Article by Todd Spiker

Jelena's Star Rises in the West

by Todd Spiker

The first leg of Jelena's road trip to the American West may have been
cut short by Jennifer Capriati, but that fact didn't prevent her from attaining career-high WTA rankings in both singles and doubles this
week.

For the moment, Jelena's weekly ascent up the WTA rankings mountain has set up camp at #16 in singles (tying the career best she first reached following Roland Garros) and #18 in doubles.  She left the big-name likes of Anna Kournikova, Sandrine Testud, Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in her wake following San Diego, and now Jelena voyages up the California coast to the "City of Angels" with the heavenly feat of rising to another career-high rank well within her grasp.

Top 25 (August 6, 2001)
NAME=POINTS=(since 7/30)
1.Hingis  =  5577
2.Capriati  =  4519 (+80)
3.Davenport  =  4460 (+139)
4.V.Williams  =  4342 (+16)
5.Clijsters  =  2851 (+314)
6.Henin  =  2667 (-22)
7.Mauresmo  =  2429
8.S.Williams  =  2381
9.Tauziat  =  2047 (+12)
10.Seles  =  2042 (+156)
11.Dementieva  =  1920 (+35)
12.Coetzer  =  1708 (-17)
13.Maleeva  =  1697 (+8)
14.Shaughnessy  =  1692 (+9)
15.Farina Elia  =  1509
16.JELENA  =  1476 (+35)
17.Testud  =  1469 (+12)
18.Sanchez V.  =  1468
19.C.Martinez  =  1411 (-74)
20.Kournikova  =  1379 (-211)
21.Huber  =  1357 (-1)
22.Schett  =  1263 (+40)
23.Rubin  =  1100 (+23)
24.Tulyaganova  =  1092
25.Serna  =  1076 (+15)


THIS WEEK...

*eStyle.com Classic (Tier II)*
Points Table
WIN--200
RU--140
SF--90
QF--50
3rd--26
2nd--14
1st--1

*THE BATTLE FOR POSITION*
#12 Coetzer - leads by 232 pts.
#13 Maleeva - leads by 221 pts.
#14 Shaughnessy - leads by 216 pts.
#15 Farina Elia - leads by 33 pts.
#16 JELENA (1476 POINTS)
#17 Testud - 7 pts. behind
#18 Sanchez Vicario - 8 pts. behind

KEEP AN EYE ON...
#11 Elena Dementieva.  As was the case with Jelena's move past Kournikova this week, her potential advancement past Dementieva could
soon prove to be another benchmark along the road to the Top 10.  At the moment, Jelena trails her by 444 points, but it was at this point in
2000 that Dementieva strung together the wins that catapulted her into the US and Olympic SF.  Dementieva is defending 151 points in LA this week, and if she fails to match her Flushing Meadow SF she's likely to take a big rankings hit once that boatload of points falls off the
board.  Jelena might not be able to catch her before Flushing Meadow, but it would seem a likely occurrence soon after.


BY THE NUMBERS...

*Jelena's Doubles Rank Progression*
Jan.1, 2001 - #50
Jan.29 - #64
Feb.26 - #65
Mar.26 - #64
Apr.30 - #67
May 28 - #39
June 25 - #22
July 30 - #19
Aug.6 - #18

*The Battle in Doubles*
(as of August 6, 2001)
#15 Anne-Gaelle Sidot - 1524
#16 Meghannn Shaughnessy - 1470
#17 Barbara Schett - 1431
#18 JELENA - 1407
#19 Conchita Martinez- 1404

*Jelena on Hardcourts in 2001*
Hong Kong (ex) - Won (d.Kournikova)
Australian - 1r (lost to Davenport)
Miami - QF (lost to V.Williams)
San Diego - 3r (lost to Capriati)
Los Angeles - ??
2001 Hardcourt Record:  7-3


Be a star and love L.A., Jelena.

Until next week...