending champ Lindsay Davenport who has suffered an injury on her lower right shin / ankle.  She picked up her injury last week at Zurich during her 7-6 7-6 semi-final victory over Belgian Waffle Justine Henin.  Davenport elected to play in the final and took pain killers to try to ease the pain, but was clearly struggling and eventually went down against home favourite Patty Schnyder in a three set thriller.  Davenport has said that she hopes to return in time for next week's Championships in L.A.

          Meanwhile, Lindsay's withdrawal has given Jelena the #2 seeding for the event whilst Capriati, Hantuchova, Shaughnessy, Schiavone and Daniilidou make their debuts at the event.  None of the top seeds are playing particularly well at the moment and after surprises at Moscow and Zurich already this month, there is no certainty as to who will become victorious this week.  Most importantly, with Jelena as the #2 seed, the draw should open up nicely for her and enable her to make some steady progress.

Here's how the new draw looks following Lindsay's withdrawal -

          As you can see, the first notable thing about the draw is a potentially tricky quarter final match against either doubles partner and friend Nadja Petrova or America's seventh seeded Chanda Rubin.  After that comes Henin before a final clash with either Hantuchova, Myskina or Capriati.  In all fairness, Jelena really should capitalise on Lindsay's withdrawal.  Hantuchova is breathing down Jelena's neck in the ranking stakes, and has only a 2rd performance in Luxemberg dropping off her ranking total.  Jelena on the other hand, has 137 points to defend this week and will undoubtedly be anxious not to let anymore points slip through her fingers.  Not only has Jelena lost the prestige of holding a higher ranking over the last few weeks, but she has made life extremely difficult for herself regarding the draw for the L.A. Championships.  Hantuchova has sneaked ahead of Jelena in the race and will surely finish the race above Jelena (who will most likely finish 9th).  This means that Jelena will play against one of the top 8 players in the world in her opening match at L.A.  All is not lost though.  A good performance here will stand her in good stead for the Championships and an on form Jelena is still extremely capable of toppling most of the top 8.  Last week's performance has given us some hope in regards to Jelena's hunger for victory and we now pray that Jelena can get her game together and conjure up a few vital victories.

PREDICTION --------------------------

1rd – bye

2rd – Dokic def. Kix in straight sets

QF – Dokic def. Petrova in straight sets

SF – Dokic def. Henin in three