Article by Todd Spiker

*JELENA CORNER*

by Todd Spiker

**MONTREAL POINTS BREAKDOWN**
124...SF
10...2r: Sucha (#42) - 6-3,6-4
15...3r: Stevenson (#34) - 1-6,7-5,6-1
43...QF: Hingis (#8) - 6-4,6-3
0...SF: Capriati (#3) - 6-7,0-4 ret.
192...TOTAL
-100...POINTS OFF
+92...TOTAL FOR WEEK

#4...SINGLES RANK (3338)-career high
#6...SANEX POINTS RACE (2189)
#18...DOUBLES RANK (1400)


--La belle dame sans merci--

   First, let's focus on the good things that happened in Montreal last week.  There were many for "the beautiful lady without mercy."
   Despite the inglorius nature of her departure in L.A. the week before, Jelena managed to get herself together and carry her winning momentum north to Canada.  The result was her third straight SF-or-better performance this hardcourt season, enough to raise her singles ranking to yet another career-high of #4.
   Her play in doing so was fairly typical of her recent results.  In the early rounds, Jelena often didn't play her best but still found a way to win.  The prime example being a rocky 3r match with Alexandra Stevenson.  Trailing 1-6,5-5 she needed to turn on the "juice" to live to fight another round, which she proceeded to do to the tune of an 8-1 run in the final nine games as she jumped on the American, knocked her to the ground and put a foot on her neck.  Alexandra wasn't getting up after that.
   Then, Little Miss Show-No-Mercy built upon the Stevenson save by looking Martina Hingis, just back from her injury layoff, squarely in the eyes... and running her over and leaving her in the middle of the road.  No mercy, indeed.  6-4,6-3... after having not won a set in two previous matches since the 1999 Wimbledon upset.  Jelena's overjoyed reaction at the conclusion of the match was well-deserved.  It was her fourth win over a Top 10 player in 2002, and should effectively erase any lingering bad memories of that 0-6 2nd set crumble against Hingis at last year's U.S. Open.
   Meanwhile, the new (and old, considering the success they shared as juniors) Dokic/Clijsters doubles team continued to flex its new muscle.  In L.A., they took out Top 5 team Black/Likhovtseva.  In Montreal, they eliminated the #1 team of Raymond/Stubbs (and nearly Top 5ers Dementieva/Husarova, as well).  They could be a team to fear at the Open.

--Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose--

   Now, the bad.  The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.
   The end of Jelena's fun in Montreal had a discouragingly familiar ring to it.  Last February, after defeating Monica Seles for the first time, Jelena suffered through endless weeks of leg injuries that hampered her early-season progress and prevented her from fully capitalizing on her game's good form.
   This time, in the midst of her best extended run of results since the 4th quarter of 2001, highlighted by the overcoming of significant hurdles with victories over Capriati and Hingis, Jelena was forced to retire (her 5th retired/walkover loss in 2002) in her SF match against Capriati, with another hamstring injury.  And she had played Capriati so tough in a 6-7 1st set, too... enough to make it apparent that her San Diego win over the American has given given her the confidence to pull off a sequel in the very near future.  In fact, considering her runs of remarkable comeback tennis in the opening set, sans-injury there was a chance she might have gone on to win the match and make Montreal her first-ever tournament with two wins over Top 10 players.
   Ah, but there was SOMETHING different this time around.  Earlier, Jelena unwisely tried to play through her injuries, only to make matters worse.  Against Capriati, with the Open a week away, she seemed to quickly make the decision to call it a day. Could it be that it was a sign of the lessons she's learned in 2002?  One can only hope so, though her apparent (and questionable, at best) decision to play in New Haven this week certainly leads to more questions about her judgment.

--C'est la vie--

   The now well-know fact of Jelena's tennis life is that if she CAN play, the chances are mighty good that she will.  Wise or not.  Crazy or not.  That seems to be her modus operandi.  How else can her decision to seemingly take a huge risk by going to New Haven be explained?
   She hinted as far back as San Diego that she might skip this event, and has said since then that there's at least a 50% chance she won't have a go at things.  There she goes with those percentages again... but the number should really be 100%, of a no-show.
   If she plays and her decision is a wrong one, all the good in her precautionary move to quit in New Haven could be lost.  Making the injury worse could put Flushing Meadows in jeopardy, as well as handicap her during her "points-galore" period of defenses that begins in Brazil once the Open concludes.
   Jelena seems to need an excuse NOT to play, and she should take this as the perfect opportunity to exercise that option in New Haven.  So what if she has 100 points to defend from her New Haven QF in 2001?  So what if Seles could close on her in the rankings?  So what?
   With the importance of the next few months, a Tier II in Connecticut can't be so important that she refuses to miss it.  Not only that, but she got a bad draw even as the #3 seed there.  Schnyder in the 2r, Hantuchova in the QF, Venus in the SF?  Why even put herself on the line for what will be a phantom rankings week anyway?  It won't alter the Open seeds, and any gain she might attain in New Haven would be quickly be wiped out with a bad/unhealthy performance in the year's final grand slam.  What happens in Flushing Meadows is so much more important.  She needs to take care of herself this week, not worry about who she might have to face tomorrow.
   Jelena may play this week.  Who knows, she might even play very well.  She could avenge her Wimbledon loss to Hantuchova, and gather even more confidence heading into New York.  She MIGHT.  But it's not worth it.  Not this week, not under these circumstances.  Cross your fingers that disaster isn't days away.


 

**SANS-SISTERS BELT UPDATE**

 

...Jelena is christened the new world #4 this week, the most recent bonanza resulting from her impressive pre-Open hardcourt season.  Her 1 RU, 2 SF, 1 QF string of results is her best since her career-best stretch after last year's US Open.  As of now, she stands 741 points behind Capriati for the lead in the 2002 Sans-Sisters Belt competition.  Capriati sits out this week, so if Jelena is healthy enough to get another great result under her belt in New Haven she might be able to cut that lead down just a little more.  It's in Flushing Meadows, though, where significant movement could take place.  Capriati will be defending 402 points there, while Jelena must back 146.  So, the lead could shrink considerably in the coming weeks, just before Jelena is set to head off on her worldwide defense tour, which will take her from South America to Asia to Europe... and then back for a return trip to North America for the season-ending Sanex Championships.


THIS WEEK:

 

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**JELENA LISTS**

*THE RECENT CLIMB*
-SINGLES RANKINGS-
#9...June 9
#8...June 10-23
#7...June 24-July 7
#6...July 8-28
#5...July 29-August 18
#4...August 19-present

*JELENA SINCE WIMBLEDON*
Stanford...QF (2-1)
San Diego...RU (4-1)
Los Angeles...SF (3-1)
Montreal...SF (3-1)
New Haven...?
TOTAL: 12-4

*JELENA IN TIER I's in 2002*
Tokyo TPP...2r (Kremer)
Indian Wells...3r (Kremer)
Miami...3r (Kremer)
Charleston...2r (Smashnova)
Berlin...3r (Hantuchova)
Rome...3r (Myskina)
Montreal...SF (Capriati-retired)

*JELENA 2002 RETIRED/WALKOVER LOSSES*
Paris Final - Venus Williams (walkover)
Antwerp 2r - Patty Schnyder
Amelia Island SF - Justine Henin
Hamburg SF - Kim Clijsters
Montreal SF - Jennifer Capriati

*JELENA 2002 STATISTICS*
16-4...3-set matches
8-2...tie-breaks
2-5...walkover/retired
11-15...down 0-1 sets
33-2...up 1-0 sets


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WTA REPORT - WEEK 33

 

MONTREAL, QUEBEC (Tier I - Hardcourt)
S: Amelie Mauresmo d. Jennifer Capriati
D: Ruano-Pascual/Suarez d. Fujiwara/Sugiyama

 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Amelie Mauresmo
...No surprise here.  Apparently, Wimbledon was Mauresmo's re-introduction to the big-time stage of women's tennis.  If her head is now something other than a generally useless appendage to her game, she could make much noise down the stretch of 2002.

RISERS: Daniela Hantuchova & Francesca Schiavone
...After a 3-match WTA losing streak, Hantuchova rediscovered her game in a Tier I and this week sports her career-high rankings in both singles (#11) and doubles (#7).  It's no secret her best 2002 results have come in the slams and the Tier I's... she loves the spotlight.  Schiavone, having an up-and-down year, had an upswing in Canada with wins over Daniilidou and Bedanova.

SURPRISE: Barbara Schett
...2002 had been fairly well forgettable for Schett, but wins over an in-form Rubin & Clijsters in the same tournament is bound to get a little attention.

VETERAN: Amanda Coetzer
...Maybe there's a little life left in the soon-to-be-31 year old South African yet.  But, then again, who can tell when the big win is over Elena "The Faucet Runs Hot-AND-Cold" Dementieva?

NEW FACE: Laura Granville
...the American made the 4r at Wimbledon, and made her hardcourt mark this week with wins over Farina Elia and Sanchez Vicario.

DOWNER: Anastasia Myskina
...Myskina "wins" not so much for her 1r loss to Clarisa Fernandez in Montreal, a respectable loss against a tough opponent, but for her failure to show up on the radar since her great pre-SW19 grasscourt heroics.  Since making back-to-back finals in England, she's gone out early at Wimbledon and done little in any tournament since.  A month ago, she seemed a lock to advance to the year-ending Sanex Championships.  That's far less of a sure thing now.  She needs to begin to pick things up, and soon.

 

1.Montreal Final - Mauresmo d. Capriati
...Capriati still hasn't won a title since January.

2.Montreal QF - Dokic d. Hingis
...Sure, it was Hingis' first tournament back since her ankle surgery.  But Dokic's straight sets win was her first over the Swiss Miss since that big Wimbledon upset in 1999...and it assured Dokic of a career-high ranking of #4 this week.

3.Montreal 2r/3r - Schett d. Rubin & Clijsters
...Could this be the start of Schett's salvaging of a disappointing season?

4.Montreal 2r - Ruano-Pascual d. Kournikova
...So much for Anna K. getting that seed at the Open.

5.Is that you, Alexandra Stevenson?
...After sleepwalking through the season since blowing match points against Raymond in Memphis in February, Stevenson poked her head out of the sand in Montreal by defeating Smashnova and Tanasugarn.  She even led Dokic 6-1,5-5 in the 3r, then lost 8 of the last 9 games.  Oh, THERE you are, Alexandra.  We almost didn't recognize you.

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*MOST 2002 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
6...Venus Williams
5...Serena Williams
3...Anna Smashnova
2...JELENA DOKIC
2...Monica Seles
2...Martina Hingis
2...Amelie Mauresmo
2...Chanda Rubin

*MOST 2002 WTA SINGLES FINALS*
9...Venus Williams (6-3)
6...Serena Williams (5-1)
5...JELENA DOKIC (2-3)
5...Justine Henin (1-4)
4...Martina Hingis (2-2)
4...Jennifer Capriati (1-3)

*MOST 2002 WTA SINGLES SF*
11...Venus Williams (9-2)
9...JELENA DOKIC (5-4)
8...Jennifer Capriati (4-4)
8...Monica Seles (3-5)
7...Serena Williams (6-1)
7...Justine Henin (5-2)

*MOST SINGLES TITLES - 2001/02*
12...Venus Williams (6/6)
8...Serena Williams (3/5)
7...Lindsay Davenport (7/0)
6...Monica Seles (4/2)
6...Amelie Mauresmo (4/2)
5...JELENA DOKIC (3/2)
5...Martina Hingis (3/2)

*WTA TIER I WINNERS - 2002*
Feb - Tokyo...Martina Hingis
Mar - Ind.Wells...Daniela Hantuchova
Apr - Miami...Serena Williams
Apr - Charleston...Iva Majoli
May - Berlin...Justine Henin
May - Rome...Serena Williams
Aug - Montreal...Amelie Mauresmo
Oct - Moscow
Oct - Zurich

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*WEEK 33 - August 18-24*

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT (TIER II - Hard)
website: www.pilotpentennis.com/

F: Venus Williams d. Lindsay Davenport
...We'll find out this week whether or not Davenport is up to making a run at the US Open, as she'll likely have to face Tulyaganova, Mauresmo and Henin just to get to the final.  Venus, we know, is hitting stride and looking to peak in New York... this is just another stepping stone.  It might be well over a month before Venus loses again.

NEXT WEEK: U.S. Open preview

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**TDS RANKINGS - WEEK 33**
1.Venus Williams...210
2.Serena Williams...205
3.Jennifer Capriati...155
4.Monica Seles..125
5.JELENA DOKIC...115.5
6.Martina Hingis...108
7.Justine Henin...107.5
8.Amelie Mauresmo...90
9.Daniela Hantuchova...79
10.Anna Smashnova...70
11.Kim Clijsters...62
12.Chanda Rubin...61
13.Lisa Raymond...59
14.Paola Suarez...55.5
15.Elena Dementieva...45.5