Article by Todd Spiker

WIMBLEDON 2002 SPECIAL:
THE CASE FOR A RIVALRY WILL BE MADE

by Todd Spiker


**JELENA DOKIC & DANIELA HANTUCHOVA**

*VITALS*
AGES...Dokic (19), Hantuchova (19)
BIRTHDATES...Dokic - April 12, 1983; Hantuchova - April 23, 1983
HEIGHT: Dokic 5-9 (1.75m), Hantuchova 5-11 (1.81m)
WEIGHT: Dokic 132 (60kg), Hantuchova 123 (56kg)
SINGLES 6/24: #7 Dokic, #12 Hantuchova
SINGLES 2001: #8 Dokic, #38 Hantuchova
DOUBLES 6/24: #25 Dokic, #10 Hantuchova
HIGH SINGLES: #6 Dokic, #12 Hantuchova
HIGH DOUBLES: #10 Dokic, #10 Hantuchova
SINGLES TITLES: Dokic (5),Hantuchova (1)
SINGLES FINALS: Dokic (10),Hantuchova (1)
DOUBLES TITLES: Dokic (1),Hantuchova (5)
HEAD-TO-HEAD (Jr.): Dokic 1-0
HEAD-TO-HEAD (WTA): Hantuchova 2-0

*MEETINGS*
1998 (Carpet)
World Super Jr. Chsp FINAL...Dokic 6-1,6-3

2001 (Supreme)
Leipzig...2r...Hantuchova 4-6,7-6,6-0

2002 (Red Clay)
Berlin...3r...Hantuchova 2-6,3-6

2002 (Grass)
Wimbledon...4r...July 1, 2002

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On the doorstep of the biggest ever Dokic-Hantuchova matchup, but probably the first of many to come, I thought it might be interesting to look back a few months at what I was talking about the Monday after Hantuchova won her first WTA singles title in Indian Wells...


--From Jelena-dokic.com on March 18--

Daniela Hantuchova, this week's star in Indian Wells, is just 11 days younger than Jelena Dokic.  But, until this weekend in California, Dokic's career had fairly well far outdistanced that of her teenage counterpart.  That doesn't mean their paths haven't already crossed, though.  In her last junior event, (in 1998,the year in which she was the Girls #1), Dokic defeated Hantuchova in the World Super Junior Championship in straight sets.  Three years later, the two met for the first time as pros last September in Leipzig.  It was then-#58 Hantuchova who had the last laugh that day as she pulled off a shocking-at-the-time 2r upset despite Dokic having served for the match at 6-4,6-5.  Jelena's game collapsed at that point, and Hantuchova won the final eight games.  The loss turned out to be Dokic's only defeat at the hands of a lesser-ranked player during the final three and a half months of 2001 (a span during which Jelena advanced to five finals, winning two titles).  Obviously, it was a sign of great things to come for Hantuchova.  Six months later, Saturday's victory over Martina Hingis crossed up Dokic once again.  Not only did the Slovak match Jelena's feat of emerging victorious in her initial WTA singles final appearance (both doing so in Tier I's, no less), but she also knocked her out of the WTA record book.  Ranked #26 going into Indian Wells (she's now #17), Hantuchova bested Jelena's record-breaking Rome title as the #23-ranked player last May to become the lowest-ranked woman to ever win a Tier I event. Stay tuned, because Hantuchova is already an accomplished doubles player, as well.  She's up to #14 in those rankings and, considering Jelena's injury-related absence from doubles draws, there's a pretty good chance that it'll be Hantuchova who knocks Jelena out of the ranks of the double-Top 10ers (a club in which she's currently the sole member).  Jelena will certainly have Leipzig on her mind the next she sees the lanky teen on the other side of the net, and Hantuchova showed last week that she's only gotten better and more powerful since she won that match last Fall.  Yes, it appears as if we could soon see the beginning of a very interesting little (new) rivalry.


(now back to the present day)

That was March.  Fastforward about three months, and here we are again.  A few things have changed since the last time the Dokic-Hantuchova connection was broached in these parts.

For one, Iva Majoli wiped Hantuchova out of the record books with her improbable Charleston victory just a few weeks after Indian Wells.  Here's how that list looks now:

*LOWEST-RANKED TIER I CHAMPIONS*

#58...Iva Majoli ('02 Charleston)
#26...Daniela Hantuchova ('02 Ind.Wells)
#23...Jelena Dokic ('01 Rome)
#21...Serena Williams ('99 Ind.Wells)


Also, with Jelena's decision to back away from doubles, her ranking has dropped to #25 as Hantuchova replaced her in the Top 10.

In singles, Jelena is now #7, while Hantuchova is a career-high of #12 (and closing in on matching Jelena's one-time double-Top 10er feat).  Since March, Jelena and Hantuchova HAVE met on the court.  The Slovak easily handled Jelena on the clay in Berlin in Jelena's first event following her SF retirement against Kim Clijsters in Hamburg.

Since her Indian Wells victory, Hantuchova has pretty much been crowned with the title that so many in these parts have felt belonged to Jelena since Rome 2001... that of being the player who combines the looks of a Kournikova with the ability to actually win WTA titles.  The ability to be a Gritty Glamour Girl, if you will.  Hantuchova has been featured in numerous magazines over the past few months, posing for professional shots to go along with the pictures of her holding up a trophy spotlighting her on-court gains.

In the last three months, though, Jelena has banked two more singles titles in Sarasota and Birmingham, and advanced to the final in Strasbourg.  Hantuchova, after an extended post-title dry spell, didn't make another SF until Eastbourne two weeks ago.  Now, the two 19-year olds meet for the first time on a grasscourt in "Glamour Match.SW19"... with big dealings on the line.

Not only is a Wimbledon QF berth at hand, but both have personal bests on their rackets, as well.  An Hantuchova win would give her a career-best slam result, while Jelena's third trip to a Wimbledon QF would pretty well assure her of rising to #5 in the world once the tournament has concluded (only an appearance in the Final by Justine Henin, who would likely have to go through both Monica Seles and Venus Williams to do so, would prevent it).  Making the Top 5, it should be noted, was one of Jelena's stated 2002 goals at the beginning of this season.  Six months in, it could come true on Monday.

No matter who's smiling when they meet at the net on Monday, this budding rivalry looks poised to heat up on the grandest stage of them all.