JELENA-DOKIC.com
April 5, 2004
JELENA CORNER
by Todd Spiker
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SEARCHING FOR JELENA DOKIC
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After a 1st Quarter that provided only a few
glimpses of the player formerly known as "Jelena
Dokic," the 2nd Quarter begins in earnest this week.
Ahh, the 2nd Quarter. It's always a heady
portion of the schedule, not only the longest of the
four-part WTA season, but also the only one which
includes two grand slams. As far as Jelena is
concerned, it also hosts the month-long circuit on
her best surface (grass, .760 by percentage) and
another return to the scene of her coming out party
on the lawns of SW19 in 1999. And in two weeks, the
sixth version of the season's always-anticipated
miniseries -- "EuroJelena!" -- will kick off, this
year with Fed Cup action in Athens under the flag of
Serbia & Montenegro. It'll be Jelena's first FC
action since 2000. She compiled a 9-2 mark
representing Australia. Who'd have thought
EuroJelena could be even more eagerly awaited than
usual?
With the exception of her 7-8 mark during last
year's Euro-jaunt, the old continent has generally
been the place where Jelena's best extended results
have come. Two of her five career singles titles
have come during EuroJelena (Rome & Birmingham), and
another (Sarasota) occurred during the 2nd Quarter.
Her best slam results (SF-Wimbledon '00,
QF-Wimbledon '99 & RG '02), too, have come during
this segment of the schedule.
==THROUGH THE YEARS==
.....2Q....EuroJelena
99..14-7.........10-4
00..18-6.........10-4
01..19-8.........17-7
02..28-9.........20-7
03..10-11.........7-8
It's hard to
gauge how much Miami really helped the Fair One. On
the bright side, she did get her best result (4th
Round) since Tokyo. But she got a bye in the 1st
and a walkover past Nicole Pratt in the 2nd, costing
her valuable match play. It's doubly difficult to
build confidence without quality points (on the
computer, as well as on the court) to back it up.
She did get a good tight match win over Kristina
Brandi, who upset a previously surging Meghannn
Shaughnessy in the 1st... but then saw that
wonderful almost four-year, 6-match (5 WTA, 1
exhibition) winning streak over Elena Dementieva
come to a screeching halt.
Good. Bad. Indifferent. You make the call.
**SURFACE-DWELLING JELENA**
On Grass:........38-12
On Red Clay......44-25
On Green Clay.....17-9
After a brief continuation of her stay in the
States (on green clay), EuroJelena VI will arrive.
But will the Fair One?
Certainly, Jelena's better than she has sometimes
shown so far in 2004 (straight sets to Petra
Mandula?). Tantalizing evidence of this was in
abundance in the Land of Chocolate last October,
then again on a lesser (more calorie conscious?)
scale in Linz and Tokyo. And even 2004's stats show
a few bright spots worthy of harping on:
1)she's already won two matches after dropping the
1st set. She lost the first seven times she fell
behind in 2003, went 1-16 in the first seventeen,
and was just 4-26 for the entire season. Small
steps.
----------------------
2)she has a SF to her credit, remember. Her 1
SF-in-6 events start, at least, is far ahead of her
1-in-28 starvation diet that begin 2003.
So, in a sense, her 5-6 mark this year -- while
identical to her 5-6 record at this same point a
year ago -- is at least better pointed in the right
direction. Maybe only slightly, sure... but that's
at least something to build on.
"New Jelena" never really came about as expected
in 2003, but 2004's goals are not nearly as
evolutionary. This season, the task at hand is to
simply find "herself" again rather than create a new
Fair(er) One from scratch. Jelena's in there
somewhere... she can't stay "missing" forever. The
2nd Quarter is a long odyssey that could get Jelena
back on track and speeding toward the Olympics and
US Open in August. There's ample time for this
search to be a success.
It's time to release the bloodhounds and pull out
the magnifying glass (and that old Sherlock
Holmes-style cap, too). We've got a tennis player
to find.
It's uncertain
how many events Jelena will play this Quarter as she
attempts to maintain the goal of cutting back her
number of tournaments this season from the usual
29/30 to about 22. She played six last 1st Quarter,
and has played six so far in 2004.
With Fed Cup (which doesn't count an an official
WTA event) and the Olympics likely factored in this
and next Quarter, one would think she'll play 7-8
times in the 2Q (5-6 regular events, 2 slams). In
2003, she played 11 -- far too many, only taking a
week off during Fed Cup play. Obviously, Jelena can
not only set up her court game this Quarter, but she
can also maintain that plan for a somewhat limited
schedule (to avoid being physically and mentally
drained come October) if she just pulls back a bit
over the course of EuroJelena. We shall see.
**2Q GOALS**
W/RU.......0
SF.........1
QF/3r....2/3
early......2
============
Slams..4r/QF
AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA (USA)
--Bausch & Lomb Chsp.--
Tier II; Green Clay
#11 seed; 1r vs. Frazier
...Jelena's history isn't bad at Amelia Island. She
made the 3r in '00,'01 & '03, and the SF in '02.
Let's hold onto that as the good luck charm for this
week, hmmm?
Her draw, though, causes a bit of worry. 1st
Round opponent Amy Frazier won a title in Hobart in
January, but Jelena has never lost to her (2-0) and
should advance. The 2nd Round is where things get
dicey: Great Mandula's Ghost herself, Petra
Mandula, or the perpetually underrated Anca Barna
would be waiting. Far from a sure thing.
A 3rd Round match could mean Jelena's old doubles
partner Nadia Petrova, Kristina Brandi (who Jelena
beat in Miami) or, get this, 47-year old Martina
Navratilova. If Martina makes it that far, though,
it might be time to stock up on water and canned
goods -- surely armageddon will be right around the
corner for all of us.
And just for the sake of sanity, let's not even
contemplate what losing to Navratilova would do for
Jelena's confidence. My head already hurts.
======================
THIS WEEK ON TENNISRULZ.com BACKSPIN:
"A Broken Nail, Hotpants & a Title"
...Serena's back
ALSO: 1st Quarter Awards
