::GOOD VIBES PIC OF THE
WEEK::
...(above) In the second edition of the Corner's latest
attempt at cosmic inspiration (we need SOMETHING to look
forward to during these dog days of EuroJelena, right?),
this week's photo-from-better-days selection comes from
Jelena's first WTA title in Rome in 2001. This might
not be the best post-championship picture of the Fair
One (that'd probably be last week's, also from Rome),
but this one might be my favorite. It's difficult to
miss the joy in her face, isn't it?
JELENA-DOKIC.com
May 14, 2004
JELENA CORNER
by Todd Spiker
Yet another missing piece in the puzzle that has
become Jelena Dokic was again evident earlier this week,
and the site of the latest defeat couldn't have been any
more symbolic: Rome, home of the 2001 Tier I tournament
that was the Fair One's official coronation as more than
simply the player who'd caught everyone's fancy two
years earlier at Wimbledon.
That June in 1999, Jelena made the quarterfinals at
SW19... but do you remember which other two
then-newcomers advanced even farther? If you said
Mirjana Lucic and Alexandra Stevenson, you'd be right.
They both were semifinalists. In 2004, one's
essentially dropped off the face of the tennis earth,
while the other has proven to have been more a nice
thought than a player with the goods to win with any
consistency on tour. Jelena wasn't a fluke, though.
Five titles on all four surfaces over a 13-month period,
two Tier I crowns, and even a win over a world #1 just
over six months ago prove it.
Still, flashforward five years and Jelena's nasty
(and growing) inability to close out matches (or sets,
for that matter) against seemingly inferiorly-talented
players like world #79 Maria Elena Camerin reared it's
head again this week in Rome. Up 3-1 in the 1st set,
then 5-4, Jelena lost it 5-7. Up 4-1 in the 2nd, she
was soon down 4-5. She broke for 5-5, then immediately
gave her service back the next game. Finally, she again
lost 5-7 on Camerin's fifth matchpoint. Jelena is what
she is, and that might not be what many hoped for from
1999-02, but she's not THIS player... ranked #24 and
looking as if she might find herself in the #30-35 range
by the time EuroJelena concludes.
As is to be expected, everyone now searches for a
reason for what has become "the norm." To place blame,
and prescribe a simple antitdote that will soon affix
"success" to Jelena's tennis endeavors and make things
"right" in her world. Of course, the biggest and
easiest target (at least other than the one Jelena sees
in the mirror) is the one who always bears the load --
sometimes warrented, sometimes not -- of high
expectations and fractured results in both team and
individual sports... the coach.
So, let's get right to it. Has what's happened on
the court since Borna Bikic's stewardship of Jelena's
career began last spring warrent him being shown the
door?
Surely, Jelena seems to be spinning her wheels and
not making any substantial progress. Her confidence is
flagging again, and the spark that once characterized
her game seems extinguished a little bit more with every
shuddering loss and false start... precisely the same
conditions that existed when the Croatian coach assumed
the reigns around this time a year ago. In many ways,
there is ample evidence to suggest that Bikic is not the
panacea for Jelena's problems that he was hoped to be,
considering that none of them seem to have been solved.
Maybe he SHOULD go... but not in 2004. Not now.
Looking down the protracted road of Jelena's career,
a coaching change might be what she needs for the long
haul to make the next step (ala how Andy Roddick
required a switch to Brad Gilbert to go from a promising
star to world #1, or how an underachieving Amelie
Mauresmo's career ascent was finally resumed in 2002
with the aide of Loic Courteau), but it's hard to
believe that the time is right for such a dramatic
course correction.
Jelena has experienced so much trauma and change
already, and she obviously hasn't reacted well to it. A
further lack of security and stability would be
detrimental to her long-term outlook. In the
short-term, actual victories can be seen as secondary to
repairing the intricate puzzle that is Jelena.
Considering her fragile mindset, releasing Bikic from
his duties at this time would be akin to Jelena setting
herself adrift at sea... and that might produce a point
of no return for a player who's still well worth saving.
With or without Bikic, much of what remains of 2004
could prove to be a bumpy ride. She needs to ride it
out, though -- maybe for the full season -- and decide
whether a change is necessary after the year is
complete. By then, an impulsive misstep would be easier
to avoid. Hopefully, by then, she'll have gotten closer
to at least her mid-2002 form and be able to make a
reasoned, well-thought out decision on her future with
Bikic with a full, unbroken season's worth of tangible
evidence to draw upon. Maybe she'll still think he's
the one who can take her to new heights. Maybe she
won't. But she owes it to herself to play out this
latest coaching experiment.
At the very least, Bikic would seem to leave little
doubt he's the right person for the PRESENT. Let's not
forget, in less than a year together they've reached a
final, two more SF and gotten a win over a #1
(Clijsters). The Dokic-Bikic pairing hasn't been the
unmitigated disaster the Gunthardt Experiment turned out
to be in 2003. There have been at least a few points of
light this time from which to scratch up a little
optimism. If nothing else, that might be just enough
evidence to keep her going down her intended path... and
hope for the best for a while longer.
Even as things haven't gone as planned in 2004
(remember the goal of a Top 10 ranking by March?), Bikic
has been someone for Jelena to lean on, a significantly
intimate role in the life of a player who doesn't seem
to have many close confidants to choose from at the
moment. It'd be hard to suddenly attempt to build an
entirely new trust, and going it alone the rest of the
season hardly seems a good idea, either. The progress
shown in Jennifer Capriati's game under Gunthardt in a
short period of time this season indicates that it
wasn't necessarily his tactics that were the problem,
but Jelena's reaction to them... and the differences in
personalities and abilities to focus between a 28-year
old former "wild child" and a barely 21-year old
fighting against her "little girl lost" demons from the
past.
There's a long tether between the Fair One who rose
to #4 in the world and the one we've seen lately, but as
with a scuba diver with someone on the deck of the boat
holding their life line, trust is essential in order for
the eventual ascent from the depths Jelena's game has
fallen to over the last 21 months. There seems to be
that between Jelena and Bikic... and that's better than
being adrift, even if the results aren't showing it.
Unless someone discovers a "magic formula" for success,
or a different "knight on a white horse" is apparent in
Jelena's near future, it would be a huge risk to not
stay this course. In fact, it could be foolish.
It might be a counterproductive act to be proactive
in a hasty fashion, and make a change simply for
change's sake. Consider, Jelena's getting leads -- it's
just that she isn't able to hold them and finish off
opponants. With that being the case, this isn't
strictly a coaching issue. Excluding bad losses such as
the first to Petra Mandula and the Berlin massacre
against Meghannn Shaughnessy, huge swings in momentum
(and emotion) have been the lingering problem rather
than an inability to get up on an opponent. That's the
sign of a problem inside Jelena herself... in her head,
to be specific. To overcome that problem she might need
something that Bikic alone can't provide.
Of course, it's hard to know the unerring solution to
this. But players have dealt with similar problems
before. Many conquer mounting mental lapses with help
from a sports psychologist who coaxes them into forcing
themselves to keep positive thoughts in the front of
their mind no matter the game situation. Time on the
sports psychologist's couch is nothing to be ashamed
of. At least this aspect of Jelena's problems is not
unique, and also not unsolvable. Even the likes of
Martina Navratilova had bouts with confidence in her
heyday. In her case, it took the watchful eye of Billie
Jean King (not an actual psychologist, but an ex-player
acting in something of the role of one) to tutor her to
keep a positive outlook on the court and never allow her
to get down on herself.
Remember Maria Sharapova's forward-moving and
determined physical reactions during her defeat of
Jelena at Wimbledon last year? It's a perfect
illustration of the player Jelena ISN'T at the moment.
She USED to be mentally strong between the lines, and it
was a hallmark of her game. No longer.
Once Jelena has this aspect down, maybe improving
other parts of her game (cough, cough... her "serve")
might be more easily (and successfully) attended.
It's too early to tell, but maybe those good results
were aberrations, and the "real" Jelena under Bikic is
the one who's 6-10 in WTA matches this season and who's
lost her first match in 8 of her last 14 tournaments.
If a little more light isn't seen at the end of the
tunnel by the close of this season, an offseason change
would seem the reasonable course of action.
If Jelena's results get far worse and things become
unbearably hopeless, and an in-season switch is deemed
necessary, maybe doing so around Olympics time would be
best. Then, Jelena could still go to Athens and play in
a semi-protective bubble within something of a "team"
atmosphere (especially if she stays in the athletes'
village). It might soften the culture shock of a
post-Bikic era. Then, she could prepare for the US Open
and play out the final two months of the year under
whatever setup she found managable.
Of course, I'm not advocating this scenario -- but it
might be her one brief window of opportunity to make a
change with less immediately traumatic aftereffects.
Everyone wishes this wasn't even an issue to be
discussed, and it might have been very close to not
being such. If Zurich had happened in July/August, not
October, it might have had a more lasting effect on
Jelena's confidence. As it was, she played well in
Linz... then the season was over. In January, the
latest Oz mess caused her encouraging 2003 finish to be
swept away in the latest tide of turmoil.
How does this explain Tokyo, then? Well, maybe that
SF WAS a fluke. Remember, Jelena barely escaped matches
against questionable competition then. Her
Houdini-esque escapades could have hidden the fact that
the much-delayed start to the season and new crop of
off-court issues had stripped her game of it's
hard-found momentum, as well as her mindset of the clear
and focused thinking needed to move forward.
Even Tokyo ended on a sour note, with an injury. The
Fed Cup breather a few weeks ago did, too. Jelena's
never regained the verve she displayed -- in the nick of
time -- to somewhat "save" her 2003 season. We've never
gotten another glimpse of an on-court smile like the one
seen in the photo at the beginning of this column.
Maybe Bikic will never help Jelena find that smile
again, but starting over now might put it's return ever
farther in the future. Sometimes it's better to be safe
than sorry... at least for now, this would seem to be
one of those times.
All for now.
