Eastbourne preview  by Glyn James

This week, Jelena plays her second grass court of the season in Eastbourne, UK, in the Britannic Asset Management International Championships.  A bit of a mouthful I know, but that's us Brits for you. :-)  It's the final preparation before the big one at Wimbledon next week, and it's one that Jelena will certainly feel confident of winning.  The tournament is a Tier II with $585,000 at stake.

   Last year, Lindsay Davenport used the tournament to regain her fitness after an injury, and was basically far superior to the other players.  This year Jelena hopes to be the one who reigns superior and stands tall at the end.  This year's event has already brought in some huge headlines.  Aswell as having our girl Jelena playing here. it was meant to be the tournament that Lindsay Davenport returned to action, crowd favourite Anna Kournikova is to play here, ex-French Open winner Mary Pierce commited herself to this tournament, and above all, Martina Navratilova has extravegantly received a wild card to play in the singles and doubles.  So yet again, despite Jelena being the number one seed, she is still not the one in the lime light.

   Here's the draw for the tournament -

Dokic(1)
Bye
Qualifier
Bedanova
Grande
Kournikova
Qualifier
Shaughnessy(5)

Farina-Elia(4)
Bye
Schiavone
Coetzer
Serna
Qualifier
Rubin
Tanasugarn(8)

Tulyaganova(6)
Smashnova
Stevenson
Qualifier
Navratilova
Panova
Bye
Hantuchova(3)

Schnyder(7)
Myskina
Sugiyama
Pierce
Kremer
Dechy
Bye
Testud(2)

   Without sounding over confident, Jelena will certainly feel that she should definitely reach the final of the tournament, if not win it.  Shaughnessy and Farina Elia are potentially difficult matches before the final, but Jelena is still favourite to win these matches, and she has a big advantage over those who hasn't played on grass this season thus far.

   Shaughnessy is hardly in the type of form that could stop Jelena's relentless form.  The American hasn't played since her 1st round loss at Roland Garros a few weeks back, and would be rather lucky to even get to the QF where she'd face Jelena.  Farina Elia has yet to begin her grass court season either.  Last week, she played in Vienna as the number one seed on the clay where she crashed out to qualifier Patricia Wartusch in her opening game after receiving a first round bye.

   The other half of the draw brings about three main threats, #2 and #3 seeds Sandrine Testud and Daniela Hantuchova, aswell as last week's finalist in Vienna, Iroda Tulyaganova.  Testud did play on the grass last week, as you may already know, since she played in the same tournament as Jelena in Birmingham.  Her performance, however, was far from impressive, losing to Nicole Pratt in straight sets in the third round.  As the #2 seed, you shouldn't really rule her out of going far in the tournament, but as the phrase goes, I'll eat my hat if she wins this thing.  Hantuchova seems to be a bigger threat.  The nmber #3 seed still hasn't played since her 4rd defeat to Monica Seles at Roland Garros, but she's still be hoping of victory at this tournament if she can adapt to the grass quick enough.  Hantuchova beat Jelena in their previous meeting in Berlin back in early May.  The other unlikely threat comes from Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan.  The #16 in the world is on good form, and her big serve may well suit the grass.

   Two grass titles in a row prior to Wimbledon could be priceless.  With Davenport and Hingis missing out on Wimbledon, these two titles could be an extra boost for Jelena to go further than she ever has before at SW19, but it's a question of whether Jelena can keep her concentration over the next two weeks.  If she serves consistently and keeps her head, then who knows?  Anything is possible, but I think Jelena will have a lapse of concentration before the week is out.

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PREDICTION - Farina Elia def. Jelena Dokic in 2 sets in the SF.
            Hantuchova to win the tournament.