JELENA: SPECIAL EDITION

The Australian Question Becomes the Australian Absence
by Todd Spiker

Everything was setting up perfectly. Jelena Dokic's game had begun to assert itself like never before. Two singles titles, five finals and a Top 10 ranking in the final two months of the 2001 season showed that even greater things are yet to come.

All that remained was a thrilling run at a grand slam to cement Jelena's position in a starring role on the women's tennis stage. The question was where it would eventually happen. That the next grand slam on the schedule was to take place in her former home country, the same one she fled under a hail of controversy last January due to media pressure, seemed to be a sure sign that destiny was at work.

The tennis gods seemed to be looking out for her. Armed with what would be a high seed one year after a bad draw had forced her to face Lindsay Davenport in the 1st Round in 2001, 2002 seemed to present Jelena with a chance to make her biggest grand slam mark since the '99 Wimbledon. To do it at the Australian Open, under the noses of the media she so felt had done her wrong, seemed like a brilliant moment waiting to happen. An enticing stage she couldn't possibly pass up.

How wrong a notion that turned out to be.

The news that Jelena has decided to skip -- avoid, really -- the Australian circuit come January, including the first grand slam of the 2002 season in Melbourne, is in a word disappointing. But it's more than that. It's a lost opportunity that she might eventually regret.

Citing a tournament-heavy late '01 schedule and that Australia is so "far away" for choosing not to begin her season until late January in Tokyo isn't necessarily an illegitimate excuse. With any other player, it might even be accepted without pause. But not Jelena. To say that there'll be much reading between the lines with this decision is a monstrous understatement. Even if last year's feud with the Oz Open, the Australian tennis officials and media didn't play the major role in the decision, to think that it didn't at least come into the equation would be incredibly naive.

The wounds of the Australian incident are probably still fresh, and one can understand the desire to refrain from stepping back into the fray all over again in just a month-and-a-half. But going so far as a healthy Top 10 player voluntarily missing a grand slam seems a bit much. There are only so many major events in a player's career, and now there will be one less in Jelena's.

The truth is that skipping Australia in 2002 only assures that the story of her 2001 departure will carry over into 2003. The media pressure that Jelena avoids by not taking on the situation this January will only be delayed, not dismissed forever. The exit from Down Under will always be an issue for some, but it does little good for it to be pushed to the forefront indefinitely. Travelling to Melbourne, even while avoiding any Aussie tune-ups, in two months time would have gotten "the return" out of the way. Jelena's absence will give the story legs, and probably make the spotlight even more intense when she does finally play again before an Australian crowd.

All that being said, good aspects of Jelena starting her season a little later than anticipated aren't nonexistent. It means she'll be well-rested and primed by extra time with trainer Mike Nishihara and coach/"tennis friend" Radmilo Armenulic (whose additional set of eyes should be good for Jelena, no matter what his "official" designation), and should be able to hit the court in Tokyo in fine form (possibly after a January exhibition, ala Hong Kong '01). The 1st Round Aussie exit and age restrictions of 2001 mean she has no points to defend until April, and the comparatively early start in 2002 could prove to be a rankings boon should Jelena win a tournament or two during that time. In fact, she could play so well so early that the Australian absence is nearly forgotten. That's a luxury she might have next spring, but not one at hand in November.

Today, it's apparent that the biggest thing that Jelena will lose is an opportunity. Not to simply pick up valuable ranking points, but to begin to put the Australian issue behind her and to move on to more important things. That can't happen now. Not yet.

Hopefully, there's enough truth in the reasons given for skipping Australia that it means that this won't be an annual announcement. Hopefully, this IS a byproduct of a 2001 26-tournament schedule that's been over-stuffed since Roland Garros. In January '03, we'll find out. With luck, her decision then won't leave us talking about a lingering Australian Absence come 2004. The "perfect stage" will remain in Melbourne until the end of Jelena's career. She just needs to decide when the time is right to step onto it. Only then will she be able to truly put Australia behind her, no matter how many times she says that it's an issue that no longer has relevance in her life.

The one unquestioned truth in this entire thing is that Jelena can't rightfully challenge to be the best female tennis player in the world if she continues to bow out of grand slams, especially one of the two on her favored hardcourt surface.

Even someone as well-liked as Gustavo Kuerten causes eyebrows to be raised when he skips Wimbledon because of being "tired." Pete Sampras has been a great champion not just because he's won more grand slams than any other man, but because he's never turned his back on Roland Garros no matter how slim his chances of competing there have been. Having the courage to not be afraid to fail on a grand stage isn't something to be avoided, it's something to take pride in. Hopefully, Jelena doesn't allow herself to fall into the former trap.

If destiny sees fit, Jelena will return to Melbourne one day and then leave it two weeks later in triumph. That would be a more effective response to her critics than any press conference or official complaint could ever produce. Unfortunately, it'll be at least another year before that can become a reality. Too bad for her.