JELENA-DOKIC.com -
Feb.23, 2004
JELENA CORNER
by Todd Spiker
Feb.23 Rank: #15
Feb.23 Points: 1449
Points from #10: 821
Well, she's back.
After a much-needed week off to clear her head, get
healthy and prepare for another assault on the Top 10,
the Fair One now heads to the Middle East for the
first time since 1999 (yes, it's actually one of the
few places she's been absent from longer than
Australia).
In Dubai, Jelena will hope to show off her latest
pearl of tennis wisdom, earned the hard way in Paris.
You remember it... it went something like "don't
answer a knocking door."
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JELENA IN THE
MID-EAST
1999
Dubai (75k challenger)
1r-def. Tu
2r-lost to Wang
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1999
Cairo
1r-def. Serna
2r-def. Dechaume-Balleret
QF-lost to Sanchez Vicario
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How fitting it is that, after the haunting she
experienced in the heart of France, the first match
Jelena will have in Dubai will be against Petra
Mandula. Yes, the leader of the "Mad Hungarian"
contingent herself... or, as she's better known on the
Corner, the player whose 2001 Roland Garros upset of
the Fair One gave rise to "Great Mandula's Ghost" --
the symbol for all that is lost whenever Jelena lets a
match slip through her fingers as she did with that
unraveled loss to Elena Bovina a week and a half ago.
It'll be a good test that might tell a great deal
about not only what Jelena might do in Dubai, but also
Doha before she heads off to the early American
hardcourt season (two Tier I's in March). Mandula's a
better player now than she was three years ago, while
the Fair One is still trying to recapture the form of
the player who was just weeks past winning her first
career title in Rome when the unexpected happened that
spring afternoon in '01.
Jelena let the spirits get the best of her against
Bovina. So, now what happens? Will she hear the
knocking of Great Mandula's Ghost again and run her
'04 losing streak to three matches, or let it go
unanswered and instead recall the fact that she
seemingly (and effectively, we hope) exorcised that
particular demon with her victory over Mandula in Linz
last October?
Only the shadow... err, I mean Jelena... knows. In
a few days, so will everyone else.
**CORNER GOAL UPDATE**
PRE-1Q..........SO FAR
----------------------
1 SF.............Tokyo
3 QF..................
2 early..........Paris
DUBAI, UAE
Duty Free Women's Open
Tier II; Hard/Outdoor
...defeating Mandula is a clear must for Jelena at
this point in the season. No matter how it happens,
the Hungarian needs to be put away.
Easily. With difficulty. By hook. By crook. It
simply HAS to be done. Jelena can't open that door
again and give Great Mandula's Ghost -- or any of her
other past demons -- the chance to dictate her state
of mind the remainder of the 1st Quarter.
A win over Mandula could bring Meghannn Shaughnessy
in Round 2, where once again Jelena would have a good
recent memory (defeating Shaughnessy last August in
New Haven in what was her first Top 20 win of 2003) to
draw upon. That would give her a QF, and anything
beyond that is pure cake (with a very rich icing,
too... and maybe even a scoop of ice cream on the side
if as many players pull out of this event as did in
Antwerp last week).
Two wins and a potential shot at a Top 10er
(Anastasia Myskina), win or lose, would be a week from
which much encouragement could be gained.
The ghosts of France (in both 2001, as well as
2004) would be gone. Long live Jelena.
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THIS WEEK's TENNISRULZ "WTA BACKSPIN"
...Mid-Quarter Musings
