Jelena-Dokic.com
JELENA CORNER
January 31, 2005
FAIR SKIES
by Todd Spiker
Dark clouds, go away. Come again another day. Just
not today. For once, fair skies are ruling
Jelena Dokic's world.
Ah, yes. The Corner is finally back. But the column
isn't the only thing being pulled out of
mothballs on this final day of
January, as it makes its 2005 debut
on a decidedly (and all too rare, of late) good
note. Here it is, in black and
white:
Pattaya 1st Round - Jelena Dokic defeats Anne Kremer
7-6(3)/6-3
Need anything else be said? Of course, not much can
be read into a single match. Remember, a year
ago Jelena opened her season
with three victories (though
she struggled far more then than today) en route to a
SF in Tokyo. It turned out to be her 2004 high
point, as she was 3-15 on tour
the rest of the season. So,
take today's victory with a tiny grain of salt. One
match, and even one tournament, does not a season
make. But...
Hey, after nine months without a WTA match win, a
victory -- ANY victory -- is something to cheer
about, even if it WAS against
the world #97 who's now riding
a six-match losing streak of her own. But when it's
Kremer, the same veteran who knocked off Jelena
three times back in 2002's 1st
Quarter right before the storm
clouds moved in, it's a "W" that is worth more
than it would appear to be on the surface. And,
let's be honest, when you're a
player ranked #125 youself,
NOTHING can be taken for granted when you've lost nine
matches in a row and been the subject of tabloid
headlines and personal life rumors for months.
It's not worth the time going into any of those rumors
here. I'm not looking to stick a "nose" into
that hornet's nest unless
things become too "engaging" to
ignore (get it?... okay, so the occasional
reference isn't outlawed). As
long as occasions like today's
become more prevalent over the course of this new
season, there won't be a need to talk about the
rest. Cross your fingers.
But the story today might not be just that Jelena won,
but HOW she did it. It could be that a sign has
been spotted that something
has changed between her ears
(and, no, that isn't another reference to her nose).
Against Kremer, she served at 5-3 in the 1st set
and was broken, setting the
stage for "The Streak" to hit
double-digits. But it didn't. She battled back and
sent the set to a tie-break, then won it handily
7-3. She overcame another
potentially damaging service
break mid-way through the 2nd set, as well, and went
on to waltz off court with her undefeated 2005
record intact. In recent
months, that 1st set break would
have foreshadowed doom. Today, it didn't.
Progress? Well have to wait
and see. Jelena hasn't transformed
back into anything "fair" yet, but at least a few
of the dark clouds that have
been hovering over her head
are looking for the closest exit from Jelena's
neighborhood. With luck, those clouds will soon
beat a hasty -- and permanent
-- retreat.
A great deal has transpired between Jelena's last win
in Charleston (over Tatiana Panova) in April '04
and this one over Kremer, the
vast majority of it not just
bad, but horrendous. So, let's hope that she enjoys
the next 24 hours... so much so that she'll want
to experience it all over
again after she plays Alyona
Bondarenko in the 2nd Round. One win is a nice thing.
Two in a row is a streak... only this time, it'd
be a positive one.
Dark clouds, go away. Come again another day. Just
not the next day that Jelena plays.
Fair skies. All for now.
