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 ANOTHER
SIGN OF TROUBLE, ANOTHER DECISION TO MAKE by Todd Spiker *INDIAN WELLS POINT BREAKDOWN* 28...3rd Round 8...2r: Elena Bovina (#55) 0...3r: Anne Kremer (#34) 36...TOTAL 0...2000 Points Off -36...17-best results 0...TOTAL FOR WEEK (2974 pts) Our favorite Yugoslavian tennis tigress has a big decision to make. Selfishly, I know I hope she makes the correct one sometime over the next seven days because I'm getting pretty sick and tired of writing near-clones of the same column each and every week. I'm sure everyone's getting bored reading them, too. In fact, I was tempted to tell Pierre to post one of my other 2002 columns this week (he could take his pick which one), just to see how long it took before someone could tell the difference. Then, I thought about it. "No," I said, "I told Pierre I'd do this every week, so I will." I have a duty, I thought, a commitment... blahblahblah. You know the rest. So, buckle up tight. Here we go again. Just remember, any resemblance to words or thoughts previously spoken here is (at least partly) unintended, purely coincidental and wholey unfortunate. "Unfortunate" because none of the preceding worries matter to Jelena even a tiny bit. That fact is that she's far more frustrated by the consecutive string of unfulfilling tournament exits than any of us could ever dream of being. All of us around these parts surely weren't the only ones looking at Indian Wells and hoping for a healthy two weeks more than even a fortnight's worth of victories. An early loss wouldn't be a big deal. It wouldn't really be unexpected. Even knowing that Jelena would bow out after a second 2002 loss to Anne Kremer wouldn't be cause for alarm. Once again, though, Jelena has been whacked in the head by fate. Well, in the leg, really.. the OTHER leg. Not the one with the torn abductor from Paris. The OTHER one... the supposedly HEALTHY one. Hello, Mr. Big Deal. We hardly had a chance to miss you, BD (and we wish you'd just go away and leave this particular 18-year old alone). The left quad strain came in the 3rd set of Jelena's 2nd Round win over Elena Bovina. Her comeback there didn't include a sign of another potential derailing, though her vague post-match words about problems with movement did raise an eyebrow here considering she simultaneously maintained that she was 95% healthy. The next morning, she found it difficult to practice. But, Jelena being Jelena (not necessarily a good thing over the past few weeks), she played against Kremer anyway. She said she hoped that getting the leg warm might help. "It didn't," she admitted later. "It made it worse." Jelena said she was less than 50% in the match, but she still played it out to its love-2nd set conclusion. Her serve became a problem point, and she never won another game after knotting the 1st set at 3-3. Once again, she decided to finish the race on bad wheels rather than take the needed pitstop. Once again, I ask, "What was she thinking?" But I digress. I won't revisit that covered ground again (at least not yet). "I really don't want (the injury) to ruin any more tournaments and the rest of the year," Jelena said afterward. Obviously, it's a hope we all have, considering everything that's happened since she defeated Monica Seles on February 9 HAS essentially ruined the season's first quarter. Take away that Seles win, as big as it was, and it would be difficult to envision a worse start. Two defeats by Kremer, one retirement, one walkover loss, and even victories that required three sets over the two Russian Elenas (Dementieva and Bovina). Only a single straight-setter over Cristina Torresn-Valero can be looked upon as anything resembling "routine" for Jelena thus far. Now, she has another decision to make. Should she skip the Tier I in Miami that begins March 19? Hardly a routine act, but maybe a necessary one at this point. In effect, it would mean an additional three weeks of rest (Miami is a two-week event), setting Jelena up for the kickstart of her clay court season in her own backyard in Sarasota the first week of April. Jelena didn't take advantage of this section of the WTA schedule, but she didn't lose any ground in her chase for a Top 5-or-better ranking in 2002, either. She's still in the Top 10, and when Kim Clijsters went out in the 2r last week Jelena actually briefly had a chance to rise to #5 on March 18 had she been able to win the Indian Wells title. Even with so many things stacked against her, she's that close. Plus, one would think the upcoming clay surfaces would be more forgiving to a recovering injury than the hardcourts of Indian Wells or Miami (especially after the back-to-back match day schedule she failed to survive this weekend), and the smallish nature of Sarasota (Tier IV, where she'd likely be the top seed) might provide a great opportunity to grab some needed ranking points (she'll lose over 100 if she skips Miami, her first significant points defense from last year). The points are needed partly because the real "biggies" aren't that far off. The Italian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon are nearing. They'll provide both a potential trap (in Rome, she'll be called upon to defend a title for the first time as a pro), and plausible bonanzas (she only made the 3r at RG, and had her worst Wimbledon with a 4r last year... both of which can be greatly improved upon). To avoid one, and fully take advantage of the others she can't be still wondering then if she made the right decision now. The injury is "just one of those things that I really now have to look after," Jelena said. I hate to say it, but I'm not hopeful that she'll take the cautious road she might need to travel. Even after the mistakes of Paris/Antwerp, she tempted and taunted the injury demons again in California by finishing a match in which she wasn't physically able to perform anywhere near her best (nor, likely, as safely as need be). These are the first real injuries of her career, and she doesn't seem to be handling them particularly well. Just a wild thought, but I wonder if Jelena's offseason might have inadvertantly led to this string of incidents. She admitted in Indian Wells that she didn't pick up a racquet (not a surprise) during her eight weeks of rest following the Sanex Championships, but she also said that she didn't train, either (a bit of a stunner). It was her first substantial time away from the court, and she said she actually was almost able to forget she even was a tennis player. I'm sure she didn't get OUT of shape during the break, but she did say she didn't begin actual training until January. At the end of that month, she returned to the Tour and within two weeks had the first injury of her career. You know the rest. Was her body fully prepared for the immediate rigors of the season? Was the injury simple happenstance, made worse by imprudent decision-making? Is it wrong to wonder about this? I don't think so, considering having seen local pro sports teams (namely, the NFL's Washington Redskins a few seasons ago) experience a rash of early-season injuries many those-in-the-know linked to the fact that the team didn't prepare correctly during training camp. Maybe this IS all a coincidence. Team Dokic certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt, but it will be quite interesting to see if Jelena's offseason regimen changes at least slightly come next December. We'll probably end up seeing Jelena in action in Miami. For how long, we'll have to play the waiting game. I sure hope this bad sense about it all that I have is just an overly-sensitive reaction. It IS only March. Right, Jelena? "It's just real disappointing that it's happened so early in the year. There's still so much to play," she said Sunday, "I just have to be really careful." Amen to that sentiment. It may be time to put her mind where her mouth is, though. The decision-making process that's successfully gone into her serve, shot variety, strategy, maturity and even current residence needs to be shifted into one single area of concern now: Miami... to play or not to play? It IS the overriding question. How Jelena answers it might turn out to be the most important decision she'll make all year. **** **** **** **** **** **** *JELENA LISTS* *LOWEST-RANKED TO WIN TIER I TITLE* #23...Jelena Dokic...2001 Rome #21...Serene Williams...1999 I.Wells #20...Andrea Temesvari...1985 Indianapolis *LOWEST-RANKED TO DEFEAT #1 PLAYER* unranked...Billie Jean King def. Navratilova (QF-1980 Chichester) #129...Jelena Dokic def. Hingis (1r-1999 Wimbledon) #83...Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Hingis (1r-2001 Wimbledon) *2002 SEASON* Jan-Tokyo...2r (Kremer) Feb-Paris...RU (V.Williams-walkover) Feb-Antwerp...2r (Schnyder-ret.) Mar-Indian Wells...3r (Kremer) *2002 HIGH-RANKED VICTORIES* #10...Monica Seles (Feb.-Paris) #15...Elena Dementieva (Feb.-Paris) #30...C.Torrens-Valero (Feb.-Paris) #55...Elena Bovina (Mar.-Ind.Wells) *2002 LOW-RANKED DEFEATS* #42...Patty Schnyder (Feb.-Antwerp-r.) #34...Anne Kremer (Mar.-Ind.Wells) #32...Anne Kremer (Jan.-Tokyo) #2...Vensu Williams (Feb.-Paris-w/o) **** **** **** **** **** **** **WTA REPORT** NEW INDIAN WELLS PREDICTIONS SF Hantuchova def. Gagliardi Hingis def. Seles ...Clijsters, Dokic and Henin all failed to reach the QF in the top half (#21 Lisa Raymond is the highest-ranked survivor); the final might seem anticlimatic for either Hingis or Seles. FINAL Hingis def. Hantuchova ...but Martina will be sorry if she overlooks this 18-year old Slovak seekking her first WTA singles title. It'll come for Hantuchova in 2002, and it may just be this weekend. PLAYER AWARDS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Martina Hingis ...Hingis quietly continued in California, while Dokic, Clijsters and Henin fell. RISER: Daniela Hantuchova ...Hantuchova is quickly becoming a very big story. By knocking off Henin in straight sets, she's set herself up for a golden opportunity to break Dokic's WTA record for lowest-ranked Tier I champion. Dokic was #23 in Rome, Hantuchova is currently #26. SURPRISE: Emmanuelle Gagliardi ...Gagliardi has taken advantage of the huge openining in the top half of the draw. Ranked #70, she'll play #57 Adriana Serra-Zanetti for a berth in a Tier I SF. VETERAN: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ...Just when you count her out, ASV rises from the ashes. NEW FACE: Maria Sharapova ...the 14-year old Russian made her WTA debut with a 5-7,6-2,6-2 win over Brie Rippner before losing to Seles in the 2r. DOWNER: Anna Kournikova & Kim Clijsters ...Kournikova's comeback hit a snag with a 1r loss to Lilia Osterloh; while Clijsters returnd from a month-long layoff and immediately lost to Nathalie Dechy. *MATCHES* 1t.2r--Henin d. Matevzic; 4r--Hantuchova d. Henin ...Waffle #2 survived one youngster (barely, 5-7,6-4,6-4), but Hantuchova took her out in straights. Look out for this one. 3.3r--Stevenson def. Dementieva ...she and Hantuchova have been the season's two young rising stars. 4.1r--Sharapova def. Rippner ...yet another Russian, and this one's only 14. 5.2r--Sanchez Vicario def. Srebotnik ...ASV put a quick end to Srebotnik's recent run. |
