*** Jelena-Dokic.com was
visited by Jelena and her agent ***
A LITTLE R & R (Resting &
Regrouping) IN FLORIDA
BY TODD SPIKER
**ANTWERP POINT BREAKDOWN (TIER II)**
1 = 1st Round bye
0 = 2r: Patty Schnyder (#42)
1 = TOTAL
0 = 2001 points off
-1 = 17-best tournament pts.off
0 = TOTAL FOR WEEK
#8...SINGLES RANK (2974 pts., down 2)
#10...DOUBLES RANK (1720 pts., same)
So, it's February and Jelena is once again watching from the
sidelines. In January, it was by choice. Now, it's by
necessity.
A moment of great promise in Paris was immediately followed
by not one, but two, perfect examples of the folly of
(injury) inexperience. The resulting chain reaction has
left her, rather than taking the court in Memphis (where she
would have been a #1-seed for the first time in her pro
career, with really only Amanda Coetzer standing in the way
of a fourth career title), resting and regrouping in
Florida, striving to get healthy enough quickly enough to
avoid having her successful offseason of training go to
waste in the first quarter of the 2002 WTA season... and
hoping that the ill-fated decision to play in Antwerp last
week won't set her game back too much more than the initial
injury in France did. An ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure (substitute your country's system of weights
and measures accordingly, thank you), and Jelena shouldn't
soon forget the last ten days if she and everyone around her
knows what's good for her.
Let's hope so, for she can't afford to take her health for
granted if she's going to accomplish the Top 5 goal she's
set for herself this season. She's already passed up
opportunities for large chunks of ranking points in 2002,
first by not travelling Down Under, a desire that helped
precipitate the cold 0-1 start in the Tokyo Tier I, and now
because the imprudent decisions to tempt fate in Paris and
Antwerp have put her off the tour for a few additional
(unscheduled) weeks. Once she has to begin defending her
fine 2001 results, she'll need every bit of energy and good
luck to allow her improving game to truly thrive. So far,
she hasn't seemed to have had any four-leaf clovers tucked
away somewhere in her tennis outfit.
When Jelena does return it'll probably be on the hardcourts
of the U.S. in March. Once again, she'll re-start her year
as she began it, at a disadvantage against the rest of the
field since she'll be stepping into the second and third
Tier I's of the season (at Indian Wells and Miami,
respectively, a pair of back-to-back, two-week events)
without a tune up to get match ready. Hopefully, the grit
and determination she showed against Seles (and in her
even-more-amazing-in-retrospect comeback from 0-5 to 4-6 in
the 2nd set before retiring to Patty Schnyder) will still be
something Jelena can call upon when need be.
The early WTA season sets out many booby-traps that endanger
the players' health. Nearly all the women in the Top 10
have already fallen victim, and the others surely will
soon. After choosing to dance around them in January, and
seemingly having skillfully outsmarted the trappers when she
managed to defeat Seles in Paris, Jelena was ultimately (and
tearfully) snared anyway. It's unfortunate, but will likely
be a moment that'll be looked back upon come November as an
early-warning sign that she was charmed enough to have
experienced in February rather than in the heart of the
grand slam season a few months from now.
Jelena's no longer an injury virgin, and that fact is best
looked upon as a relief. The next time she's injured (and
better decision-making can only help keep that day even
longer at bay), she'll at least know what NOT to do.
As a groundskeeper was once overheard saying, "so she has
that goin' for her... which is nice."
*THE DRIVE FOR #5*
#3 Davenport - leads by 888
#4 Hingis - leads by 867
#5 Clijsters - leads by 724
#6 Seles - leads by 102
#7 Henin - leads by 13
#8 JELENA - 2974 points
#9 S.Williams - trails by 99
#10 Mauresmo - trails by 612
*NOTES*
...No one said that the Drive for #5 was going to be a
cakewalk, and that's certainly the case now with Jelena's
quest. Don't worry, though, the cake isn't as moldy as it
might appear. She's risen to as high as #6 in 2002, but has
now fallen back to #8 after the back-to-back
walkover/retirement (both career firsts) combo. Skipping
Australia, losing opening matches in Tokyo and Antwerp, and
now missing (hopefully, only) the next two weeks means she's
probably left somewhere around 300-400 ranking points
unclaimed in 2002. Instead of 2974 points, Jelena very well
could be setting at around 3300-3400 had things gone
according to plan... breathing down #5 Clijsters' neck and
waiting for #3 Davenport to fall past her while the American
sits out at least two more months after knee surgery. But,
even as the Top 10 jostling for position (and, more
importantly right now, seeding) continues in Jelena's
absence her quest's progress probably shouldn't be thwarted
all that much before she returns to the court. Since she
won't begin defending 2001 results until Miami (where she
made the QF), she'll hold her 2974 total while she's out.
If Serena Williams (back 99) ever deigns herself healthy
enough to return to action before Indian Wells, Jelena will
likely fall to #9 after having already dropped behind #6
Seles (102 up after winning the Doha Tier III) and #7 Henin
(up 13 following a RU in Antwerp) this week. Meanwhile,
Clijsters is still out with a stress fracture in her serving
arm and Davenport's numbers will continue to fall (her
Scottsdale '01 title totals will drop off the computer
shortly), bringing her tantalizingly within range of
Jelena. Good results in those two U.S. Tier I's could move
Jelena past her #1 nemesis in 2001 just as the Roland Garros
preparatory circuit commences, and her first career title
defense in Rome approaches. Luckily for Jelena now, her
pre-Rome '01 season didn't produce a handful of additional
great results (between Miami and Rome, there was a 3r in
Amelia Island, 1r in Charleston, and a good SF in Hamburg
that was followed up by a 2r exit in Berlin). From the
looks of things, as long as she stays healthy, Jelena will
still have a good shot to rack up enough points to protect
herself in case she loses 100+ points by failing to
duplicate that magnificent feat in Italy for a second
straight year. So cross your fingers that Florida is, once
again, very very good for her.
*JELENA'S 2002 SEASON*
JANUARY
Tokyo (I)...2r (Anne Kremer)
FEBRUARY
Paris (II)...RU (walkover-V.Williams)
Antwerp (II)...2r (retired-P.Schnyder)
*2002 MONTHLY RECORDS*
January: 0-1
February: 3-2
TOTAL: 3-3*
*-counting walkover as a loss
*2002 STATS*
3-setters: 2-0
Tie-breaks: 0-0
Retired/Walkover: 0-2
Down 0-1 set: 1-1
Up 1-0 set: 2-1
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Venus Williams
...she can catch Capriati for #1 this week, as she's just
137 points back after winning her second singles title in as
many weeks (and this time she actually had to play the
final, though she did see Farina Elia retire against her
earlier in the week).
RISER: Alicia Molik
...She used to be Australia's "other" player, but she's had
a good early '02 and made the Doha SF (she upset Sanchez
Vicario in the 1r) last week. Of course, she's still no
Jelena.
SURPRISE: Janette Husarova
...Knocked off Doha #2 seed Sandrine Testud in the 2r, made
the SF, then went on to win the doubles title, too.
VETERAN: Monica Seles
...With 4 SF, 2 Finals and 1 title in 2002, she's up to #6.
But she's lost to the two best players she's faced (Hingis &
Dokic, though she did defeat Henin), and might meet up with
Mauresmo and/or Venus in Dubai.
NEW FACE: Eva Dyrberg
...Turned 22 just days after defeating both Joanette Kruger
and Anne Kremer on her way to the Antwerp QF.
DOWNER: A.Sanchez Vicario & J.Dokic
...ASV's 2002 singles results might be telling her she'll be
focusing more and more on doubles very soon; while Dokic
followed up her first career singles walkover loss with her
first career loss by retirement.
*MATCHES OF NOTE*
1.Antwerp Final...Venus def. Henin
...At least Waffle #2 put up a good fight. Venus is 3-0 in
finals this year, Henin 0-2.
2.Antwerp 2r...Bedanova d. Hantuchova
...This could be a very good second week grand slam matchup
before long.
3.Antwerp 2r...Schnyder d. Dokic (ret.)
...Jelena learns the result of turning a blind eye to
caution, again.
4.Doha 1r...Molik def. Sanchez Vicario
...Hey, don't fret, Arantxa. Fellow 1989 RG champ Michael
Chang is fooling himself that he can hang on a little
longer, too.
5.Antwerp 1r...Kremer def. Schiavone
...Schiavone's up-and-down season continues, while Kremer
showed the Tokyo win over Jelena might be the opening salvo
of a decent season.
*ANNA K. COMEBACK UPDATE*
...You think Jelena's disappointed? Kournikova needs to
give whoever's running the event draws a few free excercise
videos and calandars. She drew Henin in the Oz 1r, then
Venus in the 2r of Antwerp last week. Guess who she's
likely to face in the Dubai 2r? That's right, Serena's big
sister again.
**** **** **** **** ****
**WTA WEEK 8**
PREDICTIONS
Feb.18-24
Dubai, UAE (II-Hardcourt Outdoors)
Mauresmo def. Venus... she has to lose sometime, right?
Memphis, USA (III-Hardcourt Indoor)
Alexandra Stevenson d. Adriana Serra-Zanetti... if it
happens, Stevenson's head will probably grow to such a size
that that rich guy will decide to ditch the real balloon and
use her for his next round-the-world trip.
Bogota, Colombia (III-Red Clay Outdoor)
G.Leon Garcia def. C.Torrens-Valero... red clay,
Spaniards... I guess RG isn't far off.
WEEK 10/11...Mar.4-16
Indian Wells, Cal.(I-Hardcourt Outdoors)
** ** **
**WTA 2002 LISTS**
*MOST SINGLES TITLES*
3...Venus Williams
2...Martina Hingis
2...Anna Smashnova
*MOST SINGLES FINALS*
3...Venus Williams (3-0)
3...Martina Hingis (2-1)
*BACK-TO-BACK WTA FINALS*
THREE
Jan/Feb - Hingis (Sydney,Oz,Tokyo)
TWO
Jan - Smashnova (Auckland,Canberra)
Feb - V.Williams (Paris,Antwerp)#
#-goes for three straight in Dubai
NEXT WEEK:
THE (Expanded) WTA FEBRUARY AWARDS
...something has to fill the Jelena void, right?
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