Waiting For J.Do

by Todd Spiker

*AUSTRALIAN OPEN POINTS TABLE*
-2 = 2001 Oz Points Off
+2 = 17-best tournaments points diff.
0  = TOTAL POINTS FOR WEEK (2780)


Does anyone else worry that they might not have enough trainers on duty down in Melbourne?  Granted, injuries are a way of life in sports... but this is getting downright ridiculous.

First, Lindsay Davenport pulls out, then Serena Williams.  Nadia Petrova, too.  Jennifer Capriati was hobbled by a hip in Sydney.  Martina Hingis is just coming back from ankle surgery, and Anna Kournikova's cameo appearance in the singles draw was brought on by her injury-plagued 2001 season (and the resulting #64 ranking).  Mary Pierce, after missing nearly all of last year, has pulled up lame in three straight events with three different injuries (some would say that might be your body telling you something, Mare).  Lina Krasnoroutskaya retired during her 1r match.  Then, while still riding a 23-match winning streak, Venus Williams has been slowed by a knee ailment that's limited her movement since the 2r and brings into question whether she can win her third straight slam singles title.

Meanwhile, Jelena Dokic watches it all from the sideline.  And as the Countdown to Jelena continues, one's tempted to look at the past week of events in Melbourne and realize that she'd be one of the healthiest players left standing (and one of the obvious favorites) if she had decided to attend the party.  But, then, reality sets in when you realize the growing-more-important every day benefits of Jelena's absence Down Under.

Remember, she'll now debut in 2002 after having had an extra month of rest compared to the rest of the field.  When the Oz decision was first announced, many of us looked somewhat askance (okay, maybe a little more than "somewhat") at the "excuse" of Jelena's long 2001 schedule being used as a reason to stay home.  Melbourne was two months after Munich, we said.  That's more than enough time to rest, we thought.  Well, looking at the wreckage that's already resulted in the season's first few weeks it's pretty obvious that we were wrong.  The WTA season is a long, arduous marathon.  One that Jelena was fortunate enough to get through last season without a serious injury break despite playing one of the tour's most event-packed schedules.

In a year where, once again, it's already become apparent that health will be one of the most important factors (if not the biggest of them all) in determining who's most successful in 2002, Jelena's already got a huge advantage.  No other Top 10 woman will have had such a rest by the time she steps onto the court in Tokyo in a little over a week.  She's already made progress toward her Drive For #5 (she could maintain her #7 ranking after Oz, and now finds herself less than 100 points behind #6 Serena) without playing a match.

It's probably too much to expect a fourth career title (and third Tier I) in Tokyo, but it looks like Jelena will be the #2 seed there (although tough Monica Seles might be #3) and the potential #1 Martina Hingis' run in Melbourne has been so good it looks like the Swiss Miss will have played deep into tournaments for three straight weeks since her return from her October injury.  Fatigue could be a factor for Hingis (and maybe Seles, too).  It won't be for Jelena.

The Oz Decision might turn out to have a bright side very quickly.


***  ***   ***   ***   ***

**OZ MID-TOURNAMENT REPORT**

*UP-TO-DATE TOP 20 (up to 4r)*
1.Lindsay Davenport - 4288
2.Venus Williams - 4058#
3.Jennifer Capriati - 3939#
4.Kim Clijsters - 3398#
5.Martina Hingis - 3395#
6.Serena Williams - 2875
7.JELENA DOKIC - 2780
8.Justine Henin - 2698#
9.Amelie Mauresmo - 2670#
10.Monica Seles - 2186#
11.Meghannn Shaughnessy - 1949
12.Sandrine Testud - 1942
13.Nathalie Tauziat - 1754
14.Maggie Maleeva - 1688#
15.Silvia Farina Elia - 1661
16.Elena Dementieva - 1608#
17.Arantxa Sanchez Vicario - 1548
18.Anke Huber - 1495
19.Amanda Coetzer - 1418#
20.Iroda Tulyaganova - 1230
#-still in tournament


*DESCENDING WTA RANKS OF FINAL 16*
(pre-Oz ranks)
#1 Jennifer Capriati
#3 Venus Williams
#4 Martina Hingis
#5 Kim Clijsters
#8 Justine Henin
#9 Amelie Mauresmo
#10 Monica Seles
#16 Maggie Maleeva
#17 Elena Dementieva
#19 Amanda Coetzer
#29 Rita Grande
#48 Marlene Weingartner
#49 Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues
#51 Martina Sucha
#69 Janette Husarova
#83 Adriana Serra-Zanetti


*FEARLESS 4th ROUND PREDICTIONS*
4th Round
#1 Capriati def. #20 Grande
Weingartner def. #7 Mauresmo
#4 Clijsters def. Husarova
#6 Henin def. #12 Dementieva
Sucha def. Ad.Serra-Zanetti
#3 Hingis def. #15 Coetzer
#8 Seles def. Medina Garrigues
#2 V.Williams def. #13 Maleeva

Quarterfinals
#1 Capriati def. Weingartner
#4 Clijsters def. #6 Henin
#3 Hingis def. Sucha
#2 V.Williams def. #8 Seles

Semifinals
#4 Clijsters def. #1 Capriati
#2 V.Williams def. #3 Hingis

Final
#4 Clijsters def. #2 V.Williams


*MID-OZ TOURNAMENT LEADERS*
ACES
17 Venus Williams
13 Jennifer Capriati
11 Iroda Tulyaganova
10 Marlene Weingartner
9  Amelie Mauresmo

DOUBLE FAULTS
15 Venus Williams
15 Jennifer Capriati
15 Nathalie Dechy
14 Amy Frazier
14 Eleni Daniilidou
14 Alexandra Stevenson

HIGH SERVE SPEED (KPH)
190 Venus Williams
182 Iroda Tulyaganova
179 Amelie Mauresmo
177 Kim Clijsters
177 Barbara Schett
177 Jennifer Capriati
177 Zsofia Gubacsi

1st SERVE PCT. (final 16)
79% Amanda Coetzer
74% Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues
73% Martina Hingis
73% Maggie Maleeva

BREAK POINTS WON
24 Adriana Serra-Zanetti
22 Eleni Daniilidou
20 Silvia Farina Elia

BREAK POINT CONVERSION PCT. (final 16)
69% Adriana Serra-Zanetti
68% Janette Husarova
67% Kim Clijsters
64% Martina Sucha


*** *** *** ***

*MID-OZ DRIVE FOR #5*
#4 Clijsters - leads by 618
#5 Hingis - leads by 615
#6 S.Williams - leads by 95
#7 DOKIC - 2780
#8 Henin - trails by 82
#9 Mauresmo - trails by 110
#10 Seles - trails by 594

*JELENA NOTES*
...Serena's late withdraw from Oz means she loses the 200 points she earned in Melbourne last year, bringing Jelena to within 95 points of her.  If Serena, as expected, misses Tokyo with her injury then Jelena will have a shot to move past her (possibly to #6 if Henin and Mauresmo lose their 4r matches, or Seles doesn't win the Aussie title next weekend) with the addition of Tier I points in that tournament ...Jelena won't have 12-month points to defend from 2001 until late March ...Injury was always a potential springboard for Jelena to get into the Top 5, so Davenport's situation bears watching.  She currently leads Jelena by a huge 1508-point bulge, but she won't be picking up any points (and will lose them instead... between February and July 2001, Davenport won in Tokyo, Scottsdale and Eastbourne and made the SF at Wimbledon) for at least four months, and possibly six.  It could be a problem all year for Davepnort, so it's not out of the question that she could have a rather large tumble in the rankings before the end of the season (just look at what happened to Pierce and Kournikova in 2001 after they started the year ranked in the Top 10).

NEXT COLUMNS...
January 28
Oz Wrap, Jelena's '02 Begins, January Awards

February 5
Jelena in Japan


*** *** *** ***

WTA WEEK 3
Oz Mid-Tournament Awards

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Martina Hingis
...As those around her stumble and fall, she's healthy again and moving forward. A semi-surprise title here could spark the return of the crafty, confident Hingis of old.

RISER OF THE WEEK: Martina Sucha
...Winning her first career title in Hobart last week has helped big-time.  It looks like she'll meet the other Martina in the QF.

SURPRISE OF THE WEEK: Cindy Watson
...#194 in the world, the 23-year old Aussie spoke out against Tennis Australia and surprised everyone by getting to the 3r.  The spirit of Jelena lives.

VETERAN OF THE WEEK: Maggie Maleeva
...The youngest of the Maleevas made a quiet comeback last year, and looks like she might make louder noise in 2002.

NEWCOMER OF THE WK:Adriana Serra-Zanetti
...She's already won two battles of three-named women, over Virginia Ruano Pascual in the 1r and Silvia Farina Elia in the 3r.

DOWNERS: Anna Smashnova & Mary Pierce
...Smashnova was probably tired from two straight titles.  Pierce must be covering her eyes to avoid reading the writing on the wall.


*TOP MATCHES OF NOTE*
1.3r - V.Williams d. Daniela Hantuchova
...Venus wins in 3, but it was 4-4, 40-40 late in the 3rd

2.1r - Henin d. Kournikova
...One year after her best-ever Oz QF result, Anna gets a taste of what kind of draws the #64-ranked player gets

3t.1r - Ad.Serra-Zanetti d. Ruano Pascual; 3r- Ad.Serra-Zanetti d. Farina Elia

4.1r -Shaughnessy d. Alexandra Stevenson
...A week after knocking off Capriati, Stevenson took Shaughnessy to 3 sets before losing 5-7 in the 3rd

5.1r - Katarina Srebotnik d. Smashnova
...Anna S. wasn't going to win a 3rd straight title, anyway


*QUOTES*

Martina Hingis: "They almost counted me out, but I'm still in the game.  I'm still holding strong."

Monica Seles, 28: "My generation definitely had a lot less injuries than the young ones are having now.  Time will tell.  The young ones definitely have to take good care of themselves if they want to stay long enough in the game."

Martina Hingis:  "I'm a tennis player, not a power junkie.  I have to work on my weapons."

Cindy Watson, the Aussie who turned to Chinese training techniques to rescue her career:  "I think Australia generally is quite a negative country.  If you are in America for example, if you miss the ball they will find the positive in what you did rather than in Australia it is always what you did wrong.  That isn't necessary.  You know that you have done something wrong, but constantly being told you get down on yourself.  The difference is mental.  They are just so mentally stronger.  We can all play.  It is just a matter of doing it at the right time."  ...can you imagine the controversy if Jelena had said such a thing?

*NOTES*
...Mary Pierce retired in her 1r match (this time with an abdominal strain) and will miss 2-4 weeks (and thereby set the stage for her next injury to take precedence)... Venus Williams, bad knee and all, is riding a 23-match winning streak and has won 17 straight in grand slams... Conchita Martinez rode a wave of good luck early.  1r opponent Serena withdrew, then replacement Lina Krasnoroutskaya (after taking the 1st set) was forced to retire in mid-match.  Alas, Conchita lost her 2r match to Asa Svensson... WILLIAMS SISTERS PLEDGE DRIVE UPDATE:  After pledging to play so often people would get "sick" of her, Serena has now retired in the SF of her first 2002 tournament in Sydney and been forced to withdraw from Oz (and probably Tokyo).  Venus, meanwhile, has won one title and is still alive in Melbourne despite a knee injury that she admits her father might have talked her into withdrawing because of had he made the trip Down Under.  And it's only January.