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 This
week, Jelena has, once again, contraversially decided to play in the
Sarasota Open. Normally, as you may have noticed, I wouldn't criticise
Jelena's decision to play too much as she seems like a wise person, with
some wise people behind her, and is able to make the right judgement on
whether to play or not, but surely participating in this tournament is
ridicilous. It is a tier IV tournament and, without taking anything away
from the tournament's directors, this seemed like the obvious tournament for
Jelena to miss to let her injuries heel. As much as I've tried to see things
from her point of view, I'm still utterly convinced that the right thing to
do is to skip this tournament and let her injuries heel 100% before her
preparation for the big tournaments that are coming up over the next few
months (title defense in Rome, and Jelena's first Grand Slam of the season
in the French Open). However, who am I to say what's wrong and what's right
for Jelena? If she believes she can play in this tournament without
suffering any of the niggling injuries that have let her down so much this
season, then she should play. I just hope this tournament isn't another bad
mistake on Jelena's part. Now a little about the tournament itself. It will take place in Florida, U.S.A. and there is $140,000 at stake. It is a Tier IV tournament, and for the first time in Jelena's professional career, she is the #1 seed. Tough opposition comes from Meghannn Shaughnessy, Mary Pierce, and Iva Majoli. It will be a change for Jelena, as the spotlight will now be on her, and everyone will expect her to perform. It will be interesting to see how Jelena responds to this, as there will most definitely be more of this to come in Jelena's future. The draw for the tournament is as follows:- (thanks to Madonna for the information) Dokic vs Martinez likhovtseva vs schnyder osterloh vs callens nagyova vs camerin ruano-pascual vs dechy suarez vs zuluaga bedanova vs kremer (withdrawn) panova vs leon-garcia majoli vs molik husarova vs sanchez-vicario sugiyama vs pierce myskina vs weingartner neffa-rios vs grande shaughnessy vs hopkins An interesting first round matchup sees Jelena facing ex Wimbledon champion, and long time doubles partner, Conchita Martinez. Hopefully, Jelena won't be thrown by the moon balls and slices of Conchita, and will overpower the Spaniard. However, I have a feeling Jelena's injury woes will cost her dearly again. PREDICTION - Shaughnessy and the others battle it out for glory as Jelena's inury woes continue in the second round. (Bare in mind I've not yet had one successful prediction) |
