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 Over
the next two weeks, Jelena is expected to be participating in the Pacific
Life Open, Indian Wells. The $2,100,000 tournament will take place
between the 4th and 16th of March. It is a Tier I tournament and will
be played on an outdoor hardcourt. The tournament director is Gavin
Forbes and can be contacted at
Gforbes@imgworld.com
(please don't blame him if Jelena loses). The Indian Wells tennis
garden is considered to be the brightest star on the tennis horizon at the
moment, and the $75 million dollar facility features a 16,100 seat stadium
with 44 luxurious stadium suites and plush box and grandstand seats with
unparalleled comfort and views. The state-of-the-art entertainment
facility, designed on 88 manicured acres of stately gardens features two
additional stadiums, 11 sunken courts and 6 practice courts. (For
those of you interested, a map of the Indian Wells tennis garden can be
found at http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/local_images/mid/largemap.gif ) The tournament will feature both WTA and ATP tennis stars and is to be broadcasted on American TV networks ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. There will be 96 participants in the singles main draw. This includes 75 direct acceptances, 9 wildcards and 12 qualifiers. There will also be coverage of the event shown on Eurosport for the European fans. This is a massive tournament for Jelena. Not only is it arguably one of the biggest non slam tournament of the year, but it will be crucial to see how Jelena comes back after the first serious injury of her career. Everyone expects Jelena to be 110% mentally fit, but no-one, apart from Jelena, can be absolutely sure about her physical condition. Not one person on the message board believes that Jelena isn't ready for this, and a good performance here seems vital as the small group of players behind the top 5 are seperated only by a small amount of points. If Jelena performs well in March we could well see her right on the verge of the top five, pushing herself into places she's never been. If Jelena's fitness is at 100% and she keeps her focus during the early stages of the tournament, I think Jelena's hunger to get among the best players in the world could carry her through to the final and maybe even to victory, especially now that neither of Venus, Serena, Lindsay, or Capriati are on the entry list. PREDICTION - Jelena will win the tournament if she's physically fit! |
