|
|
|
|
 IN
SEARCH OF... THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS by Todd Spiker #9 - SINGLES (2892 PTS., DOWN 1) #11 - DOUBLES (1720 PTS., DOWN 1) *SARASOTA OPEN, APRIL 1-7* *SARASOTA, FLORIDA, USA* *TIER IV - GREEN CLAY OUTDOORS* *#1 SEED* *1r: vs.Conchita Martinez* POINTS TABLE W--95 RU--67 SF--43 QF--24 2R--12 1R--1 You won't see any gloom and doom here. No sir-ee. Just call me Mister Sweetness & Light. It's time to be upbeat. After all, this could turn out to be an especially good week to be a certain Miss Jelena Dokic. In her own Florida backyard, she'll participate in a tournament as the #1 seed for the first time in her pro career. She might even get to playing during the day, then sleep in her own bed at night. Not only that, but the potential of a three-week rest awaits her before she must head off to Europe for the month-long pre-Roland Garros red clay circuit. If all goes well, she could end up stumbling upon a lovely little patch of court that could only be termed as existing in an area called "the best of both worlds." Of course, finding that elusive place of perfection involves a certain calculated risk. In order to attempt to arm herself with a huge boost in confidence before her season reaches its first of two ultra-important periods (the second coming after the US Open, when she must defend the points from those five finals in her last seven events of '01), she'll have to show up in Sarasota... and then walk away next weekend without that anxiety-ridden hitch in her step that everyone's come to detest over the past seven weeks. If she can manage the wherewithal to do it, she'll be able to boast of being both mentally AND physically stronger as she readies to exit the States, despite all the stops and starts her 2002 season has experienced thus far. Sure, Sarasota is one final roll of the dice. Will Jelena roll a lucky seven, or snake eyes? Will she use the majority of her time off to round her game into the top-rate form it last sported in Paris, or will she be forced to nurse another (or the same) injury instead? At some point this week, everyone will gather around the corner and await her turn to toss the dice against the wall. (rattle, rattle, rattle) "Come on, seven!" ("Someone look to see what she rolled!") Looks good to me. Hey, I'm Mister Sweetness & Light. What choice do I have but to say that Sarasota is going to be great? Just think, by this time next week we could all be talking about good health, a return to form and maybe even a fourth career singles title. A confidence-infusing win AND three weeks of rest? Now, that WOULD be the best of both worlds. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** THE DRIVE FOR #5 #4 Clijsters...leads by 529 #5 Davenport...leads by 458 #6 Seles...leads by 422 #7 S.Williams...leads by 379 #8 Henin...leads by 99 #9 JELENA DOKIC - 2892 #10 Mauresmo...trails by 241 *NOTES* ...Jelena saw her singles rank fall from #8 to #9, and her doubles standing go from #10 to #11, at least temporarily removing her from the ranks of the double-Top 10ers (now, Hingis is the only member of that club). ...A good week in Sarasota could move Jelena back to #8, past Justine Henin. And, remember, #5 Lindsay Davenport's healing knee means that she'll continue to fall. By Wimbledon, Jelena might finally be ahead of her. ...Jelena's ranking won't be significantly effected if she follows through on the possible plan to take three weeks off after Sarasota. It would mean skipping Amelia Island (Tier II), Charleston (Tier I) and then the week of Fed Cup action that precedes Hamburg , but she has few points to defend from the same period in 2001 (an A.I. 3r, and 1r exit in Charleston). ** ** ** ** ** ** *SINGLES RANKING IN 2002* #8...January 1-13 #7...January 14-27 #9...January 28-Febuary 10 #6...February 11-17 #8...February 18-March 31 #9...April 1-present *JELENA IN TIER IV's* 1999 Bogota - Qual.3r (Romina Ottobini) 1999 Estoril - Qual.2r (A.M. Foldenyi) 1999 Warsaw - QF (Ines Gorrochategui) 2000 Shanghai - QF (Iroda Tulyaganova) 2001 Knokke-Heist - 1r (D.Chladkova) 2002 Sarasota - ?? *JELENA'S CAREER RECORDS AS A SEED* #1...0-0 (Sarasota is 1st #1-seed)* #2...5-6 (2002: 0-1) #3...10-4 #4...9-4 (2002: 3-2) #5...6-1 (2002: 1-1) #6...1-1 #7...1-1 (2002: 1-1) #8...4-2 #10...2-1 #11...1-1 #13...1-2 #14...12-2 #15...3-2 #17...0-1 #21...3-1 #24...2-1 *JELENA'S TIER RESULTS* (Main draw & qualifying draw) Grand Slams...26-12 WTA Chsp...1-1 Tier I...32-16 (2002: 2-3) Tier II...25-16 (2002: 3-2) Tier III...15-11 Tier IV...7-5 Tier V...3-1 Challengers...16-5 Fed Cup...9-2 Hopman Cup...4-3 Olympics...4-2 Exhibitions...8-7 ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** WTA REPORT *SINGLES TOP 20* 1.Jennifer Capriati...4803 2.Venus Williams...4385 3.Martina Hingis...3730 4.Kim Clijsters...3421 5.Lindsay Davenport...3350 6.Monica Seles...3314 7.Serena Williams...3271 8.Justine Henin...2991 9.JELENA DOKIC...2892 10.Amelie Mauresmo...2651 11.Sandrine Testud...2079 12.Silvia Farina Elia...1769 13.Meghannn Shaughnessy...1724 14.Arantxa Sanchez Vicario...1685 15.Daniela Hantuchova...1429 16.Elena Dementieva...1425 17.Nathalie Tauziat...1412 18.Amanda Coetzer...1378 19.Iroda Tulyaganova...1225 20.Maggie Maleeva...1221 *DOUBLES TOP 15* 1.Lisa Raymond...4212 2.Rennae Stubbs...4165 3.Cara Black...2476 4.Elena Likhovtseva...2467 5.Paola Suarez...2449 6.Virginia Ruano-Pascual...2336 7.Kimberly Po-Messerli...2027 8.Arantxa Sanchez Vicario...1878 9.Nathalie Tauziat...1864 10.Martina Hingis...1741 11.JELENA DOKIC...1720 12.Anna Kournikova...1595 13.Conchita Martinez...1589 14.Daniela Hantuchova...1501 15.Roberta Vinci...1482 *SANEX PTS. RACE -- ALL THE WAY TO L.A.* (Jan.1-Mar.31 points) 1.Martina Hingis...1861 2.Monica Seles...1606 3.Jennifer Capriati...1521 4.Venus Williams...1387 5.Serena Williams...1063 6.Amelie Mauresmo...842 7.Daniela Hantuchova...767.75 8.Justine Henin...751 9.Kim Clijsters...678 10.Silvia Farina Elia...635 11.Alexandra Stevenson...578.75 12.Tamarine Tanasugarn...525 13.Anna Kournikova...482 14.Elena Dementieva...478 15.Nathalie Dechy...464 16.Anne Kremer...460 (#33 Jelena Dokic...306) ** ** ** ** ** WTA WEEK 13 MIAMI FINALS S: Serena Williams d. Jennifer Capriati D: Raymond/Stubbs d. Ruano-P./Suarez Girls: Maria Sharapova d. Gisella Dulko PLAYER AWARDS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Serena Williams ...After knocking off Venus in straight sets in the SF, Serena took out Capriati in a final for the second time in '02. RISER: Elena Dementieva ...defeated Anne Kremer in a record-setting 3rd set TB, then took the 1st set against Venus in the next round. SURPRISE: Serena Williams ...a surprise only in that she got an easy, straight-sets win over Venus. Then again, you don't see a Hingis-Venus-Capriati trifecta pulled of all too often. VETERAN: Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs ...the veteran doubles team won their 3rd straight title, and 5th crown in 2002. NEW FACE: Tatiana Panova ..."Ping-Pong" Panova, seeded #28, made the Miami QF. By the way, she'll face Dokic-downer Anne Kremer in the 1r in Sarasota. DOWNER: Martina Hingis ...Lost to Serena, again. 6-0 in the second set. The troubling pattern against big hitters is back, again. *MATCHES* 1.SF -- Serena def. Venus 6-2,6-2 ...Another lopsided win by one of the sisters. Until they have a knock-down, drag-out 3-setter the first thought that pops into many minds will always be whether or not the loser gave it her all. 2.F -- Serena def. Capriati ...Last year, Capriati blew a handful of match points against Venus. This year, she blew a handful of set points that would have sent the final to a 3rd stanza. 3.4r -- Dementieva def. Kremer ...1-6,7-5,7-6 (16-14). Dementieva saved 6 match points, and finally won the longest 3rd set TB in WTA history. 4.QF -- Serena def. Hingis ...6-4,6-0. 5.SF -- Capriati def. Seles ...after losing a TB in the 3rd, Seles fell to 2-5 in SF in 2002. *QUOTES* ...Richard Williams: "It's kind of sad to see a champion like Martina (Hingis) lose all the time like she does when she plays Serena." ** ** ** ** WEEK 14 - April 1-7 PORTO, PORTUGAL (IV - RED CLAY) SF Mikaelian def. Sucha Beigbeder def. Talaja FINAL Mikaelian def. Beigbeder ...Beigbeder is 27, Mikaelian 18. Neither has ever won a WTA singles title. I'm taking a wild guess that one might get one in a much-diminished field in Porto. SARASOTA, FLORIDA (IV - GREEN CLAY) SF Dokic def. Tanasugarn Sanchez Vicario def. Shaughnessy ...if Jelena is healthy, she's the favorite here. ASV had been playing better lately, and Shaughnessy has had a tough time getting going this season. FINAL Dokic def. Sanchez Vicario ...Hey, I'm Mister Sweetness & Light this week, remember? *WEEK 15* Amelia Island, Florida (II) Estoril, Portugal (IV) *WEEK 16* Charleston, South Carolina (I) Budapest, Hungary (IV) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **WTA LISTS** *MOST WTA SINGLES TITLES* 3...Venus Williams 2...Martina Hingis 2...Serena Williams 2...Anna Smashnova *MOST WTA FINALS* 4...Martina Hingis (2-2) 3...Venus Williams (3-0) 3...Jennifer Capriati (1-2) *MOST WTA SF* 7...Monica Seles (2-5) 5...Martina Hingis (4-1) 5...Venus Williams (3-2) *WTA TIER I WINNERS* Tokyo - Martina Hingis Indian Wells - Daniela Hantuchova Miami - Serena Williams ** ** ** MARCH AWARDS PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Daniela Hantuchova RISER: Danielan Hantuchova SURPRISE: Katarina Srebotnik VETERAN: Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs NEW FACE: Emmanuelle Gagliardi DOWNER: Justine Henin WTA 1ST QUARTER AWARDS (DOWN UNDER to U.S. HARDCOURTS) PLAYER 1.Jennifer Capriati 2.Serena Williams 3.Daniela Hantuchova 4.Venus Williams 5.Monica Seles HM-Martina Hingis RISER 1.Daniela Hantuchova 2.Alexandra Stevenson 3.Martina Sucha 4.Katarina Srebotnik 5.Francesca Schiavone HM-Adriana Serra-Zanetti NEW FACES 1.Martina Sucha 2.Su-Wei Hsieh 3.Fabiola Zuluaga 4.Eleni Daniilidou 5.Anastasia Myskina HM-Maria Sharapova SURPRISE: Anna Smashnova VETERAN: Monica Seles DOWNER: Jelena Dokic *STORY OF THE 1st Quarter* 1.Venus Williams becomes #1 for 1st time 2.Capriati defends her Oz title 3.Injuries play havoc with Top 10 *BEST MOMENT* Hantuchova wins 1st title in Ind.Wells *LOW POINT* Hingis blows 4 match points in Oz final *MATCHES* 1.Oz Final - Capriati d. Hingis ...best come-from-behind slam win ever 2.Ind.Wells Final - Hantuchova d. Hingis 3.Paris SF - Dokic d. Seles ...February 9, Jelena's high and low point of 2002. This is the match where the first injury occurred, obscuring one of the best wins of her career. 4.Oz QF - Seles def. Venus ...ended Williams' 24-match winning streak. 5t.Sydney 2r - Stevenson d. Capriati; Oz QF - Venus d. Hantuchova ...a sign of things to come for Stevenson and Hantuchova. Stevenson won, while Hantuchova lost in three tight sets. But the Slovak won a Tier I two months later. *MISSED OPPORTUNITIES* 1.Dementieva and Kournikova lose in Acapulco SFs, avoiding all-Russians-with-no-titles final. 2.With her '01 nemesis Davenport out injured, Jelena Dokic suffers through her first career injury. 3.Dementieva blows big leads against Kournikova in Tokyo, then Dokic in Paris in consecutive weeks. *WORST DECISION* Dokic's plays a "meaningless" doubles SF match while injured, making matters worse and forcing her to pull out of the Paris Final against Venus Williams. *UNLIKELY STAR/UNLIKELY VILLAIN?* ...#27 Anne Kremer is 3-0 against #9 Jelena Dokic in 2002. She took advantage of Dokic's inactivity in Tokyo, her injury in Indian Wells, and her pummelled confidence in Miami. Are we sure she's from Luxembourg and not Hungary? *DID YOU KNOW THEY WON TITLES?* Martina Sucha, Fabiola Zuluaga, Katarina Srebotnik & Anna Smashnova (twice) *BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY?* Hingis has made six straight Oz finals, but is 0-3 in the last three *FEEL-GOOD STORY* Corina Morariu will return to the court this summer *FEEL-BAD STORY* A year after having her season destroyed by injuries, Mary Pierce's 2002 campaign has started off in an eerily similar fashion **** **** **** **** **** **** *TDS RANKING LEADERS* 1.Martina Hingis...101 2.Venus Williams...85 3.Jennifer Capriati...85 4.Monica Seles...85 5.Serena Williams...55 6.Anna Smashnova...40 7.Amelie Mauresmo...40 8.Daniela Hantuchova..38 9.Lisa Raymond...34 10.Katarina Srebotnik...33 (#25 Jelena Dokic...11.5) |
