Jelena-dokic.com

JELENA-DOKIC.com - May 11, 2003

JELENA CORNER ------------- by Todd Spiker

ROMAN HOLIDAY, PART DEUX? (Yeah, yeah. I know Rome is in Italy, and "Deux" is French... so sue me.)

--SCALING NO WALLS IN BERLIN-- I guess a setback was inevitable. Nothing ever goes completely smoothly in Jelena's World, and nothing ever comes without toil and strife. So be it. The expected boost of confidence from Warsaw never seemed to materialize in Germany. So, needless to say, Jelena doesn't want to see the old country again. In her mind, it no longer exists. And as for Iroda Tulyaganova? She's to blame for all that is going wrong with Jelena's game. Okay, Jelena wouldn't REALLY say anything like that in public. That'd be considered grandstanding and would be both childish and self-serving, wouldn't it? And, in the end, acting that way would sort of be self-defeating and could only make a bad situation worse, right? Hmmm, something for people (or, maybe one?) to think about. --IN SEARCH OF...-- Jelena's search for consistent results (and the everyday appearance of New Jelena) will have to move to the next stop in EuroJelena, for she found no answers in Berlin. ***THE CLAY SEASON....so far**** EVENT-------RD/OPP---------GRADE Sarasota....1r/Suarez..........F Charleston..QF/S.Williams......B A.Island....3r/Raymond.........C Warsaw......SF/Mauresmo.......B+ Berlin......3r/Tulyaganova....C- The Blue Angel/Marlene Weingartner match was closer (7-6,6-4) than it really should have been in the 2r. Sure, Jelena wasn't feeling 100%, but the four blown set points in the 1st ended up setting a tone for the entire week. By the time Tulyaganova appeared, Jelena's ability to feed off the first SF of the year the previous week was all but lost. The 3r defeat ended up being the worst of Jelena's season since she finally began to rebound in Miami. Not because of whom she lost to -- Tulyaganova's a talented, though unrealiable player capable of so much more than she's accomplished in her career thus far -- but the way it happened. The match is memorable for what Jelena DIDN'T do. She didn't win after taking the 1st set -- she'd been 10-0 after doing so in 2003, and had won 13 straight dating back to last October (ironically, back to Germany -- in Filderstadt). She didn't take advantage of her 3rd set comeback, either. She erased two matchpoints and broke Tulyaganova for 5-5, then blew two game points on her own serve which would have put her up 6-5 and forced IT to serve to stay in the match. It isn't likely that she would have been successful. Jelena somehow managed to break back to send the 3rd set to a deciding tie-break, but then she fell apart again. A week after the longest tie-break of her career (26 points vs. Casanova), and while riding a 5-0 2003 tie-break record (15-5 over the last two seasons), Jelena played her worst TB ever as she failed to get a single point. Jelena pretty much acknowledged after the match that 2003 might be a "step back" year as she struggles to change the nature of her game in order to make it more capable over the long term, and she may be right about that being the overriding theme for the remainder of this season. But there are still so many events left to play, and all she needs is to finally hear that "click" in her head just once to let her know that her body is naturally following the lesson plan set down in those practice sessions with Heinz Gunthardt. Once that happens, a string of successes is possible, and there are huge expances of time remaining between now and October. Look no further than Amelie Mauresmo's rise beginning last Roland Garros for encouragement. Mauresmo, too, enlisted a new coach to make her game a more forward, attacking one. In mid-summer, those new teachings finally began to pay off as she ended a disappointing clay season with her best-ever RG result (4r), then rode that momentum and new-found confidence to SF at both Wimbledon and the US Open, her best slam results since 1999. Maybe this year, Jelena will assume Mauresmo's 2002 role. It'll take more time to get to that moment, but she seems determined to eventually hear that "clicking sound." Once she does, all the struggles will seem worthwhile. --ROME MMIII-- **JELENA BY-THE-QUARTERS** 1st....................2nd 5-6........W/L.........6-5 0-2......3-sets........2-2 5-0......set up........5-1 0-6.....set down.......1-4 2-0....tie-break.......3-1 2-1...extended set.....4-2 3/6.......QF+..........2/5 0/6.......SF+..........1/5 42.5....avg.pts.......59.0 7-5.....doubles........3-4 Jelena seems to have improved after her 5-6 1st quarter, but she's just 6-5 so far in the 2nd after five events. One Italian leg remains in EuroJelena before the midway checkpoint in Paris. As Jelena tries to relive her 2001 glory and forget about the disappointing 2002 sequel that occurred at this point a year ago, she finds herself in a pitched battle with Anastasia Myskina (her Rome 2002 conqueror, by the way) for that #10 ranking. With less pressure than in her defending Rome year, Jelena now enters what is likely her final tuneup before Roland Garros.

#10 Jelena Dokic..........2242 #11 Anastasia Myskina.....2234

While Jelena managed to edge back into the Top 10, she failed to take full advantage of Myskina's 2r loss in Berlin, as a win over Tulyaganova (and maybe one more) would have given her the opportunity to put a slight cushion between herself and the Russian. With Jelena having garnered 61 points in Rome last year (she'll lose just four in the 12-month transition, so at worst she'll have 2238) and Myskina being force to defend a QF that got her 157 points in 2002, Jelena will likely remain of ahead of her long enough to benefit in the Roland Garros seeding. Just look at this week's Rome draw to get an idea of how one ranking spot can make a whale of a difference throughout a season. Next week, though, if Jelena holds true to her promise to not play the week before a slam, she'll lose most of her 134-point Strasbourg SF haul... leading into her 238-point RG defense (QF). It's important to note that Myskina lost her first 2002 match in Roland Garros, so she'll be defending nothing there. Thus, Myskina will soon reclaim #10 and her lead could very well lengthen considerably over the next month if that "click" doesn't register within Jelena before she leaves the clay courts behind for 2003. ========================================= **2003 TIER I's** Tokyo TPP.......QF/Raymond Indian Wells....2r/Rittner Miami...........QF/Clijsters Charleston......QF/S.Williams Berlin..........3r/Tulyaganova Rome............?? 2003......7-5 CAREER...45-27 **JELENA IN 2003** OVERALL..................11-11 vs.lesser ranked.........11-8 vs.higher ranked.........0-3 losses to 03 champions...8/11 3-setters................2-4 tie-breaks...............5-1 extended sets (to 7+)....6-3 down a set...............1-10 up a set.................10-1 January..................1-1 February.................1-3 March....................3-2 April....................4-3 May......................2-2

THIS WEEK

TELECOM ITALIA MASTERS; May 12-18 Rome, Italy Red Clay, Tier I #9 seed - 1r vs. Conchita Martinez 2002: 3r-Myskina (61 pts) POINTS TABLE W=275; RU=193; SF=124; QF=69; 3r=38; 2r=23; 1r-1 My, what a differance one measly little ranking spot can make. In Jelena's case this week, it's the difference between a #8 seed and a 2r match up vs. Maja Matevzic or Francesca Schiavone (which Myskina gets) or a 1r matchup against a tough veteran claycourt specialist who could end Jelena's Roman Holiday dreams extremely early (and a potential 3r match against either Serna/Hantuchova, then a QF against Serena). #10 isn't necessary, but it tends to make things a whole lot easier on the system. But, this is the hand Jelena's been dealt this week. So be it. As it is, the 2r match against Conchita Martinez that Jelena avoided in Berlin will become a 1r reality in Rome. Of course, that Jelena has won 5 straight against the Spaniard is a good sign (CM hasn't won since 2000), and that four of the matches were on clay an even better one. But, then again, Jelena's lost the 1st set in each of the last three wins -- and she's 1-10 when she does so in 2003 (10-1 when she doesn't). Assuming Jelena escapes the 1r (which she very well might not), the next highlight/road block could be in the 3r (excuse me for looking past Gagliardi in the 2r -- something Jelena would be wise to NOT do). There, I'm seeing Magui Serna still standing rather than the stumbling Wonder Girl Hantuchova. Jelena's win over Serna in Warsaw when the Spaniard was on a 13-match winning streak would serve her well in that matchup. Then, of course, would likely come Serena. So, I'll end the discussion on possibilites right there. What do I think will happen? Well, I think Jelena will find a way past Martinez because she's done so for three years now and will be able to gather a little momentum for Roland Garros with a win over Serna to take her to a fourth 2003 Tier I QF and hold onto the #10 ranking, even it's for only another week (helping in what could be a Venus-less Paris, where every spot counts). But, then again, who knows -- maybe Serena will have an off week, or Amanda Coetzer (or Tulyaganova, repaying Jelena for her win last week?) will upset her. No one foresaw Rome 2001 for Jelena, and even fewer would predict a repeat in 2003, right? Oh, per chance to dream.