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JELENA-DOKIC.com - May 24, 2003

JELENA CORNER by Todd Spiker

SLOUCHING TOWARD ROLAND GARROS

They're throwing a grand slam in Paris this week. Think Jelena will show up? Brace yourself, this Corner isn't an early Roland Garros post-mortem, although it might sound like it. As much as I'd like to characterize it as such, this year's EuroJelena Tour hasn't been a Tale of Two Jelenas. It's pretty much been the worst of times, AND the worst of times. Sure, she did somehow manage big-at-the-time wins over the likes of Magui Serna, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Alicia Molik... but those those spare highlights that only served to remind everyone what she's capable of, and then make everyone arch an eyebrow when they realize she's also lost to players ranked #87 and #163 this year. They're the lowest-ranked players she's lost to in the past two years. **JELENA BY-THE-QUARTERS** 1st--------------------2nd 5-6........W/L.........6-7 0-2......3 sets........2-4 5-0......up set........5-1 0-6.....set down.......1-6 2-0........TB..........3-1 2-1....extended sets...4-4 3/6........QF+.........2/7 0/6........SF+.........1/7 42.5...avg.pts/tour...42.4 7-5......doubles.......6-5 And even though that #163 that Jelena lost to last week in Strasbourg, 18-year old Karolina Sprem, has had a great run in lower rung pro events this season and went on to knock off Vera Zvonareva en route to her debut WTA finals appearance this weekend, it doesn't excuse the #1-seeded 10th-ranked player in the world's loss in her first match to a player who had zero success in WTA main draws before she played her. In fact, there's every reason to believe that after having suffered her loss to the lowest-ranked player since becoming a full-time player on tour, the match should take its place alongside the worst of the worst of Jelena's pro losses: 2001 RG 3r - Petra Mandula...world #131 2002 LA SF - Chanda Rubin...the semi-tank 2000 Oz 1r - Rita Kuti Kis...never a player 2003 Stras 2r - Karolina Sprem...#163 2002 US 2r - Elena Bovina...no-show Jelena Stage 1 of EuroJelena now winds to a close. Thank God. There's no question that Jelena is slouching toward Roland Garros after experiencing her worst lead-up to a slam in her young career. Forgetting how Sprem played after defeating Jelena, the 2r loss still must have come down like a ton of bricks on her already, admittedly lagging confidance. She comes to Paris on another three-match losing streak (her second of 2003, and third since late last season), with no wins to speak of since that 0-7 tie-break against Iroda Tulyaganova. She's 11-13 on the year, with a mind-bendingly mediocre 11-10 mark against players ranked below her (she thinks she's Elena Dementieva all of a sudden!). And I haven't even mentioned the bad part -- the frustration seems destined to get worse in Paris.

******SLIDE CHART II****** Match record...........0-3 3-setters..............0-3 Matches loses 1st set..0-5 Matches wins 1st set...0-1 TB/Extended sets.......0-3

**JELENA's LONGEST LOSING STREAKS** 4...Sept/Oct 02 (Tokyo,Leipzig,Moscow,Fild.) 4...Feb/Mar 03 (Paris,Antwerp,Scott.,I.W.) 3...Aug/Sep 99 (Toronto,US,Tokyo) 3...Jul/Aug 00 (Wimbledon,Montreal,N.Haven) 3...Jul/Aug 01 (Wimbledon,Vienna,Knokke-H.) 3...MAY 2003-?? BERLIN,ROME,STRASBOURG... There's no reason to think anything's going to get better in Paris. In fact, it'll likely get worse. Jelena's #10 seed is her worst in any event since being #14 at the 2001 US Open, meaning her draw is tougher than normal. And she's about to take some rather significant ranking points hits. Failing to come close to defending her Strasbourg RU dropped her to 2157 points, and now comes the 238-point defense from last year's RG QF. Another early round exit will drop her total to 1961 and, with her Birmingham title points and Wimbledon 4r cache coming over the next few weeks, unless she hears that "click" in her head soon she'll be fighting to stay in the Top 15 very soon. Her growing list of 1r/2r losses over the past year means that as her larger point totals now fall off her list of top 17, they're being replaced by smaller and smaller ones -- and the ranking hit becomes bigger and bigger. Here's a quick look at Jelena's current non-qualifying totals (the 42-point Berlin total will now substitute for the 238-point RG number): 2157...May 26 total NEXT OFF: 238...2002 Roland Garros =================== 42....2003 Berlin 40....2002 US Open 33....2003 Amelia Island 2.....2003 ROLAND GARROS (before 1r) 1.....2002 Filderstadt 1.....2002 Moscow 1.....2002 Leipzig 1.....2002 Eastbourne 1.....2003 Antwerp 1.....2003 Scottsdale 1.....2003 Indian Wells 1.....2003 Sarasota 1.....2003 Rome 1.....2003 Strasbourg Of course, all of this doesn't mean Jelena won't rise to the occasion in Paris. She rose up againt Kuznetsova, Serna, Molik and Dementieva when she needed to, and fought Mauresmo fairly well, too. She could surprise us all. She COULD... just don't hold your breath expecting it to happen. If you do that, Pierre just might be forced to take your name off the JD.com mailing list once he learns of your untimely passing. **JELENA SINGLES RANKING IN 2003** January 1-26..................#9 January 27-Feburary 2.........#8 February 3-16................#10 February 17-March 30..........#9 March 31-April 6.............#10 April 7-20...................#11 April 21-May 4...............#10 May 5-11.....................#11 May 12-25....................#10 May 26-present...............#11 **JELENA ON CLAY** Sarasota (g)............1r (Suarez) Charleston (g)..........QF (S.Williams) Amelia Island (g).......3r (Raymond) Warsaw (r)..............SF (Mauresmo) Berlin (r)..............3r (Tulyaganova) Rome (r)................1r (Martinez) Strasbourg (r)..........2r (Sprem) W/L: 6-7 Roland Garros (r).......1r vs. Roesch **JELENA BY TIER** .............CAREER......2003 Slam.........34-15.......0-0 WTA Chsp......2-2........... Tier I.......45-28.......7-6 Tier II......49-32.......4-5 Tier III.....23-13.......0-1 Tier IV......12-6........0-1 Tier V........3-1........0-0

THIS WEEK

*ROLAND GARROS* Paris, France; May 26-June 8 Red Clay; Grand Slam #10 seed; 1r vs. Angelika Roesch 2002: QF-Jennifer Capriati (238 pts.) ===================================== POINTS CHART W=650; RU=456; SF=292; QF=162; 4r=90; 3r=56; 2r=32; 1r=2 EuroJelena has given Jelena a chance to see how the other half lives. High hopes one week, fleeting success the next. One good week, one horrific one. One step forward, two steps back. She was hoping to find salvation in Europe this spring, but it's becoming clear that it's not likely meant to be. You're right if you think Jelena's game has never shown less confidance coming into a slam than it has shown going into this Roland Garros. But don't simply trust your opinion, look at the numbers. They more than bear out the sentiment. **RECORD HEADING INTO RG, RG RESULT** 1999.....22........13-9........1r 2000.....26........16-10.......2r 2001.....25........17-8........3r 2002.....31........20-11.......QF 2003.....24........11-13......... For the first time ever, Jelena comes into Roland Garros with a record under .500, as well as her fewest total pre-Paris matches since becoming a full-time tour player at age 18. How will she handle it? Well, at first glance, she at least has a CHANCE to put forth a respectable effort. Her draw as the #10 seed, while not easy, at least isn't as bad as it could have been. She COULD have faced the likes of an Alicia Molik (who Maggie Maleeva drew) or another lower-ranked danger, but will instead get Angelika Roesch in the 1r. Roesch hasn't exactly distinguished herself yet on tour, but she did manage to knock off Elena Dementieva THREE times in 2002... so she's no pushover. If Jelena wins, tricky opponents would still await her in an effort to make it to the first weekend: Tina Pisnik or Klara Koukalova in the 2r, Conchita Martinez (who Jelena barely beat at RG in 2002, but lost to in Rome a week ago) in the 3r, Lindsay Davenport in the 4r and Kim Clijsters in the QF. Needless to say, the chances of Jelena continuing her year-to-year Paris improvement (or even matching her best result, a QF last year) for the fourth straight year aren't particularly good. Not in her current form. You can feel the weight of Jelena's life transition coming down on her in Paris, from the coaching change to the familial breakup to the poor results, everything is coming to a rather pointy and uncomfortable head. Paris might not be pretty. It even feels like I'm giving her TOO MUCH credit in predicting a 3r exit. Jelena's going to have to head to the English grass in her continued search for her game's rebirth, because it's difficult to envision any good tennis memories (unless they come on the doubles court with Nadia Petrova) being created over the next two weeks. There's always hope that something will spark on the grass. It has before. But, remember, it's not wise to place any wagers just yet. The North American hardcourt season can't come quickly enough. It's likely there that Jelena's game will face a make-or-break period. If things don't begin to look brighter by the time the US Open is completed to end the summer, then Jelena will have a very big decision to make. She's been patient with the Heinz Gunthardt coaching change up until now, and rightly she should be. But three-plus more months of the type of results we've seen so far in EuroJelena and she would have to begin to weigh in her mind whether or not a Dokic/Gunthardt arrangement is anything resembling a good fit. If she deems it appropriate, she may have to make the difficult decision to cut her losses and look elsewhere for assistance. She's not Steffi Graf, and her square peg might never be able to fit into the round hole that Gunthardt is attempting to coach it into. It's too early for such a rash rush to judgment, but it's something that she might have to start thinking about sooner than she'd like to admit, or ever want to entertain. Hopefully, the decision won't become necessary anytime soon. Maybe things will change in Paris. Maybe... but don't hold your breath. =================================== THIS WEEK ON TENNISRULZ BACKSPIN: Open Season, or a Fait Accompli?... a Roland Garros preview