Jelena was proven to be a woman of her word this week.
As it turned out, she went through with her "few weeks" of
rest comment following Antwerp. Although, for a little
while, there was a great deal of wondering about whether
potential disaster might just be days away in Scottsdale.
Thankfully, the rumors of Jelena's yen for the heat of the
Arizona desert were just that. It's said that it's a DRY
heat there, but Florida's climate will do just fine for now.
I had been prepared to remind everyone to cross their
fingers... and toes... and legs... arms... even eyes in an
attempt to marshal all the necessary forcess available to
try to make sure this week didn't turn out to be the moment
that Jelena's early-season went kaput. Her praiseworthy
decision to stay put in Tampa has alleviated the need for
all those painful contortions. So I guess the call to arms,
as well as all those other body parts (give or take the few
of you out there who may be absent one or more of the
required parts to perform any of the luck-inducing physical
acts, all of whom I surely hope I haven't offended too much,
of course), will just have to be postponed for another week.
That's all for now... but limber up everyone, the time for
gymnastics will soon begin.
*** *** *** ***
*THE DRIVE FOR #5...*
#3 Davenport...leads by 888
#4 Clijsters...leads by 724
#5 Hingis...leads by 584
#6 Henin...leads by 13
#7 Seles...leads by 5
#8 JELENA...2974 POINTS
#9 S.Williams...trails by 99
#10 Mauresmo...trails by 323
*NOTES*
...Jelena will continue to stand pat in ranking points this
week, though it's possible she'll fall behind Serena (behind
by 99) as Williams the Younger finally returns to the tour
in Scottsdale.
...This week, #3 Davenport (up 888) will lose all her points
from her '01 Scottsdale title, bringing her within Jelena's
sights. In fact, it's possible Jelena might pass her by the
end of March if she has great results in the month's two
Tier I's in Indian Wells and Miami. Meanwhile, neither of
the Waffles (#1's up 724, #2 up 13) will take the court this
week, and Seles' loss to Mauresmo in the Dubai SF prevented
her from further pulling away from Jelena, as she leads by
just 5 points.
*DUBAI FINALS*
S: Mauresmo def. Testud
D: Rittner/Vento-Kabchi d. Testud/Vinci
*MEMPHIS FINALS*
S: Raymond def. Stevenson
D: Sugiyama/Tartakova d. Middleton/Rippner
*BOGOTA FINALS*
S: Zuluaga def. Srebotnik
D: Ruano-P./Suarez d. Krizan/Srebotnik
PLAYER AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Venus Williams
...she didn't win Dubai, but she moved past Jennifer
Capriati into #1 for the first time in her career.
RISER: Alexandra Stevenson
...made her first career final in Memphis, losing 11-9 in a
3rd set TB to Lisa Raymond.
SURPRISE: Katarina Srebotnik
...Bogota RU in both singles & doubles.
VETERAN: Sandrine Testud
...sure, Raymond won a title, but Testud knocked off Venus
in the Dubai SF.
NEW FACE: Fabiola Zuluaga
...23-year old Colombian won singles title in Bogota,
defeating Kuti Kis, Suarez, Torrens-Valero and Srebotnik
along the way.
DOWNER: Amanda Coetzer
...Jelena skipped Memphis, making Coetzer the #1 seed.
Coetzer showed her gratitude by losing to Alina Jidkova in
her first match.
*MATCHES OF NOTE*
1.DUBAI SF--Testud def. Venus
...she DID have to lose eventually, and it always helps when
she injures her knee.
2.DUBAI SF--Mauresmo def. Seles
...Seles is now 2-3 against Top 10ers in 2002.
3.MEMPHIS FINAL--Raymond d. Stevenson
...4-6,6-3,7-6 (11-9). It was close, but Stevenson's debut
as a hot air balloon will have to wait.
4t.BOGOTA QF--Zuluaga def. Suarez; BOGOTA SF--Zuluaga def.
Torrens Valero
...Zuluaga's wins over the #3 and #1 seeds, respectively,
were her most impressive in her surprising victory.
5.DUBAI QUALIFYING--Angelique Widjaja def. Maja Matevzic
...6-2,6-0. Impressive win for one improving youngster over
another. Remember, Widjaja actually won a singles title at
16 in 2001.
** ** ** ** ** **
**WEEK 9, Feb.25-March 3**
PREDICTIONS
Scottsdale, AZ (II-Hardcourt Outdoors)-
Capriati def. S.Williams
...you mean Venus has a younger sister? I almost forgot.
Acapulco, Mex. (III-Red Clay Outdoors)-
Torresn-Valero def. C.Martinez
...you mean Conchita is still on tour? I almost forgot.
**** **** **** **** ****
**FEBRUARY WTA AWARDS**
*TOP 5 PLAYERS OF THE MONTH*
1.Venus Williams
2.Monica Seles
3.Amelie Mauresmo
4.Martina Hingis
5.Lisa Raymond
#1 ON THE CHILDREN'S BOOK LIST
...Forget Waldo, "Where's Serena?" Apparently, she's been
sighted in Arizona. But, so far, she hasn't given everyone a
chance to "get sick of" her.
THE RUSSIANS ARE STILL COMING!
...This week, it was Alina Jidkova who made waves. It's
seemingly a weekly occurence that at least one of the
non-Anna Russians gets a very good win. And French judges
have nothing to do with it.
SPEAKING OF MISS YOU-KNOW-WHO
...2002 hasn't been easy for Anna Kournikova. She's drawn
Venus in two consecutive 2r matches. We'll see if she can
stick to it or begin to show some frustration. A better draw
this week in Acapulco might go a long way toward helping
things.
IS SHE FOOLING HERSELF?
...Anna K.'s potential 2r foe in Acapulco, Arantxa Sanchez
Vicario, is beginning to resemble one of those aging boxers
who turn into big-name victims that look good on the
youngsters' burgeoning resumes. Just ask Alicia Molik and
Francesca Schiavone. Let's see what she does on red clay
this week.
Another early exit and even she might not be able to fool
herself much longer.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH: Jelena Dokic
...rest and learn, learn to rest.
HOW NOVOTNA-ESQUE OF YOU, MY DEAR
...Elena Dementieva choked away big advantages in
consecutive tournaments against Kournikova and Dokic. But at
least Novotna was a singles champion (and not just at
Wimbledon, either). Elena D. is still waiting for that to
happen. She's #1 seed in Acapulco, by the way. Watch her
fail to even make the SF.
STILL SOMETHING LEFT
...Monica Seles' resurgence looks to be for real after 4 SF,
a title and a recent rise to #6. She's just 2-3 against Top
10ers, though.
IRONY PERSONIFIED: Venus Williams, of all people, has played
more than any other woman on tour. The result: her first #1
ranking.
TOP 10 ABSENTEES
...#3 Davenport, #4 Clijsters and #9 Serena have been out
injured all month. #1 Capriati decided to rest after Oz, and
#8 Dokic hasn't played since the back-to-back
walkover/retirement combo. That's 5 of 10, in case you
weren't counting.
THE YOUNG AND THE INJURED
...Lina Krasnoroutskaya's path to Top 10 contention was
always going to face an injury obstacle. So far, her body's
losing the battle.
FEAST, FAMINE
...So far in 2002, Jelena Dokic has risen to career highs in
both singles and doubles, is the only woman in the Top 10 in
both, and knocked off Monica Seles for the first time. She's
also had her first walkover and retirement losses, and
suffered the first real injury of her pro career (missing
two weeks in the process). And that's after just two measly
tournaments.
PERSON EVERYONE SHOULD ROOT FOR JUST TO SEE WHAT WOULD
HAPPEN
...Alexandra Stevenson, 1999 Wimbledon Semifinalist
(remember, she beat Jelena in the QF), has re-emerged on the
tour in 2002. She's beaten Capriati, nearly knocked off
Seles, and lost an 11-9 3rd set TB in her first career
singles final this weekend. She's great at the net, but
might have a tendency to get a big head if she ever does
finally start to win consistently. I want to see her do it,
for no other reason than just to see if it would make her
career soar... or cause her head to grow so big it could
double as the blimp taking the overhead camera shot of the
court.
AND FINALLY... FUN WITH NAMES
I LIKE IT, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY
...Bahia Mouhtassine
ANOTHER HYPHEN AND SHE'LL EXPLODE
...Alejandra-Maria Vento-Kabchi, whose name now includes
SIXTEEN different letters. If she every marries someone
named "Fwugxyzpgs" she can have a dictionary named after
her.
VAGUELY SEXUAL, BUT I'M NOT SURE WHY
...Ludmila Cervanova
SAME, BUT I THINK I MIGHT KNOW WHY
...Alena "Way Ova" Vaskova
**** **** **** **** *****
**WTA LISTS**
TOP 20 PLAYERS
BEST Jan.1-Feb.25 Pts.Differential
+673...Monica Seles
+662...Venus Williams
+433...Kim Clijsters
+194...Jelena Dokic
+82...Elena Dementieva
+79...Lisa Raymond
+60...Meghannn Shaughnessy
+57...Silvia Farina Elia
+32...Sandrine Testud
+2...Iroda Tulyaganova
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