JELENA-DOKIC.com - August
17, 2003
JELENA CORNER by Todd Spiker
*TORONTO POINTS BREAKDOWN*
1457...August 11 total (#17)
42.....3r
8......2r: Widjaja (#73) - 6-4,6-4
0......3r: Zvonareva (#16) - 3-6,2-6
50.....TORONTO TOTAL (GRADE: C-)
-192...2002 off (Montreal SF)
-142...POINTS FOR WEEK
1315...August 18 total (#23)
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"I've
played very well the last few years; I've
just kept going up. And you get a year where
you don't play so well, and this is normal.
This happens, I know this. I just have to
keep on working hard and try to get some
wins. I think I'm playing better at least the
last few months than I did at the beginning.
And, you know, I think I'm starting to get my
form back a little bit. It's normal. You
can't play well for 10 years of your career."
-- Jelena
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LITTLE MISS VELCRO
The big question as Jelena travelled to Canada last
week was whether she'd have her head back on. It came off
in Los Angeles, and she did manage to put it back on for
the 1st Round in Toronto. In encouraging fashion, she
handled #73 Angelique Widjaja with a good serve game and a
little more variety than usual.
Then, in the 2nd Round against #16 Vera Zvonareva,
Jelena's head came off again in a straight sets loss that
now makes her just 1-3 when facing Russians (Zvonareva,
Kuznetsova & Sharapova) for the first time in her career
this season. Just call her "little Miss Velcro."
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"I've
played very well the last three years. I've
played a lot of matches. So I think mentally
I got a little big tired. That's basically
it. I've had a lot of close matches that I
didn't win, so you lose your confidence a
little bit. That's the key to my game, I
think. But I think it's coming back, and even
the last two weeks I had matches where I was
close and I played good tennis." - JD
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With her singles ranking checking in at #23 this week,
Jelena has now dropped eleven spots in three weeks and
finds herself out of the Top 20 for the first time since
July 29, 2001.
#20 Nadia Petrova......1394.25
#21 Silvia Farina Elia....1375
#22 Anna Pistolesi........1315
#23 JELENA DOKIC..........1315
#24 Nathalie Dechy........1298
#25 Eleni Daniiidou....1238.75
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"It
doesn't take very much to lose your
confidence. It also doesn't take very much to
get your confidence back up. Sometimes you
just need a few matches to get it back. I
think the more matches I get now, the better
it will be. I lost some easy matches at the
beginning of the year and I think my
confidence kind of went there a little bit.
That's basically all that happened. I know
this. I haven't played the best tennis that I
can, but I think I'm improving." - JD
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But what are the chances Jelena will get the required
matches in Connecticut to revive her lost confidence?
(See below for that little dilemma.) As of now, she'll be
no better than a #22 seed at the US Open barring more
higher-ranked players withdrawing. Without points to
defend at New Haven and with just a 2r at last year's
Open, at least Jelena can't fall much farther back the
next few weeks. She might even be able to improve her
ranking a little as she exits New York, and that'll be an
immediate help in 4th quarter draws. Even if she can't
extend her seasons streak with at least one title to
three, Jelena can end her year with a shot a finishing
with a won-loss record over .500 and send herself into the
offseason encouraged, with a desire to make up for her
"lost season" of 2003.
As for New Haven (and Flushing Meadow), it'd just be
nice if the velcro could hold for a little while. It's
much nicer to see Jelena with her head on her shoulders.
NADIA WHO?
Since it looks like the Dokic/Petrova doubles team has
become the latest casualty of the summer (or is at least
on an extended break), Jelena has returned to her role as
a "doubles missionary," playing with someone new nearly
every time out.
In Toronto, it was Corina Morariu, coming back from
shoulder surgery a year after returning from her battle
with leukemia (and apparently romantically linked with
American player/sometimes doubles partner Justin
Gimelstob, who recently confirmed the rumor on a
Washington D.C. radio show).
In the Dokic/Morariu team 'spulling off an upset of the
Toronto #1-seeds Ruano-Pascual/Suarez, Jelena might have
experienced the best match result of her 2003 season last
week. Could this be the beginning (well, re-starting,
considering the two have played together a little in the
past) of the next "big doubles thing" for the fair Miss
Dokic? Stay tuned.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
The Pilot Pen; week of Aug.18
Tier II/Hardcourt
Unseeded - 1r vs. Shaughnessy
POINTS
W=195; RU=137; SF=88; QF=49; 2r=25; 1r=1
Well, this is what happens when a player's ranking
falls far enough that she can't earn a ranking in a pretty
decently-populated Tier II draw the week before the US
Open.
That's Jelena's dilemma in New Haven this week, where
she finds herself unseeded for the first time since
2001... the last time she played at New Haven. That's 59
tournaments ago! Her booby prize? #18 Meghannn
Shaughnessy in the 1r, and if she somehow survives that
match (and a win would make the the American the
highest-ranked player Jelena's defeated in 2003,
overtaking then-#21 Elena Dementieva) she'll get career
nemesis Lindsay Davenport in the 2r. Oh, joy.
Hard to believe this tournament is going to do anything
good for Jelena's ruptured confidence heading into
Flushing Meadow. This is about the worst draw she's had
in a very, very long time. Probably the worst since
drawing Davenport in the 1r of the Australian in 2001...
and this time no one can cry foul about any draw-rigging.
This is why Jelena has to dedicate her 4th Quarter to
getting her ranking at least back into the Top 15 at the
end of the year, so she won't be thoroughly handicapped in
January should she decide to start up a 2004 version of
"The Dorothy Tour" after the unfortunate cancellations of
the past two seasons.
Notice how I'm dragging out this so-called prediction?
You see, saying Jelena will likely lose in the 1r isn't
exactly something to crow about... it's too bad it'll
probably end up coming true this week.
**AN UNSEEDED JELENA DOKIC**
W/L in WTA Events......36-27
W/L in Olympics..........4-2
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--THE LAST FIVE TIMES--
2000 Zurich - 2r (Hingis)
2000 Moscow - 1r (Mauresmo)
2001 Australian - 1r (Davenport)
2001 Hamburg - SF (V.Williams)
2001 Berlin - 2r (Capriati)
2001 New Haven - QF (Capriati)
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THIS WEEK ON WTA BACKSPIN:
The August Backspin Quiz
