*** Jelena-Dokic.com was
visited by Jelena and her agent ***
Future Tense
by Todd Spiker
Ironically, Jelena's debut appearance in the WTA Sanex Championships
ended perfectly. If she wasn't going to pull off something of a
surprise and win the season-ending tournament, then the best thing to
hope for would have been for her final match to serve as a catalyst for
her game's continued improvement in 2002.
*WTA Chsp. Points Breakdown*
97 = Quarterfinalist
35 = 1r: Shaughnessy (#13)
0 = QF: Davenport (#2)
132 = TOTAL
-57 = 2000 points off
+1 = 17-best tournaments
+76 = TOTAL POINTS FOR WEEK
As things turned out, Jelena's 2001 season came to a close just as her
previous two tournaments had... with a straight-set loss to an
overwhelming Lindsay Davenport. Consider the catalyst for Jelena's 2002
season to be set in stone.
Of course it was bad luck for Jelena to cross paths for three weeks
running with the only player on the WTA Tour playing even better than
herself since the US Open. But, in many ways, the 0-for-3 record versus
Davenport in a short 12-day period sets the bar for the hurdle that
Jelena must find a way to leap over next year.
She knows what she has to do, and the signs of how close she is to doing
it were there even during her final '01 loss last week. In the first
set, after falling behind 1-5 to Davenport, she broke serve and fought
back to get to within 4-5. She went on to lose the match 4-6, 2-6...but the fighting spirit to not go down in that opening set without one
final fight was apparent. That's important, and something that Jelena
must remember.
Somewhere between the near-upset of Davenport in Melbourne last January
and now, Jelena's developed an aversion to the American's game that lead
to her opening the match already perilously close to thinking that she
can't climb the Davenport mountain. She just didn't seem to believe she
was ready to solve the Riddle of Mt.Davenport in Europe this Fall. It
didn't take much for her to lose her grip and slide down the peak,
either. In fact, the precise moment it occurred in each of the three
Davenport matches -- early in the 2nd set in all -- was plain to even an
uninitiated eye. As Davenport herself said after the match, "Obviously,
she doesn't like to play me."
Those words, all too true at the moment, should ring in Jelena's ears.
While her consistency against lesser-ranked players (she's won 12
straight, and 26 of 27) has now become apparent, her marks against
fellow Top 10ers still need work. 16 of her 23 losses in 2001 came
against them, with her compiling a 1-11 mark in her last 12 meetings
(with only a win over #5 Kim Clijsters coming since the victory over #8
Amelie Mauresmo in May). If Jelena wants to climb over the others in
the Top 10, she'll have to do it at their expense. On the court. The
line has been drawn, and she has to find a way to cross it... and make
sure that Davenport never has cause to utter those words again.
Jelena's post-US Open 2-month run (she went 19-5) saw her go from a
young player still needing to learn hard lessons to one only a few steps
away from jumping into the fray with the elite players in the game.
Munich, along with Zurich and Linz, served to show Jelena what's just
beyond her grasp as 2001 comes to a close. That could be invaluable for
a young player wishing to continue her climb to the game's upper
echelon.
So now begins the six-to-seven week-long training period in which Jelena
will gather her forces for her assault on her 2002 goals. Trainer Mike
Nishihara has already gotten good results (the five finals since he
joined the team can't be a coincidence), and new coach Radmilo Armenulic
has vowed to work on Jelena's serve, shot variety and net play. Team
Dokic has certainly been strengthened. So far, so good.
Imagine what things could be like in one year's time. Jelena could have
the serve, fitness, strength and confidence to finally take down the
likes of Davenport and open the locked door to the elite room of women's
tennis. With a renewed focus and the typical Dokic determination
intact, it WILL happen.
#5 Clijsters = leads by 485 pts.
#6 S.Williams = leads by 224 pts.
#7 Henin = leads by 209 pts.
#8 JELENA = 2780
#9 Mauresmo = trails by 15 pts.
#10 Seles = trails by 474 pts.
...Jelena maintained her career-high ranking of #8 in Munich (moving
past Amelie Mauresmo, but falling behind singles winner Serena
Williams), and will now head into the next WTA season just under 500
points from attaining her first-ever Top 5 ranking. That prestigious
moment could come before next year's Wimbledon. Remember, with age
restrictions still holding her back, then 17-year old Jelena wasn't able
to play in any of the pre-Aussie Open events. Then, the bad Oz draw saw
her get Davenport in the 1r... and then be kept from playing another
official tournament for two months until she turned 18 in April. After
her offseason work, Jelena was in fine form last January (she won the
Hong Kong exhibition and nearly upset Davenport) but wasn't able to gain
any ranking points for it. In 2002, she'll have that chance.
...As long as an injury doesn't take her off the tour, the chances of
Jelena reaching #5 before the '02 Wimbledon are good. Since nearly all
of Jelena's points were accumulated in the final six months of this
year, she'll hold most of them (and the resulting high rank) up until
her title defense in Rome next May. She'll be highly seeded during that
time, giving her a shot to make up points she missed out on early this
year. Good results there should provide a cushion if she has less late
success next Fall. While Jelena sat out most of the first half of 2001,
many of the players above her were having their best results of the
year. Justine Henin went Down Under last January and won the WTA's
first two titles in '01 (and will have to defend those points two
months from now), then made it to the Roland Garros SF. Kim Clijsters
made the RG Final, and Amelie Mauresmo won 4 clay titles in the Spring
before Jelena stopped her cold in Rome. The "promise" of Serena
Williams to play a full schedule in 2002 (I'll believe it when I see
it), the prospect of a healthy Monica Seles, and Jelena's own Tier I
victory in the Italian Open are really the biggest obstacles to a
pre-Wimbledon #5 rank. But Jelena's disappointing results in Oz (1r)
and RG (3r) in 2001 should work in her favor next season, since they'll
allow her to gain important points in '02 should she not perform as well
in Rome. Hopefully, she'll have career-best results at next year's first
two Slams (it would only take two QF results, something which her higher
seed will certainly clear the way for) and earn a trip to the SF in one
of them. If she builds that solid early foundation, she'll head to
London next Spring in a better position than ever to do great damage to
the field at the major where she's had the most success. The next step,
of course, would be to take advantage of that position when she gets to
Centre Court at the All-England Club. If she does, it could set the
stage for a chance for her to create something quite remarkable down the
stretch of 2002.
*Top 5 News*
...The Battle for #1 ended in Munich with Lindsay Davenport coming out
on top. Jennifer Capriati's QF exit at the hands of Sandrine Testud
cost her the #1 spot for the year when Davenport outlasted Kim Clijsters
in a 3-set SF. As Capriati looks back on her otherwise sensational
2001, do you think she'll remember that tournament final in which she
blew 8 championship points before finally losing to Venus Williams? If
she had converted just one of those match points, she'd be #1 right now
and not Davenport.
...Meanwhile, the injured Martina Hingis lost her WTA Championship title
points from 2000 and fell behind V.Williams to end the year at #4.
Clijsters' SF run in Munich kept her at #5 for 2001, with the likes of
S.Williams, fellow Belgian Waffle Henin, Mauresmo and Jelena hot on her
tail and set to challenge for the spot come January.
...One additional note: with Hingis and Anna Kournikova not in the
Munich doubles field, they were unable to defend their Championship
points from 2000. Their rankings fall enabled Jelena to move to a
career-high doubles ranks of #12, leaving her just 86 points from being
the only woman ranked in the Top 10 in both singles and doubles.
AND FINALLY...
While Jelena's season has ended, this column won't just yet. Here's a
schedule of what I'll be bringing here for the remaining weeks of 2001:
Thursday: Jelena 2001 Stat Packs
..."All the Jelena stats you wanted to know but were afraid to ask"
Nov. 12: 2001 WTA Report Card
...the entire year in review, and my own personal awards
Nov. 19: Jelena Year in Review, Pt.I
..."A Quick (and controversial) Start"
...Jelena opens 2001 with an exhibition title and then becomes the
center of attention in Australia
Nov. 26: Jelena Year in Review, Pt.II
..."The Headlines are Finally About the Tennis"
...Jelena's star rises under the Roman sun, but she's taught a difficult
lesson under the lights of Flushing Meadows
Dec. 3: Jelena Year in Review, Pt.III
..."Setting the Stage for her Future"
...Jelena's post-US Open surge into the Top 10
Dec.10: Jelena 2001 Overview
...what happened?...
Dec.17: "And They're Off..."
...and what happens next: a 2002 Jelena Preview
...plus, some WTA predictions for the coming year
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Future Tense