JELENA-DOKIC.com - April
7, 2003
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JELENA
CORNER
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by Todd Spiker
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*SARASOTA JD.com GRADES*
SINGLES: F (1r-lost to #29 Suarez)
DOUBLES: D (QF-Dokic/Petrova walkover)
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*THE NUMBERS*
March 31 Singles Rank...............#10
March 31 points....................2414
2002 Pts.Off (Sarasota)............-157
New Best-17 total (Paris 03)........+57
April 7 points.....................2314
April 7 singles rank................#11
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Screenwriter Ron Shelton*: "Sometimes, when
you win, you really lose... and sometimes when
you lose, you really win." (*)-from "White
Men Can't Jump"
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...::JELENA UNDER CONSTRUCTION::..
April Fool! Jelena didn't really lose in the 1r of her
Sarasota defense last week! It was all a big joke!
Oh, if only that April 1st loss were that simple.
Unfortunately, Jelena DID lose again. In fact, this
year's trip to Sarasota couldn't have been more different
than last year's.
Coming off the Miami event with some new-found
confidence and hope, it all went away in the 1r match
against a crafty vet with a style of game that has always
given Jelena trouble. Paola Suarez handled Jelena
surprisingly easily, and was never really in danger of
losing the match. In that past, Jelena might have found a
way to fight through this match and win anyway. But not
this Jelena, still in the extended transitionary period
between leaving "old Jelena" behind and constructing a
"new Jelena" in her place. Heinz Gunthardt has stated
that there's no reason why Jelena can't continue to win
while the two of them work to change her game, but
"current Jelena" still has not been able to find a way to
bake her (future) cake and eat it, too.
Almost as if to add insult to (literal) injury, Jelena
didn't even have the opportunity to defend her doubles
title as partner Nadia Petrova was forced to withdraw from
the tournament after suffering an ankle injury in her 2r
match against Anastasia Myskina (after pushing her fellow
Russian to a 3rd set). Myskina's survival, as it turned
out, would come back to haunt Jelena. More on that later.
--BEFORE AND AFTER--
After Miami, a few of the categories have thankfully
been able to be excised from the Slide Chart... but
Sarasota means that it still cannot be discarded into the
dustbin of Jelena History.
This week, it makes its unwanted return in a slightly
different form, though, as it compares what Jelena did
before her three-set SF win over Anna Kournikova in San
Diego (when she overcame 2 match points) last July and
what she's done since then. The "semi-tank" match came
just one week later, and it wouldn't be until Miami last
month that she managed to again win back-to-back matches.
**RISE (Before Kournikova) CHART**
previous 17 matches...........14-3
previous 21 3-setters.........17-4
previous 4 down a set..........3-1
SF in previous 6 events..........5
**SLIDE (After Kournikova) CHART**
last 38 matches..............19-19
last 22 matches...............8-14
last 6 3-setters...............0-6
last 15 down a set............0-15
SF in last 13 events.............0
With luck, in a few months time, the Slide Chart will
be distmantled and its parts sold as souvenir scrap metal
on e-bay (maybe Pierre can put up a link on the JD.com
front page, hmmm?)... but its memory will linger as a
reminder of how much things have changed. Ah, those would
be brighter days.
--THE INTERMINABLE WAIT--
I'm not sure if the aforementioned words of Ron Shelton
quite apply to what has been happening to Jelena so far in
2003, but they could.
One thing that has been consistent about Jelena this
season has been her insistence that she's not blind to
what's been occurring on the court. She obviously feels
each loss just as any athlete with a will to succeed
would, but she's also taken her losses philosophically.
They're a means to a better end, the pain before the
gain. The broccoli before the dessert.
That's how The Plan works, and it's no time to deviate
from it. So far, she's holding true and has expressed no
real panic or concern over her 5-7 record this season.
Hopefully, that lack of worry isn't actually nonchalance
in a brilliant disguise. In her present condition, they
honestly look quite similar -- so let's hope for the best,
that she simply realizes that this is the penance she has
to pay in order to eventually get to the promised land.
#5 Davenport................leads by 597
#6 Capriati.................leads by 584
#7 Mauresmo.................leads by 375
#8 Rubin....................leads by 210
#9 Hantuchova...............leads by 165
#10 Myskina..................leads by 30
#11 JELENA..........................2314
#12 Seles..................trails by 484
In this risk/reward scheme of Jelena's, she made it
clear she's willing to risk temporarily falling back in
the rankings. Well, that officially occurred this week
when Jelena's 1r exit and Anastasia Myskina's Sarasota
title conspired to drop the fair Dokic from the Top 10 for
the first time in eighteen months (she's been there since
October 8, 2001). How long her exile will last will
depend on how long it takes for "new Jelena" to finally be
erected on a tennis court near you (or, hopefully, near
SOMEONE).
After Miami, it appeared that that moment would arrive
sooner than later, but that's apparently not the case.
Maybe if Sarasota had been a hardcourt event, the momentum
would have continued, but the switch to clay served as yet
another short-term obstacle to overcome. Now, it's on to
Charleston and another Tier I... with the project still
uncompleted.
The Miami preview of the final product was downright
enticing (most of the time, at least). But, for now, the
"Jelena Under Construction" sign is still hanging outside
the practice courts in South Carolina.
The wait goes on.
**The Family Circle
Cup; April 7-13**
Charleston, South Carolina
Green Clay/Outdoor; Tier I
#6 seed - 2r: vs. Matevzic/Sharapova
2002: 2r-Smashnova (Pistolesi) (1 pt.)
POINTS CHART
W=275; RU=193; SF=124; QF=69; 3r=38; 2r=23; 1r-1
Excuse the hard hats and orange traffic cones.
Remember, this IS a Work Zone.
For that reason, venturing into a Jelena prediction is
an enter-at-your-own-risk proposition. Here, no draw is
beneficial and no opponent is a cakewalk.
With Serena positioned as a potential QF opponent
(unless Conchita Martinez catches her on an off day, which
is entirely possible in Serena's opening clay event of the
year), it seems pointless to look beyond there. But, with
the "Under Construction" signs everywhere the same can be
said for the 3r, can't it?
I just don't have the heart to pick a 2r loss (the
thought of another 3-match losing streak is enough to make
you see the benefits of Hari-Kari), but I can't find a way
to blindly pick another QF, either (especially not with
potential 3r opponent Iva Majoli, the Charleston defending
champ, finally seeming to wake up from her nearly
year-long slumber over the past few weeks). So, I'll play
it safe and pick a 3r result here and hope it begins the
upward climb toward Rome and Roland Garros.
==========================================
This Week on Tennisrulz Backspin:
The Spinning Wheel turns to the beat of "April Foolin' in
Sarasota and Casablanca"
