Article by Todd Spiker

**SAN DIEGO PREVIEW**

by Todd Spiker

This week, Jelena moves down the California coast from Stanford to San Diego for the second of her five-tournament pre-US Open hardcourt tour of North America.

After seeing her less-than-encouraging Stanford experience end with yet another loss to Lindsay Davenport, Jelena should be pleased to know that the San Diego draw puts her as far away from Davenport (and Venus Williams, too) as possible.  In these five pre-Open events, one would like to see Jelena strive for reasonable goal that will encourage her as she heads into her string of massive late-season points defenses.  From here, "reasonable to encouraging" would seem to mean this:  2 QF, 1 SF and 1 RU along the way (leaving one "wild card" result that could be either an early-round loss... or maybe a result something greater than might be anticipated preceding a particular tournament).  So far, she's got 1 QF under her belt and San Diego offers a "clear" path for a second.  But, this week, the chances appear a little better that she could put a checkmark beside one of the other pre-US result goals.

The top half of the San Diego draw will likely be dominated by a planetary phenomenon, and I'm not talking about that huge meteor that might hit Earth in 2019.  I'm talking about Venus, and betting against her reaching the Final (and winning the title, for that matter) is a sure sign a bettor isn't playing the odds.  Sure, there are intriguing possibilities here:  QF matchups of Venus/Kim Clijsters and Davenport/Daniela Hantuchova preceding a potentially titanic Venus/Davenport SF.  But, again, Venus is looking to peak in Flushing Meadows... and San Diego is a sure stepping stone.

Jelena, even as the #6 seed, certainly got a better draw this week.  She seems a fairly safe bet to reach at least the QF, with the remaining big names in her half being Jennifer Capriati (in her first event since Wimbledon, without a title since winning Oz in January, and a player Jelena took to 3 sets at Roland Garros) and Monica Seles (upset last week by Lisa Raymond, and whom Jelena has already defeated in 2002).  Not an easy two-headed monster to get past, but slightly preferrable to the Venus/Davenport combo that Jelena has lost a combined 10 straight against.

DOKIC PREDICTION:
At least a QF result to hold her seed is a definite must here, mainly because just a few breaks could result in so much more for Jelena in San Diego.  A QF matchup with Capriati would be difficult, but at least it doesn't take a grand imagination to see Jelena pulling the upset.  Unlike against Davenport, Dokic has consistently put up a far more competitive fight against Capriati (largely because she doesn't seem intimidated by JC, probably the result of playing doubles with her in the past).  Of course, if Capriati were to be upset by Meghannn Shaughnessy in the 3r (Shaughnessy knocked off Davenport in WTT action, so she at least seems to be playing good tennis for the first time in months), then Jelena could have a yellow brick-lined path to the SF to meet Seles, whose form last week certainly will make her vulnerable to the likes of Elena Dementieva, Conchita Martinez or even Anna Kournikova (fresh off her encouraging QF run at Stanford) before she could reach a potential Dokic match.  In fact, getting past Capriati in the QF looks to be the biggest obstacle to predicting an appearance in the Final for Jelena.  Hmmm... what to choose.  QF or RU... RU or QF?  I'll have to go for a second straight QF, with a close loss to Capriati continuing an upward progression pointing toward Flushing Meadows.  With a few breaks, though, this week could bring quite a bit more.