JELENA-DOKIC.com - August 12, 2003

 

JELENA CORNER  by  Todd Spiker

FIRST SHE SEMI-TANKS, THEN HER HEAD COMES OFF


1535...August 4 points (#15)
1......L.A. POINTS (GRADE: D-)
-118...2002 L.A.
+40....new 17th best total
1457...August 11 points (#17)


 

"My head just went off." - Jelena

   Not exactly encouraging words from a player trying to find her confidence with an out-of-date treasure map.  Maybe Jelena should just stay away from the greater Los Angeles area and its suburbs.
   On the one year anniversary of the famed "semi-tank," her fortunes took another turn for the worse.  Raise your hand if you thought it was possible for the arrow judging Jelena's season to go still farther south.  It would seem to defy the laws of physics.  But so it did.
   A week ago, one good thing that could be said about Jelena in this sorry season was that when she got up early on an opponent she knew how to close them out.  It was the one skill that she'd managed to hold onto through the precarious twists and turns of 2003.  It was the one statistical staple in this column on a weekly basis, meant to serve as a good sign should Jelena actually manage to win the 1st set of her next match each week.  Before her matchup with Chanda Rubin in San Diego, she was 15-2 when she gained an early advantage.  Her loss to the American was hoped to be a simple aberration.  Then it happened again in Los Angeles.  Now she's 15-4.


FROM SEMI-TANK TO SEMI-CHOKE


   In her opening match against Svetlana Kuznetsova last week, Jelena raced to a 6-4, 3-1 lead.  She blew it.  In the 2nd set tie-break, she raced off to a 4-1 lead.  She blew that one, too.  The 3rd set, which she lost 3-6, was pretty much a foregone conclusion to hear Jelena talk about it.  Hard to win when your head goes off and all, you know.

 

"I got a bit nervous.  I should have won the match.  It was all mental." - JD

   One is tempted to say "I can't believe she lost that match."  The want to say it is there (the words might even be uttered under someone's breath, or be evident by the shaking of the head when the final scoreline is intitially seen), but the belief that the phrase is true has long since been buried in the heap of disconcerting losses Jelena's left in her wake as she's hopscotched all around the world (well, almost -- Australia was still off limits a while back) the past seven months.  By now, 1st and 2nd Round losses have become par for the course and, really, it seems like they will remain so for at least the near future.  It'd be more shocking if Jelena actually managed to string enough wins together to play in a tournament's final weekend (she's only done so once in her last 26 events).
   With time running short, it looks like it's once again time to chuck away the thoughts that this will be the Quarter that things turn around.  With her ranking (#17, with the Top 20 probably but a fleeting memory next week) falling like a tennis ball thrown off the observation deck of the Empire State Building, Jelena will arrive in New York in a couple weeks not only with no chance of seeing that yellow sphere hit the pavement... but also with very little hope of leaving town with a respectable US Open performance to encourage her for the season's final two months (not with a seeding that could mean a monster of an opponent -- a Belgian, Williams, Capriati, Davenport, etc. -- as early as the 3r). Looks like Jelena might have some extra time to go sightseeing around the city.  Might I suggest a stop off at Coliseum Books for an afternoon perusal?  It's a classic corner shop that should provide Jelena with ample reading material for all the additional free time she seems to have these days.  At least then, Jelena's early round losses will give her the chance to better herself with a good book.   Even if it's not the most desired trade-off, it's good to know that Jelena can still accomplish something each week.


#15 Elena Dementieva.....1483
#16 Vera Zvonareva......1468+
#17 JELENA DOKIC.........1457
#18 Patty Schnyder.......1437
#19 Meghannn Shaughnessy..1411
#20 Silvia Farina Elia...1401


   Sure, Jelena may have accomplished something the last two weeks by showing that she can mix it up with better-than-average players (rather than lose meekly to #132 or worse).  But all she has to show for it is proof that she's still finding new ways to lose.  She could build on the losses if they came to a Williams or a Waffle, but players like Rubin and Kuznetsova aren't so "scary good" that Jelena goes into a match thinking she'll need an untold number of lucky breaks to win.  Losing to them in the fashion she has is just another sign that things are still nowhere near coming together for her.
   If she loses her opening match in L.A. her ranking points will drop from 1457 to 1303.  She'll need to get at least one win (giving her the necessary 39-or-better L.A. total to raise her points above that 1303 low water mark) this week to avoid her fourth losing streak of at least three matches in the past year (she'd only had three total in the three-plus pro years previous).
   When will the bleeding stop?  Well, even though the 4th Quarter is relatively heavy-defense free in comparison to the rest of her year, Jelena will still be losing the hauls from two post-US Open SF in Bahia (118 points) and Tokyo (104), plus the 156 from the WTA Championships for which she won't qualify this season.  Jelena's ranking points could still fall below 1000 by the end the year (a total that would have ranked a player #33 at the end of 2002) unless the long-anticipated/delayed upswing begins.
   It is never comes and 2004 rolls around on the calendar, then the notion that has been perculating under the surface for so long now will become a reality -- that 2003 is to be forever known as Jelena's "lost season."
   On the bright side, then she could set her sights on being the WTA's "Comeback Player" a year from now.  Again, not the most desired trade-off.  But something that Jelena could accomplish.

 

THIS WEEK

TORONTO, ONTARIO
Rogers AT&T Cup; week of Aug.11
Hardcourt; Tier I
#8 seed; 2r v. Widjaja (#73)
2002: SF-Capriati (192 pts.)
POINTS: W=300; RU=210; SF=135; QF=75; 3r=42; 2r=25; 1r=1
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   Want a good statistic to latch onto for this week?  Jelena is 7-6 in Tier I's in 2003 (after going 8-9 in them last year).  Yes, she's OVER .500!!  Of course, she's 10-14 everywhere else.  So how much encouragement can be gained from all that is anyone's guess.
   This is Jelena's last opportunity to salvage a Top 16 seed for the Open (the seedings will come from next Monday's rankings).  It'll be difficult, but it isn't mathematically impossible.  Jelena is 1-0 lifetime against 2r opponent Angelique Widjaja, so she SHOULD win.  But that's a phrase that's been erroneously uttered too many times this season.  Her 3r matchup could be Vera Zvonareva, playing in her first hardcourt event this summer.  In the QF, a quick rematch with Kuznetsova could be in order.  After that, new #1 Kim Clijsters might await in the SF.
   But something always seems to poison the best laid plans of mice and Jelena in 2003, and there's no reason to think it won't continue during her foray into Pierre Country (oops, I mean Canada -- you know, Quebec's friendly neighbor).  I'll go with a 3r prediction, and everyone can hope the proximity of Mr.Cantin's crossed fingers will produce a little additional luck for the fair Dokic.

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THIS WEEK ON TENNISRULZ BACKSPIN: Kim is #1... let the debate begin