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Article
by Todd Spiker
A DATE
WITH MOTHER EARTH
by Todd Spiker
*Roland Garros (Wk. 2) Points Breakdown*
162...Quarterfinals
20...4r: Srebotnik (#48) - 7-6,6-2
0...QF: Capriati (#1) - 4-6,6-4,1-6
238...TOTAL
-69...Points off
169...TOTAL POINTS FOR RG
#8...Singles Rank (3004, up 1)
#25...Doubles Rank (1169, down 13)
*JELENA CORNER*
--PARIS POSTMORTEM--
(or How to Get to a Grand Slam QF with A Serve to Die With)
Consider Mandula's Ghost officially exorcised... and welcome
a new (and old) chain-rattling enigma to haunt Jelena
Dokic: her own serve. For that part of her game, far more
than any other reason, is why her Roland Garros run (while
still a career best QF) ended at least one round earlier
than it could have.
One of the stated goals for Dokic last November was to
improve her serve. Not necessarily to make it a potent
weapon, but to remove it (and it's troubling inconsistency)
from a list of gameday liabilities that often contributed
mightily to big match crumbles like the one that occurred
against Martina Hingis in the US Open 4r last Fall. Back in
February, things looked good as Dokic defeated Monica Seles
in Paris. After that match, arguably Jelena's best victory
since upsetting Hingis at Wimbledon in 1999, Seles noted
that the new strength in the Dokic serve game was the major
reason for her first career defeat at Jelena's hands.
The story was quite different in Paris this time around.
Over the span of five matches, Jelena had 39 double faults
(and totaled 10 or more in three different matches,
including more than a dozen against Jennifer Capriati in
their 3-set QF). Make no bones about it, despite postmatch
talk of Capriati never being in serious danger of a loss, it
was Jelena's serve that prevented the true test that Dokic
otherwise seemed ready to put the American to that day on
Court Suzanne Lenglen. She was aggressive, produced a good
number of winners and usually controlled the rallies...
only, when she stood on the baseline with the racket and
ball in hand, to give Capriati back the advantage she'd
worked so hard to attain.
The main example of this, of course, came at 4-4 in the 1st
set. On her own serve, Dokic held 3 game points for 5-4 and
to force Capriati to serve to stay in the set. Jelena blew
two of them on DFs, the threw in a third DF on a break point
to lose the game. Capriati then proceeded to serve out the
set. Jelena came back to take the 2nd set (flashing the
piercing look of an indomitable lioness... too bad Serena
beat her to the punch with that Cameroon-style outfit
earlier in the week), but lose the third 1-6.
What happened between Jelena's two trips to Paris? Have her
injuries prevented her from working on her serve as much as
she needs to? Well, she said in interviews last week that
the DF Dilemma is never a problem in practice, but then
crops up in matches. In other words, one has to conclude
that it's the in-game pressure that's the new ghost in
Jelena's attic. So does she need a mystic? A witch doctor,
maybe, to rid THIS ghost from the premises? No, but maybe
making a point to not rush so much between her first and
second serves wouldn't hurt. Her serving haste made
Capriati, long considered a speed demon in such matters,
look nearly snail-like by comparison. Who knows, maybe an
extra five seconds will allow her to settle down, remember
her serving mechanics and CONCENTRATE a little better. It's
such a short period of time, but it could make a huge
difference in a match such as the one she lost to Capriati.
Just think, what if Jelena's serve hadn't imploded and she
could have won that opening set? Might she have won the
match in straights? Maybe not, but the evidence is clear
that when Jelena gains the confidence of an opening set
victory she generally begins to cook up even more winners
and gets on an unstoppable roll. These are the last four
times she took the first set against Top 10 competition in
the last year:
May 2001...Rome, Mauresmo...JELENA WINS
Sept.2001...Tokyo, Clijsters...JELENA WINS
Feb.2002...Paris, Seles...JELENA WINS
May 2002...Hamburg, Henin...JELENA WINS
For her career in main draw matches, she's 105-12 when she
seizes the early lead. 17-55 when she doesn't. In grand
slams, the numbers are 21-2 and 3-10. Would a serve that
wasn't a liability have turned the match in her favor
against the likes of the then-#1 ranked Capriati? Maybe
not, but it sure would have been fun to find out. Maybe we
will at Wimbledon.
Speaking of...
-HELLO, MOTHER EARTH-
As it is, despite the slight disappointment of Roland
Garros, Jelena is now 1-for-1 when it comes to improving on
her 2001 grand slam results. Now it's on to the grass and a
shot to go 2-for-2 at the All England Club (hey, she only
has to top a 4r finished that was actually her worst career
showing there).
This season, Jelena's taking in both English preparatory
events in Birmingham and Eastbourne (her first showing
there). With all her injuries in 2002, it would be easy to
question the intelligence of committing to both events, but
this is one of the exceptional times on the schedule where
it might be necessary. Jelena seemed to be generally
unbothered by the nagging leg injuries in Paris, and the
grass court season is but a month long. The dramatic shift
to that surface from the slower red clay can be a shock to
some player's systems. Case in point, Jelena has lost in
the early going of her first grass event the past three
years (see results below), which in some way makes her #1
seed in Birmingham (and resulting 1r bye, which robs her of
an additional grass match against a lesser-ranked opponent)
almost a handicap this week. Also, with the decision to
continue to skip the doubles, she might end up needing both
tournaments to get match-ready for the tricky Wimbledon
courts.
One last note: Jelena's winnings in Paris put her over
$2,000,000 in career earnings. Congratulations to her.
ROLAND GARROS CHAMPIONS
SINGLES
Serena Williams def. Venus Williams
DOUBLES
Ruano-Pascual/Suarez def. Raymond/Stubbs
MIXED
C.Black/W.Black def. Bovina/Knowles
GIRLS SINGLES
Angelique Widjaja d. Ashley Harkleroad
GIRLS DOUBLES
Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Barbora Strycova def. Su-Wei
Hsieh/Svetlana Kuznetsova
PLAYER AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Serena Williams
...2 Tier I's and now RG mean Serena has been the best
women's tennis player so far in 2002
RISER: Clarisa Fernandez
...the 20-year old's SF run jumped her ranking from #87 to
#34
SURPRISE: Paola Suarez
...Fernandez's fellow Argentine defeated three Frenchwomen
on her way to the RG QF, the took her second straight
doubles title with Ruano-Pascual
VETERAN: Virginia Ruano-Pascual
...repeated her RG doubles crown
NEW FACES: Angelique Widjaja & Ashley Harkleroad
...Widjaja won a WTA title in Bali at age 15 last
September. At 16, she claimed the RG Girls crown to go with
her 2001 Wimbledon Girls trophy. Harkleroad, the "American
Anna," had her best showing in a slam Girls draw.
DOWNER: Amelie Mauresmo
...Once again, she crumbled under the pressure. It's clear
she'll never win the slam title that seemed so possible a
few years ago.
*MATCHES*
1.Final - Serena def. Venus
...Serena finally didn't falter in a grand slam match
against her sister (though Venus was almost TOO happy about
it all after the loss... did she really have to take
pictures?)
2.SF - Serena def. Capriati
...again, Capriati can't close out a match against a
Williams. Of course, that didn't prevent her from making
the whiny suggestion that the new #1 and #2 players had an
easier road to the top spots than she did. Remember when I
said she was a crabby sore loser? Case in point.
3.QF - Capriati def. Dokic
...if Jelena had a shot -- and she did -- it went out the
window with all the DFs
4.4r - C.Fernandez def. Dementieva
...once again, Dementieva lost a big match after taking the
first set from a lesser-ranked and less-experienced
opponent. In fact, Dementieva even mistakenly served
back-to-back games and didn't notice. Guess her head wasn't
in the match. Maybe that's the problem.
5.4r - Serena def. Vera Zvonareva
...the 17-year old Russian took the first set (even coming
back from a 2-4 deficit to do so), then crumbled in
exhaustion and leg cramps in the final two sets.
***MAY (+RG) AWARD WINNERS***
PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
1.Serena Williams
2.Justine Henin
3.Venus Williams
4.Jennifer Capriati
5.Kim Clijsters
RISER: Clarisa Fernandez
SURPRISE: Chanda Rubin
VETERAN: Martina Navratilova
NEW FACE: Vera Zvonareva
DOWN: Meghannn Shaughnessy
**MOST WTA SINGLES TITLES**
4...Venus Williams
4...Serena Williams
3...Monica Seles
3...Martina Hingis
3...Anna Smashnova
**MOST WTA FINALS**
6...Venus Williams (4-2)
5...Serena Williams (4-1)
5...Justine Henin (1-4)
4...Martina Hingis (2-2)
3...Monica Seles (2-1)
3...Jelena Dokic (1-2)
3...Jennifer Capriati (1-2)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (Grass - III)
SF
Raymond def. Dokic
Stevenson def. Testud
F
Stevenson def. Raymond
...Grass is the best surface for both. Stevenson blew her
shot vs. Raymond in the Memphis final earlier this year. Of
course, I think Jelena would win if she makes the final.
But she's lost early in her first grass event the last three
seasons, and could go out sooner than even my predicted SF
in Birmingham, too.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA (Red Clay - III)
SF
Farina Elia def. Smashnova
Marrero def. C.Martinez
F
Marrero def. Farina Elia
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN (Hard Court - IV)
SF
Garbin def. Koukalova
Poutchek def. Dominikovic
F
Poutchek def. Garbin
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Article
by Todd Spiker