November 25, 2001

Jelena 2001 Year in Review, Pt.II:
The Headlines are Finally About the Tennis

by Todd Spiker

Up until March neared its end, Jelena Dokic had been a virtual ghost on the 2001 WTA Tour.  Besides being bounced -- with her always enticing mixture of controversy and courageous tenacity, by the way -- in the opening round of the Aussie Open, she hadn't played any other match that counted since the previous November... and none at all for over two months.  If Jelena was a racehorse, she'd have been locked in the starting gate, restless and ready to throw the jockey at a moment's notice.

But with her 18th birthday arriving on April 12, Jelena's time had finally come.  The gate opened to enable her to assume a full-time role on the women's circuit... and she was bound and determined to take full advantage of that new freedom.  The remaining grand slam season covered the spring and summer of the year and saw Dokic crisscross the Atlantic Ocean, going from North America to Europe and back again.  During the first five months of her more hectic new existence, she gained experience and learned hard lessons, reaching both the highest high and sinking to the lowest low of her young career (in back-to-back tournaments, no less) as the process of turning her childhood dreams of becoming a tennis champion into reality continued unabated.

As the Dokic family was concerned with the move to Florida (and later, Belgrade), Jelena's quieter post-Australia lifestyle seemed to have done her good.  Aside from deflecting continued questions about a potential return role on Australia's Fed Cup team later in the year, she mostly worked on getting fitter and attempting to fine-tune specific aspects of her game (namely, her serve and in-match strategy).  When Dokic stepped back onto a court in a competitive situation in Miami, there were obvious signs of rust.  Still, the results were encouraging.  She showed an ability to overcome slow starts and the determination to immediately break back after losing her serve, as well as a willingness to try new things (such as coming to the net more often -- 20 times in one match!). She defeated Top 10er Amanda Coetzer before finally succumbing to Venus Williams when the American put together a display of nearly flawless serving for an entire QF match.  A QF finish in a Tier I after two months of inactivity was something to be proud of... and it set the stage for the beginning of the clay court season and a year's worth of success in the WTA's biggest non-grand slam events.

Then, suddenly, it happened.

Dokic had arrived as a compelling presence of the tour in 1999, then made tantalizing strides toward greater success in 2000... but it was at this moment in time that she officially became a force within the game.
When the 2001 clay court season had ended, she was a different player than the one she had been when it began.  Ironically, it was on her least favorite surface that she was able to turn the corner from a "talented young player with potential" to one of the game's newest stars.  In the process, many of the year's goals fell like dominoes before 2001 was half gone.  Even with Damir's return from a six-month ban, the headlines were finally about the tennis.  Just the tennis.

After showing moments of combining newfound consistency with her renowned iron will on the hardcourts of Miami, Dokic used the clay season to escape the "little girl lost" role some had wanted to forever cast her in since the early public outbursts by Damir had first left her trailing behind him in tears.  It was only the media perception of her as "helpless" or to be "pitied" that was "lost," though.  In fact, there arguably hadn't been a more mentally stable player to grace the tour since Steffi Graf (and a pre-stabbing Monica Seles) than Dokic, but it took the post-Australia period to allow the focus of Jelena's game to catch up with her inner drive, silencing her few remaining critics and removing the spotlight from her father's tabloid-attracting actions.

The season didn't start out with great promise, but back-to-back losses to Coetzer at Amelia Island (Dokic blew a 3-1 and serving 3rd set lead, losing the final five games to spoil her 18th birthday) and Iva Majoli
on a cold and blustery day in Charleston proved to be the kick-start that propelled Jelena's career down a path toward new heights.  She dusted Maggie Maleeva 6-1,6-1 then made a furious comeback on red clay
against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (from down a set and 3-5 in a TB) to reach her first non-slam/Olympic SF in Hamburg, then only went down to Jennifer Capriati in Berlin after fighting her to the bitter end (losing
4-6 after being knotted at 4-4 in the 3rd set) in their first career matchup.  It was in those two tournaments that Dokic's game matured. She was more aggressive, willing to change her gameplan when down, able
to muster comebacks against young and veteran players alike, and seasoned her game still further by joining up with Conchita Martinez in doubles.  The January form that won the Hong Kong exhibition and pushed Lindsay Davenport in Melbourne was thrillingly close to the surface.

And then came the Italian Open.  Dokic transformed the tournament into her own personal Roman holiday, as it turned out to be the first "biggest moment" of her tennis career.

In Rome, everything came together in one brilliant week.  After doing away with Rita Kuti Kis in a match that threatened (had she lost) to re-open the '00 Aussie Open can of worms, Dokic ran roughshod over the competition to emerge with her first-ever WTA singles title and made her initial jump into the Top 20, settling in at #18.  As impressive as it was to make a Tier I event the site of her first victory (dropping just one set in six matches), her path there and the ease of her wins were even more stunning.  She cruised into the SF for the second time in three weeks by easily putting away doubles partner (and clay specialist) Martinez despite an 0-5 career record against her, but it was in the final against Amelie Mauresmo where Dokic showed that she had arrived. All her shots worked -- stinging groundstrokes, drop shots, a consistent serve that produced three aces in the 2nd set -- and she boldly displayed no signs of nerves under the pressure of such a monumental moment.

Her confidence ablaze, Jelena shockingly dispatched Mauresmo, the tour's hottest player heading into Rome, in straight sets (characteristically using her grit to battle through a tight 1st set to win a 7-3 TB before toying with the Frenchwoman in a 6-1 2nd set) to become the youngest singles title winner on tour in the first half of 2001 at 18 years, 1 month and 8 days.  Her one wobble all day came on a DF on her first championship point, but even that served more as a tension-relieving moment than one of nervousness.  Even with her history of displaying an indomitable spirit under intense conditions, never was Dokic quite like
this.  Her determination, patience and calm were fantastic.  She oozed confidence from evey pore against Mauresmo, and it was a wonderful sight to behold.

When it was all over, the crowd cheered.  Jelena had heard similar cheers before, but it's likely that the sound had never been quite as sweet at it was that afternoon in Rome.  As she joyfully raised the silver cup above her head, giving it a gentle kiss for good measure, and flashed the radiant smile that would win her a cadre of new fans almost overnight, one thing was crystal clear.

Jelena Dokic had become a champion... just like in her dreams.