Article written by Nikola Radovic

Jelena Dokic and her doubles partner Nadia Petrova will start with the defense of the title with a match against  Rika Fujiwara (JAP) and Jennifer Hopkins (USA) in Sarasota later today. The title which Jelena won last year in Sarasota where she was teamed up with Russian doubles specialist Elena Likhovcheva, without losing a single set, now playing with her great friend both on and off court Nadia Petrova, Jelena will for sure have not that easy task, but with a game these two are showing lately, there is no need not to trust that the history can be repeated once again.

On the other side of the net, they will have two relatively young tennis players that to tell the truth, haven't shown that much in doubles matches.

Rika Fujiwara, only 22 years old, coming from Japan, with a game that is still in progress, and with a game that is a kind of a good mix of nice and hard shots with relatively good skills, and with 3 doubles finals under her belt, can make some upset today for sure, while American's Jennifer Hopkins, also just 22 years old, but with famous first name, and not much to be added to her game, nor skills is for sure one of those tricky players that you can beat, but yet you want to avoid, just in case because you never know with those players, don't you?

Rika Fujiwara , at Career-High Doubles (as of Nov. 17, 2002): No. 13 (Nov. 11-17, 2002), and her doubles history
Finalist (3): 2002 - Canadian Open (w/Sugiyama), Shanghai (w/Sugiyama), Linz (w/Sugiyama). Semifinalist (3): 2002 - Roland Garros (w/Sugiyama), Season-Ending Championships (w/Sugiyama); 2001 - Shanghai (w/Saeki),
and Jennifer Hopkins, Career-High Doubles (as of Mar. 31, 2003): No. 82,
Winner (1): 2002 - Strasbourg (w/Kostanic). Finalist (1): 2000 - Antwerp (w/Rampre),
will have their 5 minutes to show what are they really made of later today.

As you may know, this is a clay court tournament. The first one for these girls this season, so it is always a bit hard to guess who will how react to this new conditions. Sometimes, the pressure of defending a title can be so huge that even the top players can't be focused that well. Will that be case today? I think not, because Jelena and Nadia are two very smart and talented players, they know how to play under these conditions, they know what it's important to do when you play on clay, how to take advantage and what kind of game plan you need to have in order to succeed. What can more be Jelena and Nadia's advantage in this match is their experience, even they are still so young, but they are playing together for a relatively long time, while their opponents, Rika and Jennifer are teamed up for the first time. So, yes, they will try to make some good run, they desperately need some progress in their doubles matches, but the question is, do they have enough of those that matters?
Jelena and Nadia must put aside their last week lost and focus on the here and now. Attacking early and dictating the pace of the match will be central to Jelena and Nadia's success. For sure, Jelena and Nadia will pound Rika and Jennifer with their power baseline game, with good court coverage, while Rika and Jennifer will try to finish points as soon as possible and to make rallies short.

The only way Rika and Jennifer can win is to chip and charge, change the angle and speed of Jelena and Naida's shots and try to move them out of position. They must hold serve and scheme a way to break Jelena and Naida's power service game. But the question is, can they make it happen?
Jelena and Nadia will not in any way forget their mission.

My Pick: Fujiwara and Hopkins will have to play their best career match to beat Dokic and Petrova. I say Dokic and Petrova in straight sets ( 6-4, 6-3).

Order of Play - Tuesday 1st April 2003

Grandstand 1 - 11.00am
1. Tulyaganova vs Panova
2. Hopkins vs Matevzic
3. Dementieva vs Pisnik
4. DOKIC/ PETROVA vs Fujiwara/Hopkins

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