Article by Glyn James

Berlin Preview

This week, Jelena stays in Germany to play in the Eurocard Ladies German Open, Berlin.  It is a Tier I tournament with a total of $1,224,000 for prize money.  Once again, the matches will be played on red clay, and last year's final saw Amelie Mauresmo defeating Jeniffer Capriati 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.  Unfortunately, there is no coverage of the event on Eurosport.


   Jelena's decision to play this tournament has once again caused some scepticism amongst the fans.  After pulling out of last week's Betty Barclay Cup in the semi finals against Kim Clijsters at 5-7 4-4 with a hamstring injury scare, there's no doubt that everyone is concerned about whether playing this week was the correct thing to do, especially since a title defence in Rome is just one week away.  But being forced to withdraw from a semi final that Jelena knew she probably would have won had she been injury free must hurt Jelena a lot, and it's well within Jelena's character to go full throttle ahead to to the next tournament in an attempt to put that loss behind her, even if it does prove to be the wrong decision to have made in hindsight.


   The draw for the tournament has been made, and it is as follows:
(1) Jennifer Capriata vs bye
Melien Tu vs Adriana Serra Zanetti
Q vs Q
Gala Leon Garcia vs (14) Iroda Tulyaganova
(12) Elena Dementieva vs Barbara Rittner
Q vs Marlene Weingartner
Anastasia Myskina vs Martina Sucha
( Sandrine Testud vs Bye

(3) Martina Hingis vs bye
Rossana Neffa-DeLos vs Martina Muller
Q vs Q
Elena Likhovtseva vs (13) Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
(9)Meghannn Shaughnessy vs Tina Pisnik
Conchita Martinez vs Eleni Danilidou
Nathalie Dechy vs Janette Husarova
(5) Justine Henin vs bye

(7) Amelie Mauresmo vs bye
Lilia Osterloh vs Q
Anca Barna vs Rita Grande
Katarina Srebotnik vs (10)Silvia Farina Elia
(16) Tamarine Tanasugarn vs Iva Majoli
Tatiana Panova vs Magdalena Maleeva
Barbara Schett vs Francesca Schiavone
(4) Serena Williams vs bye

(6) JELENA DOKIC vs bye
Mary Pierce vs Q
Magui Serna vs bye
Paola Suarez vs (11) Daniela Hantuchova
(15)Amanda Coetzer vs Daja Bedanova
Anne Kremer vs Cristina Torres Valerio
Anna Smashnova vs Angeles Montolio
(2)Kim Clijsters vs Bye


   Jelena will face Mary Pierce tomorrow (Wednesday) as Pierce claimed a 6-1 7-5 victory over the Argentinian qualifier Mariana Diaz-Oliva.  Jelena breezed to a comfortoble victory in the previous meeting between the two in the Sarasota open, and is the favourite to win this time around, though no doubt Mary Pierce will attempt to exploit Jelena's injury to overcome the Yugoslav (something in which she's well entitled to do).  Anne Kremer is also in Jelena's part of the draw, however, I'm sure Jelena would rather go up against Kim Clijsters to put last weeks events well and trully behind her.  Not to forget the impressive Daniela Hantuchova, who Jelena will most likely play in the last 16.  Daniela could well prove to be a stumbling block, and has had a great season so far, winning Indian Wells being the most notable.  Should Jelena reach the semis, she would come up against either Serena Williams or defending champion, Amelie Mauresmo, and in the unlikely event of reaching the final, Hingis or Capriati would stand in the way of Jelena.


   This is a mighty task for Jelena at the moment, and my personal opinion is that she is not ready to play in this tournament.  She cannot be 100% fit, and if her injury was serious enough to force her to withdraw from the Betty Barclay Cup, then it certainly will play a part this week.  Maybe one day I'll get a chance to speak with Jelena and she'll tell me why on earth she makes these crazy decisions, who knows?

PREDICTION - JELENA FORCED TO TAKE A REST AFTER AN EARLY EXIT.
Pierce to defeat Jelena 6-3 1-0 (withdrawal).