Article by Glyn James

Hamburg Preview!

Between  April the 29th and May the 5th Jelena will play in Hamburg, Germany for the Betty Barclay Cup - a tier II tournament that has been a regular on the tour since its debut in 1987.  As most of you will probably already know, this tournament is played on clay, and there is $585,000 for prize money.  The stadium capacity is approximately 13,000 and last year's winner was the powerful current world number one Venus Williams.  The draw of 28 players consists of 21 direct Qualifiers, 4 Qualifiers, 2 Wildcarts, 1 Silver/Gold Exempt, and will be made on Sunday the 28th of April.  The Betty Barclay Cup will be broadcasted as Live-Transmission or as summary on ZDF and EUROSPORT.


   The biggest news surrounding this event as of late has been the withdrawal of the #69 Anna Kournikova, who has elected to play in a smaller tournament in Croatia, but, to Jelena fans, this 'massive' piece of news is hardly anything  compared to the speculation over Jelena's state of mind and physical condition.


   In a hectic week of house hunting and recieving an award from the Serbian president, one can only wonder whether this will make things better or worse for Jelena.  One could see this as being too much of a distraction, and too much to take on in an important stage of the season, and that Jelena should be more focused on her tennis more than anything.  However, I firmly believe that this will have helped Jelena.  She seems to be taking responsability about her life and making big decisions. It's no doubt that the massive Serbian support, and being recognised by her own President has given Jelena a huge boost going into this tournament.  One thing is for sure, Jelena is not a girl anymore!


   The seeds for this tournament is as follows -
1. V. Williams
2. Clijsters
3. Hingis
4. Henin
5. Dokic
6. Hantuchova
7. Schnyder
8. Sanchez-Vicario

   This means that Jelena will have no first round bye, but again, I see this as a positive since it will mean that Jelena has a chance to get used to the surface, and a comfortable first round win will put Jelena in a good state of mind for the remainder of the week.


   It may be considered unprofessional for a reporter to get carried away on his opinions, but I have a good feeling about this tournament, and I think we will see the Jelena we've all been waiting for the whole season, and I think she can definitely come out and win this tournament, regardless of who she plays.

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PREDICTION - One massive smile for Jelena as she does herself, her fans, her family, and her country proud by winning the tournament!

COME ON JELENA!!!!!!