One Final Dash

By Todd Spiker
Date: 15/10/2001

BANG!! Let the final dash begin!! The concluding month of the 2001 WTA season in upon us, and Jelena's hard work has placed her at the heart of what should be quite a compelling race to the finish.

*Weekly Points Breakdown*
-40 = 2000 points off
+36 = 17-best tour.points off
-4 = TOTAL POINTS FOR WEEK

As all the leading participants (well, almost all) take off down the track with their faculties intact, Jelena Dokic finds herself squarely in the middle of the lead pack. Entering the race with the #10 taped to her back, she's casting a determined eye on the standings of the women directly in front of her. Their names: #9 Serena Williams, #8 Monica Seles, #7 Justine Henin & #6 Amelie Mauresmo. Any or all could be passed by before Jelena crosses the 2001 finish line.

Things have been better than almost anyone could have expected since Flushing Meadows, and Jelena will soon be heading to Munich with her game possibly at a higher level than it's ever been. If she can carry this surge into 2002, we could be witness to some amazing things over the next six months (just think of the noise her higher level of play could make in Melbourne in January)... and that will present Jelena with perhaps her most difficult opponent yet.

It's called "success."

Looking at her prospects for the next few months, it seems apparent that Jelena is about to experience some very heady moments. The higher she goes, the thinner the air becomes. If she can handle the pressure of her newly-elite surroundings with the same steely tenacity she has the trek down the sometimes-rocky road she travelled to get there, we'll see a huge leap in immediate on-court expectations... both by others for her, as well as by Jelena for herself. She's always been confident, of course, but what's about to occur will test her mettle once again. Maintaining her position will be even tougher than garnering it in the first place.

The "drive for number 5" begins in Zurich this week, and we'll get out first opportunity to see how well Jelena handles her new Top 10 position almost immediately. A good draw has given her the chance to cash in on her Top 10 Club card with nearly the same style with which she obtained it two weeks ago in Moscow. If she's as adept at it as most of us probably expect her to be, then stay tuned. We could be in for quite a show.


*TOP 20 - Oct.15, 2001*
NAME==POINTS==(since 10/8)
1.Capriati = 4867 (-117)
2.Hingis = 4842 (-258)
3.Davenport = 4496 (+151)
4.V.Williams = 4333
5.Clijsters = 3280
6.Mauresmo = 2917 (+75)
7.Henin = 2899 (+195)
8.Seles = 2672 (+164)
9.S.Williams = 2501
10.JELENA = 2343 (-4)
11.Tauziat = 2050 (-49)
12.Shaughnessy = 1905
13.Dementieva = 1866 (-10)
14.Testud = 1729 (+138)
15.Farina Elia = 1685
16.Maleeva = 1575 (-10)
17.Coetzer = 1459 (-50)
18.Sanchez Vicario = 1430
19.Huber = 1386 (+123)
20.Schett = 1310 (-182)


*Race for Sanex Chsp.*
(Jan.1-Oct.15, 2001 points)
Top 16 go to Munich
1.Capriati = 4641
2.V.Williams = 4128
x-(Hingis = 3946)
3.Davenport = 3739
4.Henin = 2888
5.Clijsters = 2839
6.Mauresmo = 2839
7.S.Williams = 2501
8.JELENA = 2323
x-(Seles = 2306)
9.Shaughnessy = 1905
10.Testud 1847
11.Farina Elia = 1716
12.Dementieva = 1496
13.Tauziat = 1494
14.Maleeva = 1401
15.Huber = 1386
16.Sanchez Vicario = 1381

x--will not compete in Munich



*WTA Doubles Rankings*
(as of Oct. 15, 2001)
1.Raymond = 3763
2.Stubbs = 3602
3.Tauziat = 2501
4.Sugiyama = 2490
5.Suarez = 2426
6.Black = 2385
7.Likhovtseva = 2376
8.Ruano-Pascual = 2258
9.Po-Messerli = 2224
10.Arendt = 2204
11.Kournikova = 2093
12.Hingis = 2040
13.Sanchez Vicario = 1939
14.Shaughnessy = 1602
15.Clijsters = 1514
16.JELENA = 1507
17.Callens = 1450
18.Schett = 1345
19.Horn-Huber = 1296
20.Pratt = 1289


LEANING INTO THE TAPE...

Here's the current breakdown of Jelena's competition in her quest to climb to #6 by the end of 2001:

#6 Mauresmo = leads by 574
#7 Henin = leads by 556
#8 Seles = leads by 329
#9 S.Williams = leads by 158
#10 JELENA = 2343
#11 Tauziat = trails by 293
#12 Shaughnessy = trails by 438
#13 Dementieva = trails by 477

Some questions and answers:


Q: What's Jelena doing this week?

A: She's in Zurich for the Swisscom Challenge. In her only previous appearance there, she lost last October to hometown favorite Martina Hingis in the 2r. Ironically, it's Hingis' injury, which ended her reign at #1 and will put her out six weeks to end her 2001 season, which benefits Jelena this year. With Hingis' exit, Jelena's already-favorable draw gets better. She's now the highest-ranked player in the top half the draw and has an "open" run to her third Tier I final of the year (after Rome and Moscow). Jelena faces a potential SF meeting with Tauziat, who defeated her in their only '01 meeting in L.A. two months ago, but her record since that defeat is 19-5 (with two losses to #8 Seles and one each to #1 Capriati, #2 Hingis and Daniela Hantuchova). Remember, also, that Jelena has won 19 of her last 20 (and 22 of 24) matches against lower-ranked players. If she can continue that recently-consistent dominance she'll advance to her fifth final of the year and have the opportunity to become the only woman to win three Tier I events n 2001. Other than Jelena, only Serena Williams has claimed more than one Tier I title this season.


Q: What could Jelena's performance in Zurich mean to her Top 10 ranking?

A: Amongst the #6 through #10 players, only Jelena is in action this week following Serena Williams' decision to withdraw from Zurich (she's yet to play since the US Open, by the way). What it means is that Jelena now has free reign to cast the first salvo in her battle to climb still higher in the rankings before the end of the season. Williams, just 158 ahead of Jelena, would seem to be a likely mark this week with Jelena seeded to advance to the Zurich final. A fourth final appearance in her past five events would mean Jelena would pick up at least 200 ranking points even if she were to lose the ensuing match. A fourth '01 singles title would likely give her 300+ for the week, allowing her to possibly surpass #8 Seles as well. Such a move would place her within a one-week striking distance of both Mauresmo and Henin before competition begins at the Sanex Championships in Munich on October 29.


Q: How high can Jelena's ranking get before the end of 2001?

A: The highest ranking that Jelena could achieve in 2001 would seem to be #6. At the moment, she stands 574 points behind #6 Mauresmo. As has been her pattern this year, Jelena appears to be ready to pack her schedule tight for the remainder of the season and will be able to maximize the available opportunities to climb higher on the computer. After playing 16 straight events, she took some well-deserved time off last week rather than travel to Shanghai with an ankle injury incurred early in her Kremlin Cup victory over Dementieva. She's slated to participate at four more events over the next month: Zurich, Linz, Munich and the season-closing stop in Pattaya on November 5. There are still a large amount of points to be won in 2001, and it's hard to find a player better positioned to take advantge of that fact than Jelena. She's 12-2 since the US Open and picked up two titles while advancing to three finals in her past four tournaments. Only Seles has been on a hotter streak, having won her last three events (including the defeat of Jelena in the Bahia final). But Seles won't play in Munich after being runner-up to Hingis in the '00 event (when it was held in New York). Henin, meanwhile, has gone winless in two finals appearances since the Open (losing to Davenport in the Filderstadt final on Sunday). With a good run at the Championships, Jelena could see her ranking climb to as high as #6. As of now, with Hingis out, Jelena would be the #8 seed in the 16-player field in Munich and could be seeded as high as #6 if she can move past Williams and Mauresmo (she trails the Frenchwoman by 388 points) on the strength of another super Tier I result in Zurich.


Q: What does this all mean for the beginning of the 2002 season?

A: Potentially great things. 2001's age restrictions and bad luck should work to Jelena's advantage in the opening months of 2002. Remember, since then 17-year old Jelena was able to play only a limited schedule before turning 18 in April, she participated in none of the official WTA warm-up events last January leading up to the Australian Open. While Justine Henin took advantage of good early-year form, winning titles in Canberra and Gold Coast, Jelena played only an exhibition in Hong Kong. She won, of course, showing great game in knocking off Dementieva and a healthy Kournikova along the way. She maintained that level in the opening round in Oz, but a bad draw left her facing defending champ Davenport immediately after the news broke that Jelena would leave Australia behind following the tournament's conclusion. Again, Jelena played remarkably well before losing the tight three-setter when Davenport pulled out a handful of monster serves in the match's final games. After that loss, Jelena didn't play another official event for two months. In 2002, Jelena will be able to play a point-gathering pre-Oz event if she chooses, and the new 32-seed grand slam format means she can't face such top competition so early in Melbourne. In fact, if Jelena's late-season surge can raise her ranking to as high as #6 or #7 before the end of 2001, her Australian seed will enable her to avoid any players ranked above her before the QF... potentially beginning a slam season which could see her significantly improve her results at all four majors (she didn't advance past the 4r at any in 2001) and set the stage for her challenge for a Top 5 ranking before the end of 2002.


Q: What about the "Battle for #1?"

A: The inevitable finally happened in Filderstadt, but hardly in the grand fashion that anyone expected. Jennifer Capriati finally rose above Martin Hingis to become the new world #1, but she didn't do it with the same style that Jelena showed in climbing into the Top 10. Capriati lost in the QF, then had to watch and wait to see whether Hingis could hold onto the top spot by advancing to the final. She didn't, ending her 73-consecutive week run at #1, retiring to Davenport in the SF with an ankle ligament injury that will sideline the Swiss Miss for six weeks and end her 2001 season. As a result, Capriati completes her career comeback by claiming a slim 25-point advantage. Hingis' absence will mean her titles in Zurich and at the WTA Championships (and all the points that go with them) will go undefended and her slide down the rankings won't stop at #2. By the end of the year, she'll probably be #4... her lowest year-end rank since she first claimed the #1 spot in 1997. Hmmm, I foresee a "Hingis Watch" making its debut January.


THIS WEEK...

*Swisscom Challenge (Tier I)*
Points Table
TITLE--260
RU--182
SF--117
QF--65
2r--36
1r--1

*2000 Finals*
Zurich (Tier I) = Hingis d. Davenport
Bratislava (IV) = Bedanova d. Oremans


THE NUMBERS...

*Jelena's Doubles Rank in 2001*
Jan.1 = #50
Jan.29 = #64
Feb.26 = #65
Mar.26 = #64
Apr.30 = #67
May 28 = #39
Jun.25 = #22
Jul.30 = #19
Aug.27 = #14
Oct.15 = #16


*Jelena on Hardcourts in 2001*
Hong Kong (ex) = W (d. Kournikova)
Aust.Open = 1r (lost to Davenport)
Miami = QF (lost to V.Williams)
San Diego = 3r (lost to Capriati)
L.A. = 3r (lost to Tauziat)
Toronto = 3r (lost to Seles)
New Haven = QF (lost to Capriati)
US Open = 4r (lost to Hingis)
Bahia = RU (lost to Seles)
Tokyo = W (d. Sanchez Vicario)
Zurich = Oct.15
W/L Totals for 2001: 22-8


*Remaining 2001 WTA Schedule*
Week of...
Oct. 15 = Zurich (Tier I)*
Oct.15 = Bratislava
Oct.22 = Linz*
Oct.22 = Luxembourg
Oct.29 = Sanex Chsps. (Munich)*
Nov.5 = Pattaya*
Nov.5 = Kuala Lumpur

Team Events
Nov. = Fed Cup; European Cup

*--Jelena scheduled to play