Bausch & Lomb Championships:

Welcome to Amelia Island:

This week, Jelena travells to Amelia Island, Florida for the 2003 Bausch & Lomb Championships.  It is a Tier II event with $585,000 of prize money.  Once again, the tournament is played outdoors on the green clay, and the tournament is directed by a Mr John Arrix who can be contacted at Jarrix@ksesport.com.  The main sponsor is Bausch & Lomb, whilst the other 'platinum patron' sponsorships include the Amelia Island Plantation, and Porsche.  Daily ticket prices range from $20 to $50 throughout the week, and the nearest airport is the Jacksonville International Airport.  For more information about tickets, lodgings and directions, please visit http://www.blchamps.com. 

Jelena and the Champs:

Last year, Jelena reached the semi finals of this event before finally retiring due to stomache problems in the semi final to Justine Henin-Hardenne after being a set and 4-1 down.  This year, Jelena will have a tough time matching that performance since she is the 5th seed this year, and was the 3rd seed last year.  This means that she's likely to face tougher opposition in an earlier stage in the tournament.  Jelena will however be on something of a high after a steady performance last week at Charleston.  Jelena matched her seeding and then fell in the Quarter Finals against the world number one in straight sets.  Jelena's tricky three set victory over the Russian Elena Dementieva could prove to be something of a turaround.  Jelena found herself all out of luck at the start of the season, but this victory may just have swayed the luckometer in Miss Dokic's favour ... we can only hope.

The Draw:

Jelena is the number 5 seed in the draw.  Here's how the draw looks -

 

1st round 2nd round 3rd round QF SF Final Winner Henin(1) Henin(1)           Bye Randriantefy   Taylor Craybas Craybas   Qualifier Bye Fernandez(14) Fernandez(14) Dechy(11) Dechy(11)     Bye Bartoli Vento-Kabachi Qualifier Tulyaganova Barna   Barna Bye Seles(6) Seles(6) Coetzer(8) Coetzer(8)       Bye Zvonareva Zvonareva Granville Panova     Krasnoroutskaya Bye Dementieva(10) Dementieva(10) Stevenson(16) Stevenson(16)     Bye Black   Callens Dominikovic Morigami   Qualifier Bye Hantuchova(4) Hantuchova(4) Capriati(3) Capriati(3)         Bye Mikaelian   Bedanova Likhovtseva     Foretz Bye Suarez(15) Suarez(15) Raymond(12) Raymond(12)     Bye Frazier   Qualifier Hopkins     Pisnik Bye Dokic(5) Dokic(5) Schnyder(7) Schnyder(7)       Bye Tu   Matevzic Ruano-Pascual     Pierce Bye Shaughnessy(9) Shaughnessy(9) Martinez(13) Martinez(13)     Bye Perry Garbin Garbin Bielek Pratt   Pratt Bye Davenport(2) Davenport(2)

 

As you can see, quite an encouraging draw for Jelena.  She should at least reach the Quarter Finals again and then have a good crack at Capriati, who isn't the strongest player on clay.  For more analysis on Jelena's opponents / potential opponents, you can see J.M.'s preview here - http://www.jelena-dokic.com/jelena/articles/200304/10.htm. 

Conclusion:

Jelena really must be looking for another strong performance this week.  Once again, anything past the Quarter Final stage will be a bonus, but Jelena really must accept no other outcome than a Quarter Final appearance.  Should she reach this stage, she will have an easier match than last week's, and hopefully will be better prepared for some tougher competition.  Who knows, she may even get a little further.

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Prediction -

1rd - Bye.

2rd - Jelena def. Pisnik in straights.

3rd - Jelena def. Raymond in straights.

QF - Capriati def. Jelena in three.

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Comments: glyn_james@jelena-dokic.com