Article written by Todd Spiker

JELENA-DOKIC.com - February 24, 2003

--IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU JELENA, BUT...--

   It's always a nice thing here at JD.com to have Jelena back in action.  It gives everyone loads to talk about, and the possibility of something great happening is ever-present.
   But, that being said, it's impossible to prevent the wandering thought of whether playing this week in Scottsdale is in her best interests.  I guess only time will tell if this previously unscheduled work week is just the beginning of a broken promise. After all, by playing in her fourth 2003 event in Week 9, Jelena is now ahead of the brutal 29-tournament pace she set in 2002 (she'd played just three events at the same point) that caused her to break down as the year came to a close -- something she has vowed not to allow to occur again.  Already, it has become apparent that this situation will have to be monitored all season long.
   With the approach of the important claycourt season, which has effectively managed to turn Jelena's season around for two years running (more on that in the coming weeks), the year-long tightrope act has begun.  Does adding Scottsdale mean Jelena won't attend both Tier I's in March?  Those two tournaments are both two-week events, cutting down a little on the daily grind, but if she plays them both (and does well ) then heads to Sarasota to defend her 2002 title she will have been in action nine of the ten weeks since the late start to her new season... and will still be staring at the bulk of the spring/summer circuit where she gained most of her ranking points last year.
   Keep an eye on this.


--A BUMPY RIDE?--

   The last time we saw Jelena, her inconsistency and lack of match toughness were still lingering burdens three tournaments into the season.  A glitchy serve and mounting frustration were consistent bugaboos, too.


 

   It's a difficult task to figure out where Jelena's game is at the moment.  A roller coaster win over Angelique Widjaja, two uncompetitive defeats at the hands of Lisa Raymond and Eleni Daniilidou (both of whom, it should be noted, have already won singles titles this season) and a 3rd set crumble against Ai Sugiyama are all the ammunition she's taking with her to Arizona.  For a player who hasn't won back-to-back matches in over five months, there isn't a great deal on which to build a measure of confidence.


 

   Buckle your seatbelts, because there's a good chance things could get worse for Jelena before they begin to get better.  With a possible three tournaments left in the 1st quarter, Jelena's history doesn't say this is a prime points-grabbing period.  She's never played Scottsdale before, but in her five combined trips to Indian Wells & Miami she only has one QF (2001 Miami) to show for her efforts... and often is ironically taken out early by the same player in both (Conchita Martinez in '00, Anne Kremer in' 02).
In other words, it might not be smart to expect much out of the next few weeks... and to instead patiently wait for the clay season, and the usual longer rallies/matches that will offer Jelena the chance to finally play enough to get her game into shape.


--RANKING PROSPECTS?--

   Even without great results, Jelena's standing in the singles rankings could improve before the start of the clay season.  At the moment, she's still holding at #9 thanks to Monica Seles's semi-choke in the Dubai final (she served for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd, but lost to Henin-Hardenne 5-7 -- a win would have dropped Jelena to #10).


 

   Jelena won't have points coming off until Sarasota (she'll need 58 or more points in Scottsdale to increase her total this week), but others will. Capriati isn't defending her Scottsdale 2002 RU (185 points), Hantuchova will be defending her huge 481-point haul from last year's Indian Wells title and Seles is staring at 206 and 245-point defenses in Indian Wells and Miami. On the negative side, #11 Myskina is gaining on Jelena (and had no greats results at this point last year) and #12 Rubin is now returning to action, as well.