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Article
by Todd Spiker
JELENAFEST IS HAMBURGLED
by Todd Spiker
*HAMBURG POINT BREAKDOWN (TIER II)*
88...Semifinals
15...1r: Myskina (#29) - 6-3,0-6,6-2
10...2r: C.Martinez (#46) - 3-6,6-2,6-1
43...QF: Henin (#8) - 7-6,7-6
0...SF: Clijsters (#3) - 4-6,4-4 ret.
156...TOTAL
-168...2001 points off
0...17-best events off
-12...+/- POINTS FOR WEEK
#9...SINGLES (3074 pts., no change)
#12...DOUBLES (1782 pts., down 2)
The opening date was set. The instruments were tuned. The
lead singer waltzed out onto the stage, grabbed the mike and
belted out a few of her well-known chart-toppers. Sure, a
few bugs were present in the initial performances. But it
didn't take long for the red clay clogging up the works to
be accounted for and eliminated.
As the week wore on, the singer was rounding her
presentation into quite good shape, as her melodies had
become more and more soulful. Forget Ozzfest and
"Spider-Man," "Jelenafest" was poised to become the true
cultural milestone for the masses.
So there I was, ready to sound the trumpet in this spot for
the start of the Jelenafest celebration, the mother of all
Yugoslavian teenage tennis tours. A production complete
with standing ovations and the sense that overflowing crowds
were filled with the urge to rush the stage after the
night-closing song. A German jaunt, if you will, designed
to set the stage for a triumphant return to Rome on May 20.
Everything was going along just fine after the first "Battle
of the Belgian Bands." Then came Battle II.
Of course, that was when the lead singer ended up "losing
her voice" before the final set had even begun... and then
was forced to sit back and watch her "backup singer" Kim go
out the next day and become a Hamburg star in her own
right. Not exactly the ending to this initial concert that
looked possible on and about Friday afternoon.
Okay, that's enough with the mythical musicianship. Let's
skip the niceties and get straight to it:
This is starting to become a tired scenario, isn't it? Even
Mister Sweetness and Light would have to admit that. With
Rome peeking around the corner, Jelena Dokic is once again
dealing with a leg injury (this time a hamstring). Is it a
case of "here we go again?" We might find out this week in
Berlin.
The good news is that when Jelena's been healthy, she's
largely been on her game in 2002. Just look at the stats:
1.In completed matches against players not named Anne
Kremer, she's 15-1 (with the one being the loss to Anna
Smashnova following the stomach virus-related retirement in
Amelia Island only days earlier)
2.She's 6-0 in three-set matches
3.She's 3-0 in tie-breaks
4.She's 12-1 when she claims the 1st set
5.She's even a respectable 4-6 after dropping the opening
set
But it's the 1-4 mark in matches decided by retirement or
walkover that has come to define the season thus far. The
four "non-wins" account for a full half of Jelena's eight
total losses this year. Amazing by any account.
Still, while manueving her way through the first four-plus
months of the WTA calendar with severe injury impediments,
she's still managed to advance at least as far as the SF in
four of her nine events (and three of the last four).
It's been clear, with two wins over Top 10 players already
this year (after just three in all of 2001), that Jelena's
game is capable of achieving all the personal goals she set
back in January. It's her body that's failed her. Even the
two Top 10 wins (over Monica Seles and Justine Henin) were
weighed down by worrisome footnotes: she was injured in boh
matches, leading to a walkover in Paris and a retirement in
Hamburg the next round as flashes of healthy brilliance were
piggy-backed by moments of horrendous misfortune.
To arrive in Paris for her grand slam season debut in both
the mental and physical shape necessary for a legit deep run
toward the tournament's second weekend, Jelena might need
another of those snaps of brilliance over the next few
weeks. If recent history means anything, that flash will
probably come.
It's the trailing crack of the injury whip that she needs to
find a way to avoid. Maybe Spidey can help with that.
Quick, Pierre! Find the name of Tobey Maguire's agent!
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
--THE DRIVE FOR #5--
#3 Kim Clijsters...leads by 625
#4 Martina Hingis...leads by 436
#5 Serena Williams...leads by 289
#6 Monica Seles...leads by 286
#7 Lindsay Davenport...leads by 276
#8 Justine Henin...leads by 42
#9 JELENA...3074
*NOTES*
...Oh, how close Jelena was to being within an eyelash of a
major career milestone. Leading 4-1 in the 2nd set of the
Hamburg SF against Kim Clijsters, Dokic looked ready to
seize control of the match, push it to a third stanza and
then run away as she had after slow starts earlier in the
week. A win would have taken her to her third final of
2002, pitting her against #1-ranked (and, as it turned out,
vulnerable to an upset thanks to a misfiring first serve)
Venus Williams with a huge 100-quality point bonus ready to
be cradled in her arms. A second title for the season
wouldn't have lifted Jelena above #8 in the rankings, but
the added points would have brought her to within 3 of #7
Davenport, 13 of #6 Seles and 16 of #5 Serena. The Drive
for #5 was nearly within a week of becoming a reality in
Berlin. But, well, you know what happened. The result: an
extended stay at #9 and a still-significant gap in points
behind numbers 5 through 7.
...But the bad of Jelena's 4th non-win of 2002 is somewhat
tempered by the fact that she managed to step onto the red
clay for the first time this year and glided over her
initial large '01 points defense (168 points) by matching
her Hamburg SF result, losing just 12 points in the
computer's one-year turnover. Step One is complete in the
Euro-Jelena! tour, but the next one will be a much larger
feat to pull off. A good week in Berlin (or at least a
healthy one, if nothing else, despite the fact that she's
defending just 2r points from last year) would allow Jelena
to follow through on her one final shot to build a points
cushion in case the attempted title defense in Rome turns
unexpectedy ugly. A bad TWO weeks and the dreams of #5 will
have to wait for a while, unless she can pull things
together in time for a career-turning surge at Roland Garros
(something, by the way, that her recent words seem to
indicate she is directing her focus toward). Going to
Berlin would seem a given, but the hamstring pull certainly
clouds the issue a bit. Again, it's a calculated risk that
could ultimately prove either magnificent or devastating.
Boy, how many times has that been said in the past few
months? So, needless to say, it's once again time to hold
your breath, cross your fingers and toes, and hope like
crazy for the best.
...An additional storyline from Hamburg is the continued
presence of a hint of an increased sensibility in Jelena's
attitude toward playing hurt. Sure, one can quibble with
the intelligence of deciding to have a go at "less than 50%"
again, but she seemed to manage well enough to give eventual
champ Clijsters a real run despite her physical
predicament. Remember, she DID pull out of doubles action
again (never forget Paris), and walked away from a SF (for
the second time against a Waffle in a month's time) despite
a tight 4-6,4-4 scoreline. It wasn't an overly-cautious
weekend by any stretch for Jelena, but at least it wasn't as
destructive a series of decisions as some of those that came
earlier in 2002. Her doubles ranking, which fell to #12 as
Hingis and Hantuchova rose, has suffered in the interim.
But that's a small concern with the Italian Open just a week
away.
** ** ** ** **
THIS WEEK:
*EUROCARD Ladies German Open, May 6-12*
*Berlin, Germany*
*Tier I - Red Clay*
*#6 Seed*
*1st match (2r): vs. Pierce or qualifier*
POINTS TABLE
W=275
RU=193
SF=124
QF=69
3r=38
2r=23
1r=1
*2002 SINGLES WALKOVERS/RETIREMENTS*
Paris Final - w/o loss to Venus Williams
Antwerp 2r - loss to Schnyder 6-4,4-6,1-1
Sarasota SF - def. Razzano 6-3,0-1
Amelia Island - loss to Henin 2-6,1-4
Hamburg SF - loss to Clijsters 4-6,4-4
*2002 - vs. Top 10*
Feb - #10 Monica Seles...W
Feb - #2 Venus Williams...w/o L
Apr - #9 Justine Henin...ret. L
May - #8 Justine Henin...W
May - #3 Kim Clijsters...ret. L
...2002: 2-0 complete, 0-1 w/o, 0-2 ret.
...2001: 3-16
*OPPONENTS 2002 (2 or more matches)*
2-0...Elena Dementieva
2-0...Conchita Martinez
1-1...Justine Henin
1-1...Patty Schnyder
1-1...Anna Smashnova
0-3...Anne Kremer
HAMBURG (II-Red Clay)
S: Kim Clijsters def. Venus Williams
D: Hingis/Schett def. Sanchez V./Hantuchova
BOL (III-Red Clay)
S: Asa Carlsson-Svensson d. Iva Majoli
D: Garbin/Widjaja def. Bovina/Hagyova
PLAYER AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kim Clijsters
...finally back to form after an injury exile, the Waffle
enjoyed two wins by retirement and then saw Venus Williams'
serve to awry in the final, enabling KC to come back from a
set down for her first title of 2002. She has RG RU points
to defend soon, and she looks to be right on course.
RISER: Tathiana Garbin
...SF in Bol singles, a winner in doubles
SURPRISE: Libuse Prusova
...the 22-year old Czech, ranked #209, had a career-best WTA
SF in Bol
VETERAN: Asa Carlsson-Svensson
...won her 2nd career WTA title, her first since the '99
Kuala Lumpur
NEW FACE: Vera Zvonareva
...the 17-year old Russian, who opened the year at #371 and
is now up to #177, had a career-best QF in Bol and upped her
'02 singles record to 21-12
DOWNER: Angeles Montolio
...the defending Bol champion went out in the 1r
*MATCHES*
1.Hamburg Final - Clijsters d. Venus
...Venus' first loss in a singles final since Linz 2000.
She'd been 10-0 since.
2.Bol Final - Carlsson-Svensson d. Majoli
...Iva went 5 years without a title after winning RG in
1997. She very nearly made it two in row in Bol.
3.Hamburg QF - Dokic d. Henin
...7-6,7-6 - Dokic is 2-0 vs. Top 10ers when she's healthy,
0-3 without a completed match when she's not
4.Hamburg QF - Hingis d. Hantuchova
...revenge for Indian Wells
5.Bol 2r - Pisnik d. Kournikova
...Hey, at least it wasn't in the 1r. Anna K. is now 14-14
for 2002.
HM-Hamburg 2r - ASV d. Muller; QF - Venus d. ASV
...ASV came back from 1-4 in the 3rd vs. Muller to win in a
TB. I guess Muller still looks up to her.
...ASV led Venus 1 set to love. For a second, she must have
thought she was still ASV. Venus corrected her.
*QUOTE*
--Dokic: "Whenever I'm fit I'm playing well, but there
hasn't been one tournament yet when I haven't been injured."
** ** ** **
WEEK 19 - May 6-12
PREDICTIONS
BERLIN (I - Red Clay)
SF
Capriati def. Henin
Dokic def. Mauresmo
...A Mister Sweetness and Light cameo appearance. As with
the other Waffle, JD's rematch after a retirement loss = a
win for Jelena over Clijsters in the QF to set up a rematch
of Rome '01 against Mauresmo.
FINAL
Capriati def. Dokic
...Even Sweetness has his limits.
WARSAW (III - Red Clay)
SF
Ruano-Pascual def. Jidkova
Bovina def. Foretz
FINAL
Ruano-Pascual def. Bovina
...I'm tempted to put Kournikova in the SF, but I just can't
do it (though her draw is semi-favorable for the first time
in a long while).
WEEK 20 - Rome (I)
WEEK 21 - Strasbourg (III) & Madrid (III)
WEEK 22/23 - Roland Garros
** ** ** ** **
*MOST WTA SF IN 2002*
7...Venus Williams (5-2)
7...Monica Seles (2-5)
6...Martina Hingis (4-2)
4...Jennifer Capriati (3-1)
4...JELENA DOKIC (2-2)
*WTA TIER I WINNERS*
Feb - Tokyo...Martina Hingis
Mar - Indian Wells...Daniela Hantuchova
Apr - Miami...Serena Williams
Apr - Charleston...Iva Majoli
May - Berlin...??
May - Rome...??
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Article
by Todd Spiker