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Article sent by Conchita Slice
Kremlin Cup:Moscow - This week, Jelena travels to Russia to participate in the Tier I event, the Kremlin Cup. Jelena was champion here two years ago, but following a slide in the rankings, Jelena finds herself facing an extremely tough task to matching that performance. The tournament offers $1,300,000 of prize money, and is a major part of the indoor tennis season. Tournament sponsors include the Bank of Moscow, Mercedes-Benz and Samsung, amongst a host of others. For information on tickets, travel or any other queries, the official website overs a wide range of information. It can be found here - http://www.kremlincup.ru/index-eng.shtml. Better or worse? - Last week's performance can be viewed in two very different lights. The first is the negative stance that seems to be a frighteningly familiar one as of late. Last week was confirmation that Jelena is no longer the match of the Belgian Waffles. Ok, so it's hardly news, but when you consider that Jelena was beating Clijsters a few years ago, it really hits home when Jelena comes into a match as the extreme underdog against a player who probably has less natural talent than Jelena. On the other hand, Jelena was not thumped by the Belgian, and was in a commanding position in the second set, but just wasn't able to close out the set that would have held the tie in the balance once more. If history is anything to go by, the slight pick-up of form will be cancelled out by another dismal performance this week. 2003 has been a stressful and eventful year for Jelena, even more so than usual. Past problems have not affected her tennis, but something has certainly gone wrong this year and the effects are showing in her tennis. We shouldn't expect too much more from 2003, but with a low points defence, 2004 is almost certainly going to be a year of climbing back up the rankings and re-establishing herself as a top player. The Draw -
Conclusion - As you can see, being an unseeded player usually results in a horrifying draw, and this tournament is no exception, even with the top four players in the world not participating. Even in current form, Jelena should surpass Stevenson without too much trouble at all. From there on in, the task becomes cruelly difficult. Amelie Mauresmo will take some beating in the second round, and even if Jelena overcomes that obstacle, she will have to face an in-form Zvonareva on her own turf, and then most likely another in-form Russian, in the form of Dementieva. Things look ominous, but Jelena won't be too bothered about the draw ahead and will take one match at a time. --------------------------------------------------- Prediction - 1rd - Jelena def. Stevenson in two. 2rd - Mauresmo def. Jelena in three. --------------------------------------------------- comments: glyn_james@jelena-dokic.com |
