I became a Jelena Dokic fan on 22nd June 1999, when she hammered world number one and top seed Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 in the first round of Wimbledon. Jelena was a sixteen-year-old qualifier ranked #129 in the world, and she created the upset of 106 Wimbledons. The enormity of the upset sent me into a state of shock, but the manner in which it was achieved sent me into a state of delight. Jelena was hitting one gasping winner after another, especially at 6-2 4-0* when she broke Hingis' serve with one of the most amazing single games I have ever seen: a flurry of return-winners, a drive-volley winner and a most audacious dropshot. I had, in fact, already contemplated becoming a Jelena Dokic fan earlier in the year. This performance left me in no doubt - she just blew me away with her brilliance.
I love the way Jelena hits the ball - not just with power and accuracy, but with wonderful aesthetic flair. With her sharp, beautifully-driven, flairsome groundstrokes (two-handed on the backhand), Jelena is a joy to watch, especially during one of her purple patches when she's hitting clean winners all over the court! :-) Jelena is also a wonderful athlete - very fleet of foot. She has an exceptional ability to get down on her knees to deal with low balls - one reason why she's so good on grass - and a good awareness of her opponent's position on court. In short, she is very lively.
Although Jelena can sometimes play rather one-dimensionally - just hitting the ball hard to her opponent's baseline - she is capable of a lot of variety, including the best dropshot in tennis (often hit from behind the baseline), lobs, and the occasional sliced backhand that skims like a stone over water. At her best, she can play spreading rallies, and is very willing to come to the net to put away a floating ball - usually with a swinging drive-volley rather than the more classical punch-volley!
Jelena has won five WTA singles-titles so far: the Italian Open 2001 (a Tier I tournament for her first title!), Tokyo Princess Cup 2001, Moscow 2001, Sarasota 2002 and Birmingham 2002. The furthest she's got in a Major has been a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon 2000. Her highest ranking has been #4 (19th August - 22nd September 2002). Notable victims include Major champions Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Mary Pierce, Am�lie Mauresmo, Iva Majoli, Conchita Mart�nez, Kim Clijsters and Anastasia Myskina. She has also won four WTA doubles-titles.
Jelena's early results suggest that she is a great big-match player (she thrashed Venus Williams 6-1 6-2 at the Italian Open 2000), but not such a good smaller-match player. She needs the consistency to play well match-in match-out, and to be honest, it's a bit late to keep saying, "I think this will come with experience." She needs to learn when to play percentage-tennis - going for her shots is the only way she's going to beat the top players, but when that isn't working against 'lesser' players, she needs to temper her game a bit. She tends to rush through points, and at her worst, she can beat herself with lots of unforced errors, without much resistance from her opponent. She needs to learn the value of points, and when to take risks. She also needs to work on her serve, which is rather predictable and can be unreliable.
But I think the key to why Jelena struggles against players that one of her talent should beat easily is her frame of mind when she plays 'inferior' players. She says that she feels no pressure when she plays higher-ranked players, "because they're supposed to beat me, not me supposed to beat them." This tells me a lot about the pressure she must feel when playing lower-ranked players - she's afraid of losing to them, and this inhibits her play so that she often does lose. She needs to get into the same frame of mind she's in when she plays top players, and on the practice-court (where, by her own admission, only three or four players in the world would be good enough to beat her - a statement I agree with but was unwise for her to say in public as she did in January 2000). In short, she needs to stop feeling the pressure not to lose, so that her game will flow naturally without doubts or inhibitions. She needs to develop psychological techniques to get into this frame of mind when she needs to. Her inner coterie must help to promote this frame of mind by not putting pressure on her to win. I think Jelena will have a more enjoyable and successful career if she strives to play good tennis rather than strives to win. That was the secret of Monica Seles's success.
Jelena has a complex personality: usually she is very sweet-natured and charming in interviews, and all smiles on the practice-courts (she has admitted to enjoying practising much more than playing matches), but she is also very outspoken, speaking her mind whenever something happens to annoy her (both on and off the court). She has often been surrounded by controversy - mostly caused by her father Damir - as detailed in the annual reviews below, and there have been enough bizarre incidents and rumours about her to fill an entire Australian soap-opera! ;-)
These incidents include her changes of nationality: she was born in Yugoslavia in 1983 and emigrated to Australia in 1994; she switched to Yugoslav nationality (later listed as "Serbia and Montenegro") at the Australian Open 2001, following a series of hostile media-reports about the Dokic family; she switched back to Australian nationality in December 2005.
Jelena is very strong mentally and thick-skinned, no doubt due to her tough childhood, but I believe that the deterioration of her relationship with her family is the root-cause of the slump she's been in since 2003, when she has looked distracted on court, rushing from point to point. Sadly, she no longer seems as mentally strong or as motivated to succeed as she used to be, and seems to have great difficulty in making and sticking to decisions about where and with whom she should be training, in her increasingly desperate attempt to reverse the slump which has seen her drop from world #4 to outside the rankings altogether (by the end of 2008, she was back up to #179).
In 2008, Jelena revealed that she had been battling severe depression since the breakdown of her relationship with her family. She was struggling to get out of bed, let alone find the desire to play tennis. She dropped out of the WTA rankings after only playing two tournaments (both ITF $10k) in 2007, and her weight ballooned to 83kg before she got it back down to 60kg in 2008. Although she never stopped loving tennis, she did contemplate retirement because it's so hard to come back.
Jelena is arguably the most beautiful girl in tennis: extremely cute with a very pretty face, long blonde hair (please grow it long again!), and a body of amazingly erotic proportions and contours. When I think of Jelena, I think of jelly, which is sweet and wobbly! ;-> It is to her that I attribute my midriff-fetish and my shoulder-fetish, due to the revealing outfits she wore in the first half of 2001 - the apotheosis of on-court sex-appeal for me! ;-> She also has a cute voice: originally an Australian accent, nowadays a deeper Yugoslavian voice, as she seems to have spent much of her time in Zagreb, Croatia in recent years (in 2008, she relocated to Monte Carlo).
The future could still be very bright for Jelena, as she enjoyed something of an encouraging turnaround in 2008: winning three ITF singles-titles and a play-off tournament for an Australian Open 2009 wild card. Still only 25, she is talented enough to be world number-one one day. There have been many false dawns of a return to form in these recent years, but she's been training hard since October 2007, so with the right commitment, she still has a chance. But it's crucial that she reestablishes herself on the WTA Tour in 2009, which may be her last chance to return to the big time.
Like Monica Seles and Iva Majoli, Jelena was born in Yugoslavia (she was actually born at Osijek - in what is now Croatia - but moved to Belgrade, Serbia in 1991). She was born on 12th April 1983 - eleven days before Daniela Hantuchov�. Her father is Damir, her mother Liliana, and she has a brother Savo, who is eight years her junior. The Dokic family emigrated to Australia in 1994, living in Sydney.
The earliest Jelena tournament I know of was the 21st Victorian Junior Championships in Australia in January 1997 when she was thirteen: she beat Marina Caiazzo 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the first round, and lost to Bryanne Stewart 6-4 7-5 in the second. She also played in the girls' singles at the Australian Open, beating Iona Plesu 6-3 4-6 6-1, and losing to Rochelle Rosenfield 6-2 6-2 in the second round.
Jelena next played in August, winning the USTA International Grass Court Championships, a junior-tournament in America. She beat Julie Hladik and Kavitha Krishnamurthy both 6-1 6-3, Ansley Cargill 7-5 4-6 6-4, Erica Biro 6-3 6-3, Shannon Duffy 6-4 6-4, and Alicia Molik 3-6 6-3 7-6 in the final. But she lost 6-3 7-6 to Maja Matevzic in the first round of the US Open girls' singles - her last of seven junior-tournaments in 1997.
In November, Jelena played three ITF challengers in Australia - her first tournaments counting towards the WTA rankings. She qualified for Mt Gambier, beating Beti Sekulovski 6-4 6-4, Jolanda Mens 6-2 7-5 and Lisa McShea 6-4 7-6, but had the misfortune to draw top seed Kerry-Anne Guse in the first round of the main draw, and lost 7-5 6-1. She fell to Tracy Almeda-Singian 7-6 3-6 7-6 in the second round of qualifying for Port Pirie.
She qualified for Nuriootpa, beating Danielle Jones 6-4 6-1, Karolina Jagieniak 6-4 6-0 and Cindy Watson 6-4 7-5. She advanced to the second round of the main draw when Keri Phebus retired with Jelena leading 6-5, but lost 6-1 6-2 to top seed Kerry-Anne Guse in the second. These three challengers gave her an initial ranking of around #588.
Jelena returned to the Victorian Junior Championships in January, and this time she won! She beat Monique Adamczak 3-6 6-3 6-2, Eleni Daniilidou 6-3 6-0, Leanne Baker 6-3 5-7 6-4, Rochelle Rosenfield 6-3 7-5 (revenge for the Australian Open 1997), and Rewa Hudson 6-3 6-3 in the final. Jelena reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open girls' singles: she beat Donna McIntyre 6-2 6-4, Kinga Berecz 6-3 6-1, Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-4, Kildine Chevalier 6-2 7-6, but lost to Wynne Prakusya 7-5 3-6 6-4.
Jelena was runner-up at the Japan Open Junior Championships in April, losing to Evie Dominikovic 6-3 6-1 in the final. In May she won the 20th Torneo Internazionale Citta Di Santa Croce, beating Elena Voropaeva and Mia Buric both 6-3 6-4, Daniela (Daja) Bedanov� and Tina Hergold both 6-1 6-2, and Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-0 6-3 in the final.
Jelena reached the semi-finals of the Italian Junior Open - which had the same status as the junior Major tournaments - beating Mia Buric 7-6 6-4, Daniela Bedanov� 2-6 6-2 6-2, Stanislava Hrozensk� 6-4 7-5, Eleni Daniilidou 6-1 4-6 6-2, and losing to hometown-girl Antonella Serra-Zanetti 6-2 4-6 6-3 in the final. Then she won the 34th Astrid Bowl Charleroi Belgian International Junior Championships, beating Radka Sottov� 6-3 6-2, Lauren Kalvaria 6-1 6-4, Eleni Daniilidou 1-6 6-2 6-1, Laura Bao 4-6 6-1 7-6, and Kim Clijsters 7-6 6-2 in the final.
Jelena was runner-up at the French Open girls' singles, beating Ivana Visic 6-4 6-1, Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-7 6-3 6-2, Gabriela Volekov� 3-6 6-1 6-2, Tina Pisnik 7-5 4-6 6-3, Elena Dementieva 6-1 5-7 6-3, and losing to Nadejda (Nadia) Petrova 6-3 6-3 in the final.
Jelena won the LTA International Junior Championships at Roehampton in June, beating Li Na 6-2 6-3, Daniela Bedanov� 6-7 6-3 6-0, Eva Dyrberg 6-2 6-2, Eleni Daniilidou 3-6 7-5 6-4, Wynne Prakusya 6-4 7-6, and Evie Dominikovic 6-2 6-1 in the final. She reached the semi-finals of the girls' singles at Wimbledon, beating Natalie Grandin 5-7 6-4 6-2, Katy Granson 2-6 6-1 6-1, Erica Krauth 6-4 6-4, Milagros Sequera 6-3 6-3, and losing to runner-up Kim Clijsters 6-3 6-7 6-4 - a rare win for Clijsters in their junior head-to-heads!
In the senior game, Jelena contributed to Australia's 5:0 victory over Argentina in the Fed Cup World Group II play-offs: Jelena beat Mariana Diaz Oliva 6-2 6-2 in the first rubber, and Laura Montalvo 6-2 6-1 in the fourth rubber. This meant that Australia remained in World Group II for 1999, instead of being relegated to Zonal Qualifying.
Jelena was runner-up at Les Internationaux Junior Videotron du Canada in September, avenging her Wimbledon and French Open defeats with a 7-6 6-4 win over Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals, and a 6-1 6-3 victory over Nadejda Petrova in the semi-finals. But she lost 7-6 6-0 to Evie Dominikovic in the final.
Jelena won the US Open girls' singles title in spectacular fashion, beating Dominique Reynolds 6-2 6-0, Caecilia Charbonnier 6-4 6-0, Whitney Laiho 6-4 6-1, Laura Granville 6-4 7-6, Tina Pisnik 6-3 6-1, and junior Wimbledon champion Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 6-2 in the final. Ironically, at the time I had a hunch about Srebotnik and wanted her to win - I didn't know of Jelena's talent and beauty until 1999! ;-) Jelena was runner up in the girls' doubles with Evie Dominikovic - they lost 7-6 6-4 to Kim Clijsters and Eva Dyrberg in the final.
In the senior game, Jelena won seven matches to reach the final of the Saga challenger on grass in October. She qualified by beating Kumiko Iijima and Kiyoko Yazawa both 6-0 7-5, and Akiko Gunji 6-4 6-2. In the main draw she beat Chae Kyung Yee 7-5 6-4, top seed Shinobu Asagoe 6-1 6-7 6-2, Madoka Kuki 6-2 6-2, fifth seed Catherine Barclay 6-2 5-7 6-3, and lost to Alicia Molik 6-4 6-3. This boosted her ranking from #588 to #362.
A week later, Jelena won the World Super Junior Championships in Japan, beating Wu Hui-Ju 6-1 6-0, Boglarka Berecz 6-2 6-2, Michelle Gerards 6-2 6-3, Stanislava Hrozensk� 7-6 1-6 6-2, Iroda Tulyaganova 6-3 4-6 6-4 in the semi-finals, and Daniela Hantuchov� 6-1 6-3 in the final - what a mouthwatering tournament! :-) It had the same status as the junior Major tournaments, and Jelena had now done enough to finish 1998 as junior world number one. She quit junior tennis at the age of fifteen.
Jelena played her first-ever WTA tournament at Pattaya in November. She came through qualifying, beating Alena Mitackov� 7-5 7-6, Ting Li 6-4 5-7 6-3 and Jing-Qian Yi 6-4 6-4. In the first round of the main draw, she lost to second seed Julie Halard-Decugis 7-6 4-6 6-3. However she dropped out of the WTA rankings, having only played two senior tournaments (Saga and Pattaya) in 1998 (as opposed to three in 1997 - the minimum required for a ranking).
Jelena won the Hopman Cup for Australia with Mark Philippoussis. In the round-robin section, they lost to South Africa 1:2 (Jelena lost to Amanda Coetzer 6-1 6-0; Jelena and Mark beat Coetzer and Wayne Ferreira 6-2 6-3), beat Spain 3:0 (Jelena beat Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-3 6-2) and beat France 2:1 (Jelena beat Sandrine Testud 6-1 6-3; Jelena and Mark lost to Testud and Guillaume Raoux 6-2 6-2).
����������� In the final, Australia beat Sweden 2:1 (Jelena beat �sa Carlsson 6-2 7-6; Jelena and Mark lost to Carlsson and Jonas Bj�rkman 8-6). I saw highlights on the TV-programme Trans World Sport, and it was then that I began to take notice of Jelena. My first impression was: "the most beautiful girl in the world" - her winning smile really 'got' me.
Jelena followed that up by reaching the third round of the Australian Open, beating Elena Makarova 6-3 5-7 6-4 and Kristina Brandi 6-4 7-5. But every hit with the magic racket brought her closer to a clash with top seed Martina Hingis, who was too good for her at that stage and beat her 6-1 6-2. But Hingis was impressed, and invited Jelena to join her for a week in Switzerland, where they practised together. Jelena reentered the rankings at #216.
Jelena lost in the third qualifying round for Bogota to Romina Ottoboni, and in the first qualifying round for Oklahoma to Jennifer Hopkins. She lost to Wang Shi-Ting 4-6 6-2 6-2 in the second round of the Dubai challenger, and in the second qualifying round for Lisbon to Annamaria Foldenyi. However, she did upset Barbara Schett 6-3 5-7 6-4 in the opening rubber of Australia's 2:3 loss to Austria in World Group II of the Fed Cup.
Jelena reached her first WTA quarter-final at Cairo. Playing as a wild card, she upset sixth seed Mag�i Serna 6-1 6-0, Alexia Dechaume-Balleret 6-4 2-6 6-4, and lost to top seed Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-3 6-1. She repeated the feat at Warsaw, albeit with a walkover against Julie Halard-Decugis after beating Emmanuelle Gagliardi 3-6 7-5 6-4 in the first round. She then lost to qualifier Ines Gorrochategui 6-4 4-6 6-2. These two tournaments boosted her ranking from #194 to #137.
Jelena then suffered two close losses: to fellow wild card Emmanuelle Curutchet 7-6 3-6 11-9 in the first round of the French Open (after which she was comforted by Monica Seles), and to Rita Grande 2-6 6-3 9-7 in the first round of Birmingham after qualifying. During that match, her father Damir was ejected for cheering her too noisily, and was subsequently arrested for lying down drunk in the middle of a road.
Jelena qualified for Wimbledon by beating Patty van Acker 6-4 6-4, Evelyn Fauth 6-0 6-1 and Rennae Stubbs 6-2 7-6. She then scored that sensational 6-2 6-0 win over Martina Hingis in the first round of the main draw, as detailed in the opening paragraph of this biography. Jelena followed up that extraordinary breakthrough with a 6-0 4-6 8-6 win over Katar�na Studen�kov� in the second round. I can't tell you how much that victory meant to me, because it exorcised the ghost of Wimbledon 1996, when Monica had lost to Studen�kov� in the second round.
����������� Jelena then beat Anne Kremer 6-7 6-3 6-4 in the third round (avenging, for me, Monica's loss to Kremer at Eastbourne the previous week). Jelena turned in another very impressive performance in the fourth round to claim the scalp of Mary Pierce, which recalled Iva Majoli's superb win over Pierce in the fourth round of the 1995 French Open. Playing better and better as the match progressed, Jelena sent Pierce packing 6-4 6-3. Sadly, Jelena blew a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals when she lost 6-3 1-6 6-3 to fellow qualifier Alexandra Stevenson in a quarter-final match which was delayed overnight after Jelena had gained the momentum at 3-6 5-1. But the tremendous talent of Jelena Dokic had emerged. She jumped from #129 to #39 in the rankings.
Jelena continued her golden d�but season by leading the Australian Fed Cup team into the World Group for 2000. The play-offs were played on a round-robin basis: Australia beat Argentina 3:0 (Jelena beat Paola Su�rez 6-4 7-5), beat Chinese Taipei 3:0 (Jelena beat Wang Shi-Ting 6-4 6-2), and beat Romania 2:1 (Jelena lost to Ruxandra Dragomir 6-3 7-5). In the qualifying final, Australia got promoted to the World Group for 2000 by beating the Netherlands 2:0 (Jelena beat Kristie Boogert 7-5 6-2 in the second rubber).
Up until now, Jelena had been coached by Australian Fed Cup captain Lesley Bowrey. But Damir sacked her as he wanted to take control, and Jelena had to prepare for the US Open without a proper coach. By the end of the year, however, Australian Wally Masur had been recruited as Jelena's coach.
Jelena beat Iva Majoli 6-3 6-4 in the first round of Toronto - the first tournament ever to feature both Iva and Jelena, and Monica! :-) But Jelena then faced a Spanish inquisition as she lost to Conchita Mart�nez 5-7 6-1 6-4 in the second round at Toronto, and to Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 7-5 6-1 in the first round of the US Open (Jelena blamed her defeat on the WTA's Ageist Eligibility Rules, which allowed her to play only ten tournaments as a sixteen-year-old).
Jelena endured a rather disappointing finish to the year as she lost 6-3 6-2 to Conchita Mart�nez in the first round of the Tokyo Princess Cup, 4-6 6-3 6-3 to Amanda Hopmans in the second qualifying round for Linz, and 6-4 7-5 to qualifier Sandra Kleinov� in the first round of Leipzig. She finished the year ranked #43.
The start of the 2000 season was something of a curate's egg for Jelena. On the one hand, she scored a 1-6 6-2 7-5 win over world number eight Barbara Schett in the Hopman Cup (Australia beat Austria 2:1, but otherwise failed miserably to defend their title), and a 6-2 3-6 7-6 (8/6) win over the recently retired Steffi Graf in an exhibition in February. On the other hand, Jelena suffered several losses to so-called 'lesser' players, the most infamous example being her first-round loss to Rita Kuti Kis at the Australian Open 2000.
At Sydney, Jelena beat fellow wild card Evie Dominikovic 6-7 6-4 6-2, then lost to Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-4 6-1 in the second round. She then suffered an ignominious 6-1 2-6 6-3 defeat by Rita Kuti Kis in the first round of the Australian Open, and was fined for turning up for her press-conference five hours late (she went to church first - Jelena is an Eastern Orthodox Christian). She said: "I lost to a player that has never been a player and, I guess, probably never will be." The Herald Sun tabloid-newspaper also claimed that she accused officials of rigging her draws in an attempt to stall her career - Jelena denied it, but her father Damir would say the same thing openly a year later.
Ironically, after the Australian Open it did look very much like they were rigging the draws against Jelena - for three tournaments in a row, she won a match then lost to Conchita Mart�nez! ;-) At Indian Wells, after a bye she beat Silvija Talaja 5-7 7-5 6-1 and lost to Mart�nez 6-2 7-6 in the third round. At the Ericsson Open she beat Selesian qualifier Nana Miyagi 6-3 6-2, and lost 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Mart�nez. At Amelia Island she beat Alina Jidkova 6-4 6-3, Rita Grande 6-2 6-3 (on Jelena's 17th birthday), and lost 6-1 6-4 to Mart�nez on the Spaniard's favoured claycourt surface. Mart�nez is a very awkward opponent for young players because her exaggerated topspin and slice are very difficult to handle.
At least there were encouraging signs of Jelena cutting out the losses to lower-ranked players. At Hilton Head she got a better draw, and made it to her first quarter-final since Wimbledon 1999 with a 6-4 6-2 victory over qualifier Liezel Horn, a 6-4 6-1 triumph over Nicole Pratt, and a 6-2 6-2 trouncing of seventh seed Amy Frazier that rated as one of the best wins of her career up to that point. Too bad she couldn't repeat her Wimbledon win over Mary Pierce, but Pierce was on red-hot form in that tournament, and thrashed Jelena 6-3 6-1.
Jelena won the three singles-rubbers that she played for Australia in Pool C of the Fed Cup World Group: she beat Kim Clijsters of Belgium 7-6 5-7 9-7, Sandrine Testud of France 6-7 7-5 6-3, and Anna Kournikova of Russia 6-7 7-5 6-3. Unfortunately, Australia lost all three ties 1:2 overall, and thus were relegated to Asia/Oceania Qualifying Group I for 2001 (by which time Jelena had turned her back on Australia). Nevertheless, I feel this was a very significant step forward in Jelena's personal career-development.
Jelena had the second amazing tournament of her career at the Italian Open 2000. First she beat the fourteenth seed Nathalie Dechy 6-1 4-6 6-3, then Tatiana Panova 6-3 6-1, and then she beat world number four Venus Williams 6-1 6-2!! Admittedly, Williams was just coming back from a six-month injury lay-off, but had looked impressive enough in a couple of prior matches to make it amazing that Jelegator should have won 6-1 6-2! Jelena's six-match winning-streak was brought to a 6-1 3-6 6-3 end in the quarter-finals by the mighty Monica Seles, but Jelena did put up a very good performance against the greatest tennis player of all time. Jelena's ranking rose from #37 to #30.
At the French Open, Jelena squeezed past Tina Pisnik 3-6 7-6 6-4 despite 97 unforced errors, but a further 50 unforced errors caused her downfall in the second round as she lost to Kveta Hrdlickov� 6-3 6-1 - a scoreline that conceals many deuce-games and missed opportunities for a frustrated Jelena. On grass at 's-Hertogenbosch, Jelena beat former Eastbourne-finalist Miriam Oremans 6-4 6-3, but then suffered a 6-0 6-1 aberration against Kristina Brandi in the second round.
Fortune handed Jelena a golden draw at Wimbledon 2000, allowing her not only to defend her 1999 quarter-final, but to go one better and reach the only Major semi-final of her career to date. Admittedly she only had to defeat Gr�ta Arn (6-1 7-6), Gala Le�n Garc�a (7-6 6-1), Brie Rippner (6-2 6-1), Kristina Brandi (6-1 6-3 - sweet revenge!) and Mag�i Serna (6-3 6-2) - each a lesser player than anyone Jelena defeated in the main draw of Wimbledon 1999 - but she did the jobs that were required of her, and the fact that she did so without dropping a set was a testimony to her improving ability to play well on demand against lesser players. She hadn't reached a semi-final on the WTA Tour before, let alone in a Major.
����������� She couldn't find the triple gear-change she needed to beat the juggernaut that is Lindsay Davenport, as the second-seeded defending champion ran her over 6-4 6-2. Nevertheless, Wimbledon 2000 was a very valuable experience for Jelena - both her run to the semis and the semi-final match itself - although Jelena didn't see it that way at the time: "We didn't play a very good match, under all standards I didn't play very well at all, and I think neither did she, and people didn't have much to see, who paid for their tickets with a match being so bad, so I'm disappointed with that, and the way I played." Despite reaching the semi-finals, Jelena's ranking dropped from #30 to #39 after Wimbledon because she gained many fewer quality-points than the ones coming off from Wimbledon 1999.
Damir Dokic - who was Jelena's sole coach in 2000 - caused more controversy at Wimbledon: after Jelena's second-round win he shouted a drunken political tirade, smashed a journalist's mobile-phone, and was escorted away by police. After Wimbledon, Jelena lost 6-7 6-4 7-6 to Sabine Appelmans in the first round of Montr�al, and 6-4 6-3 to Elena Dementieva in the first round of New Haven.
Jelena also had a good run at the US Open, where she reached the fourth round beating Anna Smashnova (Pistolesi) 6-1 6-0, Miriam Oremans 6-1 6-4, and qualifier Francesca Schiavone 7-6 7-5. She lost 7-6 (9/7) 6-0 to defending champion Serena Williams, but only after a very impressive first-set performance in which she did not drop serve (holding serve reliably is the main improvement I wanted to see in Jelena's game, and she's doing it!), and had three set-points in the tiebreak - one of which she was robbed of when her sideline-clipping backhand-winner was called out. It was Jelena's first Major fourth round outside Wimbledon, and made me even more excited about her future!
Jelena's fourth round at the US Open was achieved despite the distraction of Damir being banned from the tournament following a row in the players' lounge the day before Jelena's second-round match, in which he was frogmarched out of the grounds after causing a scene over the price of a piece of salmon. Jelena witnessed the incident, and was in tears. On the grounds of "public verbal abuse and threatening behaviour", the WTA subsequently banned Mr. Dokic from attending tournaments for six months: from 2nd October 2000 to 31st March 2001.
Jelena followed up her impressive Wimbledon and US Open with an even more impressive tournament to reach the semi-finals of the Sydney Olympics. The hometown girl defeated fourteenth seed Ai Sugiyama 6-0 7-6, Rita Grande 5-7 6-3 6-3, Rossana de los Rios 7-6 7-5 (recovering from 1-5 down after going over on her ankle in the second game of the second set), and seventh seed Amanda Coetzer 6-1 1-6 6-1. She then lost to tenth seed Elena Dementieva 2-6 6-4 6-4 in the semi-finals, which set up a mouthwatering Bronze Medal play-off with her idol Monica Seles, my favourite player!
����������� Monica took the Bronze Medal with a 6-1 6-4 victory. I wish it could have been closer, but the right player won - Monica had never won an Olympic medal before, and that may have been her last chance, whereas Jelena should have more chances for Olympic glory in the future. As for the one-sided scoreline, it's better to be eaten by Monica than fed by anyone else! ;-) Anyway, I'm delighted that the BBC televised the second set of this match! :-)
Jelena reached the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Princess Cup, beating Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4 6-2 and Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-4 7-6. This time she got seven games off Serena Williams, who beat her 6-3 6-4. Jelena beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-3 6-0 in the first round of Z�rich, but Martina Hingis avenged her Wimbledon 1999 thrashing by beating Jelena 6-3 6-2 in the second round - their first meeting since Wimbledon 1999.
Playing a crazy continent-hopping schedule, Jelena reached the quarter-finals of Shanghai, beating Janet Lee 6-3 6-4 and Rita Grande 7-5 6-4, but was upset 6-3 6-4 by Iroda Tulyaganova. Am�lie Mauresmo outmuscled her 6-1 6-4 in the first round of Moscow. She reached the quarter-finals of Leipzig, beating Andrea Glass 6-2 6-2 and Barbara Rittner 7-6 6-2, but was upset 4-6 6-2 7-6 by Kim Clijsters. She lost to Iva Majoli 7-5 3-6 6-4 in the second round (after a bye) of Kuala Lumpur. She finished the year ranked #26 - her highest up to that point.
Jelena went back to Yugoslavia at the end of her 2000 season, and received a Yugoslav passport on 17th November 2000. After the Sydney Olympics, she had said that she would no longer play for Australia in Fed Cup, Hopman Cup or the Olympics, because of the way the Australian media were treating her father (a certain magazine suggested that he needed psychiatric help). She would have to go three years without playing for Australia before she could play for Yugoslavia in those three events - those are the rules.
Jelena won the Watson's Water Challenge exhibition-tournament at Hong Kong in the first week of 2001, beating third seed Chanda Rubin 3-6 4-1 retired (Rubin retired due to a knee-injury), second seed Elena Dementieva 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the semis, and top seed Anna Kournikova 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 in the final. She also won the doubles with Olga Barabanschikova, beating top seeds Kournikova and Lisa Raymond 8-5 in the final. It didn't count as a WTA Tour title, and carried no ranking-points, but Jelena's results were very encouraging!
A dramatic and controversial chain of events occurred at the Australian Open 2001. After being drawn against second seed Lindsay Davenport on Friday 12th January, Jelena announced on Saturday that she would play under the Yugoslav flag from now on, not Australia, and this was ratified by the WTA and by the Australian Open organisers on Sunday. "If anybody has been attacked the way I am in the media, they would feel the same way," she explained, while her father Damir openly accused them of draw-rigging, and claimed that Jelena would beat Davenport and then pull out of the tournament.
����������� The scene was set for a dramatic and theatric match against Davenport on Monday, with the Australian crowd ready to lynch Jelena for her defection. But Jelena blocked out the distractions and played a fantastic match, losing only 4-6 6-4 6-3 to the defending champion. This shows tremendous strength of character, which comes from growing up as a refugee in Yugoslavia with a father like Damir, and all the adversity she's had to face. We can only admire her for that.
����������� Perhaps surprisingly, Jelena still played in the women's doubles with Jennifer Capriati after that. They beat Yayuk Basuki and Caroline Vis 6-2 6-3 in the first round, and were beaten in the second round 6-3 6-3 by Monica Seles and Martina Hingis. Jelena also played mixed doubles with fellow Yugoslav Nenad Zimonjic. They upset fifth seeds Paola Su�rez and Martin Garc�a in the first round, beat Cara Black and Kevin Ullyett to reach the quarter-finals, then Jelena withdrew - not in protest, but with a back-injury.
Jelena's switch to Yugoslavian nationality means that three of my favourite players have all played for Yugoslavia in their careers! :-) Monica Seles represented Yugoslavia before she became a US citizen, and Iva Majoli played for Yugoslavia before Croatia was recognised as a nationality. Sadly, some of Jelena's fans (Australian fans in particular) have disowned her for turning her back on Australia, but I have non-nationalistic principles and support Jelena in whatever decisions she makes about her nationality. In my book, judging a person by their nationality is no different or better than racism.
The Dokic family left Australia for good after the Open. Jelena did not play until the Ericsson Open in late March, having used up the number of tournaments she could play as a seventeen-year-old. After a rusty 3-6 6-3 6-4 start against Miroslava Vavrinec, she showed improvements in her game - particularly her serve - in thrashing Marta Marrero 6-2 6-1. Then she upset sixth seed Amanda Coetzer 6-3 7-5 in the fourth round, before falling to third seed Venus Williams 6-2 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Jelena was improving in leaps and bounds, but she needed to improve her tactical awareness and court-craft, focusing on constructing rallies rather than individual shots.
Moving on to the claycourt season, Jelena beat Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-3 in the second round (after a bye) of Amelia Island, but Amanda Coetzer avenged her Miami defeat 6-4 2-6 6-3. Iva Majoli beat Jelena 6-3 0-6 6-2 in the first round of Charleston. Jelena reached the semi-finals of Hamburg, beating Barbara Rittner 4-6 6-2 6-2, fifth seed Magdalena Maleeva 6-1 6-1, fourth seed Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 3-6 7-6 6-2, and lost 6-3 6-1 to top seed Venus Williams in the last four. On the ultra-slow red clay at Berlin, she lost 7-5 3-6 6-4 to third seed Jennifer Capriati in the second round.
Jelena won the first WTA title of her career at the Italian Open - a Tier I tournament! She won six matches to do so: �sa Carlsson 6-3 6-2, Patty Schnyder 6-2 3-6 6-4, Rita Kuti Kis 6-3 6-3, Joannette Kruger 6-2 7-6, third seed Conchita Mart�nez 6-3 6-2, and fourth seed Am�lie Mauresmo (a hot favourite after upsetting Hingis in the semis) 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 in the final. Jelena hit beautiful winners... and looked beautiful in a white and cyan dress with spaghetti-straps and no brassi�re - apparently she had all the support she needed! ;-> Her winning smile at the end was wonderful to behold. Jelena broke into the top twenty for the first time in her career, at #18, and the WTA named her Player of the Month for May.
Jelena looked well-placed for a great run at the French Open, especially as first-round defeats for Mauresmo and Venus Williams left Jelena's half of the draw wide open, with only Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin looking likely to trouble her before the final. Jelena made a golden start, dishing out the first double bagel of her career to beat Adriana Gersi 6-0 6-0. She beat Marissa Irvin 6-1 6-2, but suffered a shock third-round defeat to Petra Mandula - a qualifier ranked #131 - 3-6 6-4 6-4. "I don't think it was me out there," said Jelena, who was injured apparently.
����������� Jelena reached the final of the women's doubles with Conchita Mart�nez. They beat Alicia Molik and Lilia Osterloh 6-4 6-1, Nathalie Dechy and Nadia Petrova 6-2 1-6 6-2, third seeds Cara Black and Elena Likhovtseva 4-6 6-1 6-1, eighth seeds Nicole Arendt and Caroline Vis 6-3 6-4, and top seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 7-5 6-2. In the final they were beaten 6-2 6-1 by second seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Su�rez.
Jelena started off her grasscourt season with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 defeat by Alicia Molik in her opening match at Birmingham, but reached the semi-finals of 's-Hertogenbosch beating Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-4 6-2, Miriam Oremans 6-2 6-2, Henrieta Nagyov� 6-2 6-0, and losing to Kim Clijsters 6-4 6-2.
At Wimbledon, Jelena beat Rossana de los R�os 7-5 6-1, Jennifer Hopkins 6-2 6-4 and Barbara Schett 6-3 7-5, but third seed Lindsay Davenport inflicted her earliest-ever Wimbledon exit, 7-5 6-4 in the fourth round. Jelena dropped back from #16 to #23 in the rankings. After her third-round win, Jelena was upset and angry about a tabloid-article which insulted her father, and about the tournament-organisers not sending a car to take her to the match. "They're really bandits," she fumed.
Jelena lost to qualifier Jelena Kostanic in her opening match at Vienna, and to Denisa Chladkov� in the first round of Knokke-Heist. She reached the semi-finals of Sopot, but lost 6-2 6-4 to Gala Le�n Garc�a. Three very unnecessary claycourt tournaments in Jelena's overcrowded schedule; however, she did go back up to #20 in the rankings.
In the North American hardcourt season, Jelena lost to Jennifer Capriati 6-4 6-2 in the third round of San Diego, to Nathalie Tauziat 6-0 0-6 6-2 in the third round of Manhattan Beach, and to Monica Seles 6-3 7-6 in the third round of Toronto. Jelena moved up to #14.
Jelena upset eighth seed Elena Dementieva 4-6 7-5 6-4 in the first round of New Haven, thrashed Lisa Raymond 6-3 6-0 in the second round, and lost to second seed Jennifer Capriati 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals. She reached the fourth round of the US Open again, beating Selesian player Adriana Serra-Zanetti 6-2 3-6 6-3, Lilia Osterloh 6-3 6-3, and Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-4 7-5. She went 3-0 up against top seed Martina Hingis in the fourth round, but capitulated to a 6-4 6-0 defeat. She moved up to #12.
After the US Open, Jelena found the richest vein of form of her career so far. It started at Bahia, where she beat Iva Majoli 6-1 6-2, Samantha Reeves 6-3 6-2, Rossana de los R�os 6-0 6-2, and lost to Monica Seles 6-3 6-3 in the first WTA final between two of my players! Jelena moved up to #11.
Jelena won her second WTA title at the Tokyo Princess Cup, beating Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-4 6-4, Meilen Tu 6-2 6-2, top seed Kim Clijsters 7-5 6-4, and fifth seed Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-4 6-2 in the final. But she was upset in the second round (after a bye) of Leipzig 4-6 7-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-0 by the very talented Daniela Hantuchov�, who had won four matches to qualify and reach the second round. Jelena served for the match at 6-4 6-5, had a match-point, then lost every game left in the match.
Jelena won her third title at Moscow, beating Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-3 5-7 7-5, Galina Fokina 6-4 6-3, Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-0, Silvia Farina Elia 6-4 6-3, and Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-3 in the final. Jelena broke into the top ten for the first time at #10. She pulled out of Shanghai with an ankle-strain sustained during the Moscow final. She was then runner-up at Z�rich, beating Chanda Rubin 6-4 6-4, Silvia Farina Elia 6-4 7-6, Nathalie Tauziat 6-2 6-2, and losing to her nemesis Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-1 in the final. Jelena moved up to #9.
Jelena was also runner up at Linz, beating Iva Majoli 7-6 6-7 6-3, Alexandra Stevenson 6-3 7-5, and Iroda Tulyaganova 6-2 4-6 6-0 in the semi-finals - I acquired a video of that mouthwatering match from a fellow Iroda fan, and Jelena played the best I've ever seen her play in terms of tactical variety and spreading. Again she lost to Davenport in the final, this time 6-4 6-1. Jelena moved up to #8 - her ranking for the rest of the year.
����������� Jelena won the first WTA doubles title of her career at Linz, with Nadia Petrova. They beat Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 6-4, top seeds Elena Likhovtseva and Ai Sugiyama 6-1 6-2, Petra Mandula and Patricia Wartusch 6-1 6-1, and in the final Els Callens and Chanda Rubin 6-1 6-4.
Jelena qualified for the season-ending WTA Tour Championships for the first time in her career, beating Meghann Shaughnessy 7-6 6-2 in the first round, and losing to second seed Lindsay Davenport 6-4 6-2 in the quarter-finals. This was the year it was held in Munich - I was very angry that it was moved there, because the WTA knew full well that Monica Seles wouldn't play in Germany after the Stabbing.
Jelena chose to skip the Australian Open, saying it was "too far away" - but the real reason was that she didn't feel welcome in the country she had abandoned in such acrimonious circumstances a year before. She dropped from #7 to #9 as two players overtook her by playing the Australian Open. So she started her season in February, losing in the second round (after a bye) of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open to Anne Kremer 7-5 6-2. "It is tough to come back from months off," she admitted.
Jelena kept her concentration much better as she reached the final of Paris, beating Cristina Torrens Valero 6-3 6-2, Elena Dementieva 5-7 6-1 6-2, and scoring her first-ever victory over Monica Seles 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the semi-finals. But it came at a price - sadly Jelena sustained a thigh-injury during that match and had to miss the final, handing the title to Venus Williams by default. Jelena went up to #6 in the rankings.
Jelena should have pulled out of Antwerp too, but playing with both thighs taped up like an Egyptian mummy, she retired from her opening match against Patty Schnyder at 6-4 4-6 1-1 (from Jelena's perspective). She fell back to #8, and next played in March, suffering two more defeats by Anne Kremer: 6-3 6-0 in the third round of Indian Wells, and 6-3 6-1 in the third round of Miami. "I was just 50% but I wanted to try," she said.
Jelena put her injury-problems aside to win the fourth WTA singles-title of her career at Sarasota without dropping a set. She beat Conchita Mart�nez 6-2 7-5, Anna Smashnova (Pistolesi) 6-1 6-0, Patty Schnyder 6-1 7-5, Virginie Razzano 6-3 1-0 retired, and Tatiana Panova 6-2 6-2 in the final. She also won the doubles title at Sarasota with Elena Likhovtseva, beating Els Callens and Conchita Mart�nez 6-7 6-3 6-3 in the final.
Unfortunately Jelena's health-problems were far from behind her. She reached the semi-finals of Amelia Island with a stunning 6-2 6-0 victory over Mary Pierce, 6-3 6-4 over Emmanuelle Gagliardi, and Elena Dementieva 0-6 7-6 6-1. But she had to retire from her semi-final with a stomach-virus when Justine Henin was leading 6-2 4-1.
Jelena crashed out of Charleston with a defensive 6-1 6-3 loss to Anna Smashnova in her opening match. She then reached the semi-finals of Hamburg, beating Anastasia Myskina 6-3 0-6 6-2, Conchita Mart�nez 3-6 6-2 6-1 and Justine Henin 7-6 7-6, but retired in tears with a recurrence of her thigh-injury when trailing 4-6 4-4 against Kim Clijsters in the semis.
Jelena beat Mary Pierce 1-6 6-3 6-1 in the second round of Berlin, but lost 6-2 6-3 to Daniela Hantuchov� in the third round. She beat Anna Smashnova 6-3 3-6 6-1 in the second round of the Italian Open, but her title-defence ended with a 5-7 6-4 6-3 loss to Anastasia Myskina in the third round.
Jelena reached the final of Strasbourg, beating Tina Pisnik 6-4 7-5, Jelena Kostanic 4-6 6-4 6-3 and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1 6-2. But she was runner-up to Silvia Farina Elia, as the second seed upset her 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the final.
Jelena reached the quarter-finals of the French Open for the first time, beating Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4 6-2, Conchita Mart�nez 3-6 7-6 6-2, Elena Likhovtseva 6-2 6-3 and Katarina Srebotnik 7-6 6-2. She went for broke against top-seeded defending champion Jennifer Capriati in the quarters, and came off a gallant 6-4 4-6 6-1 loser.
Jelena won her fifth WTA singles-title on grass at Birmingham, beating Lucie Ahl 7-6 6-4, Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-2, Eleni Daniilidou 6-4 4-6 6-4, Lisa Raymond 6-1 7-5, and Anastasia Myskina 6-2 6-3 in the final. But she lost her opening match at Eastbourne to Daja Bedanov� - she was unhappy that, as the top seed, she had been moved to Court 1 after provisionally being scheduled to play on Centre Court.
At Wimbledon, Jelena beat Elena Tatarkova 7-6 6-4, and came perilously close to a traumatic second-round exit against Kveta Hrdlickov�, eventually winning 6-0 4-6 8-6. She beat Nathalie Dechy 7-5 6-2 in the third round, but again went out in the fourth round, 6-4 7-5 to Daniela Hantuchov� after a 156-minute rain-delay with Jelena leading 4-2 in the second. This gave Daniela a 3-0 lead in their senior head-to-heads. Jelena's good grasscourt season elevated her to #6, having spent most of the last five months oscillating between #8 and #9.
Jelena scored some great wins in the North American hardcourt season, despite continuing problems with injury, inconsistency, and so-called "big-babe tennis". At Stanford she beat Amy Frazier 6-3 7-5, Conchita Mart�nez 1-6 6-0 6-1, but lost 6-2 6-2 to Lindsay Davenport (who was playing her first tournament after nine months out with a knee-injury). But this was enough for Jelena to move into the top five for the first time, at #5.
Jelena had a fantastic tournament at San Diego, beating Gala Le�n Garc�a 6-2 7-5, Anastasia Myskina 6-4 6-3, second seed Jennifer Capriati 2-6 6-2 6-4 (which Jelena considered as "the biggest win of my career"), and Anna Kournikova 6-7 7-6 6-0 to reach the final, where she was trounced 6-2 6-2 by top seed Venus Williams.
Jelena reached the semi-finals of Manhattan Beach with three easy wins over lesser players, but - suffering from 'flu which affected her movement and mental application - she lost 6-0 6-2 to Chanda Rubin. However, Jelena won the doubles title with Kim Clijsters, beating Daniela Hantuchov� and Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-3 in the final.
Damir Dokic wanted Jelena to move to and play for Britain, after officials in Belgrade denied planning-permission for a family mansion and tennis-centre. But Jelena wanted to stay in Yugoslavia. The relationship between father and daughter was also strained by Damir - still Jelena's sole coach, but no longer travelling with her on a regular basis - refusing to talk about tennis with her.
Jelena beat Martina Hingis 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals of Montr�al - Hingis's first tournament in three months after undergoing ankle-surgery. But she retired with a knee-injury while trailing Jennifer Capriati 6-7 0-4 in the semi-finals - her fourth retirement of the year. Nevertheless, Jelena moved up to #4 - the highest ranking of her career so far. She pulled out of New Haven with a strained hamstring, and crashed out of the US Open in the second round, losing 6-3 6-2 to Elena Bovina (Jelena refused to use her injury as an excuse).
Jelena reached the semi-finals of Bahia, but lost to Anastasia Myskina 6-2 6-4. She also reached the semi-finals in defence of her Tokyo Princess Cup title, losing 5-7 6-2 6-3 to Kim Clijsters (Jelena was still ranked higher than Clijsters, although she moved down from #4 to #5 after that loss). Then she lost three opening-round matches in a row: to Meghann Shaughnessy at Leipzig, to Amanda Coetzer at Moscow, and to Tatiana Panova at Filderstadt. With so many points from Autumn 2001 coming off, her ranking suddenly dropped from #5 to #8 after Moscow.
Jelena had a major row with her parents at Filderstadt over her boyfriend, racing-driver Enrique Bernoldi, to whom Damir had taken an intense dislike. It culminated in Jelena leaving her parents, and having them banned from the players-only areas of tournaments (usually, players' parents are given complimentary VIP-passes for tournaments). Damir said he never wanted to see Jelena again.
Jelena beat Iva Majoli 6-1 6-4 in the first round of Z�rich, but lost to Alexandra Stevenson 7-6 4-6 7-5 in the second. She beat Jill Craybas 6-2 6-1 in the second round of Linz, but lost 7-5 6-2 to Chanda Rubin in the quarter-finals. Jelena and Nadia Petrova successfully defended their doubles title at Linz, beating Akiko Fujiwara and Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-2 in the final.
Finally, at the season-ending Home Depot Championships in Los Angeles, Jelena beat Anastasia Myskina 6-3 6-4 in the first round, but lost 7-6 6-0 to top seed Serena Williams in the quarter-finals. She finished the year ranked #9 - no doubt she would have been ranked even higher if she had not been plagued by injuries and had played a sensible tournament-schedule in 2002.
Jelena said in late 2002 that she needed to play fewer tournaments - but in 2003 she played 30 tournaments as compared with 29 in 2002! Playing week-in week-out, she got stuck in a vicious cycle of travelling and early exits, and had a much worse year than 2001 or 2002. Whether because of overplaying, or because of her rift with her parents, or because she was enjoying too much her life with Enrique Bernoldi (to whom she was engaged, according to insiders - but by the end of 2003 they had split up), by her own admission she was not as strong mentally as before.
She appointed Heinz Gunthardt as her new coach. He tried to add new attacking options to Jelena's game, such as taking the ball earlier and coming in more. No doubt this was intended to pay long-term dividends, but Jelena couldn't reconcile practice with match-play, and endured a severe slump under his tutelage. By June she had replaced him with a more understanding coach: Borna Bikic.
Jelena again skipped the Australian Open, as she didn't feel ready to face her demons in that country, and feared the public reaction there. "If something went wrong mentally, I would not feel good after that." So again she started at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, where she beat Angelique Widjaja 7-6 6-4, but lost 6-4 6-2 to Lisa Raymond in the quarter-finals. The problem was, Jelena started with no match-play compared with her opponents.
Jelena beat Emilie Loit 6-4 6-3 in Paris, but lost 6-1 6-3 to Eleni Daniilidou in the quarter-finals. She then suffered three consecutive opening-match losses: to Ai Sugiyama at Antwerp, to Meghann Shaughnessy at Scottsdale, and to Barbara Rittner at Indian Wells.
Jelena did much better at Miami, where she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 6-1, Nathalie Dechy 6-3 6-2, and Alicia Molik 6-1 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. But she wasn't ready to take on the top players yet, and lost 6-2 6-0 to Kim Clijsters.
Jelena's title-defence at Sarasota failed at the first hurdle, with an ignominious 6-3 6-3 first-round defeat by Paola Su�rez which saw her ranking drop from #10 to #11. She reached the quarter-finals at Charleston, beating Maja Matevzic 6-1 6-4 and Elena Dementieva 4-6 6-4 7-5, but lost 6-2 6-2 to Serena Williams - holder of all four Major titles. Jelena lost to Lisa Raymond again in the third round of Amelia Island.
Jelena reached her first (and penultimate) semi-final of the year at Warsaw, where she beat Myriam Casanova 7-5 7-6, Mag�i Serna 7-5 6-2, and lost to second seed Am�lie Mauresmo 7-5 6-2. She lost to Iroda Tulyaganova 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7/0) in the third round of Berlin.
Jelena left the court in tears after losing 6-4 3-6 7-5 to Conchita Mart�nez in the first round of the Italian Open. She refused to give Mart�nez any credit, bemoaning her own poor form - "I just hope that a change comes quickly," she said. She lost her opening match at Strasbourg to Karolina Sprem - a qualifier ranked #165. Jelena dropped out of the top ten for good - having oscillated between #11 and #10 since the beginning of April, she was now firmly down to #11.
Jelena beat Angelika Roesch 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the French Open, but failed against whom she had succeeded in 2000, losing 4-6 6-3 6-2 to Tina Pisnik in the second round. Curiously choosing to play another claycourt tournament instead of defending her Birmingham title, she lost to Paola Su�rez again in the quarter-finals of Vienna.
Jelena looked set for a disastrous Wimbledon when she crashed out of Eastbourne 6-3 6-1 to qualifier Saori Obata in the first round. I attended that match, and Jelena played suicidally badly. "When your confidence is as low as mine is, it is hard to fight," she confessed. "My game isn't right, but that is not because I'm not working hard enough."
Jelena nearly came a cropper in the first round of Wimbledon, too. You could hear the emotion in her grunt as she gritted out a 6-3 1-6 6-4 victory over wild card Elena Baltacha. She eased past Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-1 6-3, but suffered her earliest-ever Wimbledon exit in the third round, at the fair hands of Maria Sharapova. It was a mouthwatering match: both girls played well, but the brilliant sixteen-year-old wild card powered her way to a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Unfortunately Wimbledon did not prove to be the upswing in fortunes that Jelena was hoping for. Although she beat Alexandra Stevenson 6-3 6-2 in the second round of Stanford, she lost to qualifier Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals. She lost to Chanda Rubin in the third round of San Diego, to Svetlana Kuznetsova in her opening match at Manhattan Beach, and to Vera Zvonar�va in the third round of Toronto. Her ranking plunged from #12 to #23 in the space of three weeks.
Jelena had another mini-revival at New Haven, where she breezed past Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2 6-4 - but was snuffed out in the second round 6-2 6-1 by Lindsay Davenport. Jelena also threatened to return to form at the US Open, as she beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4 6-2 in the first round, then lost 6-2 6-7(5) 7-6(5) to Mary Pierce after a topsy-turvy match in which Jelena saved a match-point at 4-5 in the second (with a clean winner), but choked on a 5-1 lead in the third.
Jelena's slump continued into the autumn, as she lost to Tathiana Garbin in the first round of Bali, and to Dinara Safina in the second round of Shanghai. She put up a respectable performance against world number one Kim Clijsters in the second round of Leipzig before losing 6-3 6-4 - Jelena had leads in both sets, but appeared to wilt mentally. She was now down to her lowest ranking of the year: #26.
Jelena seemed to be plumbing new depths as she lost 6-3 6-1 to Alexandra Stevenson in the first round of Moscow, and appeared to give up as she lost 7-5 6-0 to Magdalena Maleeva in the first round of Filderstadt. Fortunately, appearances were about to prove to be deceptive! :-)
Jelena had an amazing return to form at Z�rich, notching four improbable victories to reach her only final of the year. She beat Chanda Rubin 6-1 5-7 6-4, Alexandra Stevenson 4-6 7-5 6-1 and Patty Schnyder 6-0 6-3. "It's been 14-15 months, I haven't had a match like that and felt so good on the court." Jelena upset world number one Kim Clijsters 1-6 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals, storming back from 1-6 0-3 with six games in a row! But the final was one match too many as she lost 6-0 6-4 to the true world number one, Justine Henin-Hardenne. Jelena's ranking shot up from #25 to #14.
Jelena carried her newfound form into Linz, where she ruthlessly brought Daniela Hantuchov�'s own poor year to an end with a 6-4 6-1 thrashing. She avenged her French Open 2001 defeat by Petra Mandula 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the second round, but was derailed by second seed Ai Sugiyama 6-4 6-7 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Jelena finished the year ranked #15.
Jelena looked set to play in Australia for the first time since January 2001, as she actually entered the Australian Open. But she withdrew from the warm-up at Auckland due to "personal reasons". Her father Damir claimed that Jelena had reconciled with the family following her broken engagement to Enrique Bernoldi. Then Jelena pulled out of the Australian Open the day before the draw was made, claiming that she was physically underprepared.
Jelena started her year on the same positive note on which she had finished her 2003 season, as she reached the semi-finals of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open beating Cara Black 3-6 7-6 6-1, Janette Hus�rov� 7-6 6-7 6-1 and Tatiana Panova 6-1 6-1. But, hampered by a left-leg strain, she was thrashed 6-1 6-0 by an on-form Lindsay Davenport in the last four. "My head is the key to winning matches," Jelena said.
But then Jelena embarked on what was to become the deepest slump of her career as she lost her opening match at Paris to Elena Bovina, followed by a humiliating 6-1 6-2 first-round defeat to her nemesis Petra Mandula in the first round of Dubai. "I don't think there was a rally of more than three balls from my side," she confessed.
Struggling to find her rhythm or her serve, Jelena scraped past Nicole Pratt 0-6 6-3 6-4 in the first round of Doha, and crashed out to Jie Zheng 6-4 6-1 in the second round. She lost her opening match at Indian Wells to Gala Le�n Garc�a.
Jelena reached the fourth round at Miami courtesy of a bye followed by a walkover, followed by a 7-5 6-4 win over Kristina Brandi. She lost to Elena Dementieva 5-7 6-1 6-3 in the round of 16.
On the American green-clay leg of the tour, Jelena lost to Amy Frazier in the first round of Amelia Island. Her 6-0 5-7 7-5 win over Tatiana Panova in the first round of Charleston was to be her last win on the WTA Tour for 2004. She lost to Petra Mandula in the second round.
Jelena played Fed Cup for Serbia and Montenegro in late April, beating Lina Stanciute 6-0 6-4 as they defeated Lithuania 3:0, and Sofia Arvidsson 5-7 7-5 6-3 as they defeated Sweden 3:0. But Jelena sustained a groin-injury and pulled out before her match against Sesil Karatancheva as Serbia and Montenegro lost 1:2 to Bulgaria and thus remained in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I for 2005.
Jelena's woes worsened as she dropped out of the top 20 on 3rd May, and lost 6-0 6-3 to Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round of Berlin, 7-5 7-5 to beautiful Maria Elena Camerin in the first round of Rome, and 6-4 6-1 to world #103 Tatiana Perebiynis in the first round of the French Open. Judging by the statistics, Jelena wasn't playing anything resembling sensible tennis.
The main reason for Jelena's slump emerged during the grasscourt season: her rift with father Damir was now so bad that she appointed extra security at tournaments to counter his threats to confront her (he was demanding psychiatric and drug-tests for his daughter). Jelena said their relationship was unlikely ever to be reconciled, and was very upset that she could no longer see her mother and brother. "I cannot get much lower than I am at the moment," she tearfully said.
Jelena lost her opening match at Birmingham to Shenay Perry 6-4 7-6. I was there, and I observed that she was absolutely rushing between points, mixing spectacular winners with equally spectacular unforced errors. Full marks for entertainment at least! ;-)
Jelena lost in the first round of Eastbourne to Tina Pisnik 6-2 6-2, and she did not rediscover her magical affinity with Wimbledon as she lost in the first round to the promising and very pretty 19-year-old Gisela Dulko. Jelena took more time between points than at Birmingham, but seemed unable to concentrate or to show any of her usual competitive spirit, and Gisela capitalised with a mature performance to win 6-3 6-3.
Jelena claimed that she was doing much better in practice-sessions than in matches, as there was no pressure. And I guess she had a lot of time for practising as she took two months off after Wimbledon for "rest and recovery", only returning to play the US Open. In this period, her ranking slipped from #25 to #38.
Jelena drew the on-form 28th seed Nathalie Dechy at the US Open, and showed much better fighting spirit before bowing out 3-6 6-0 7-5. She even served for the match at 5-4 in the third.
Jelena ended her miserable season with a 6-3 6-0 loss to Tamarine Tanasugarn at Beijing, which extended her losing-streak to nine matches in a row. She pulled out of the rest of her tournaments citing a right-elbow injury. On 18th October, her ranking plunged from #44 to #105 as the points for reaching the Z�rich 2003 final came off. She would finish 2004 ranked #124.
On 19th October came the surprising news that Jelena had reconciled with her father Damir! She had left Monte Carlo where she had lived for two years, and was living with her family in Belgrade. She planned to kick-start her career in 2005, with Damir as her coach (having reportedly ended her coaching relationship with Borna Bikic and her romantic relationship with his brother Tino). But she was in poor health, and underwent surgery to remove her tonsils and to correct a congenital problem with her nose that had been affecting her breathing.
Jelena started her season at Pattaya City, where she snapped her nine-match losing-streak with a 7-6 6-3 win over Anne Kremer in the first round - her first victory since April 2004. But she was trailing Alyona Bondarenko 6-7 0-1 when she retired with a left leg/groin-injury.
����������� Her ranking plunged from #124 to #209 as the points from her semi-final showing at Tokyo 2004 came off.
She played Hyderabad the following week, but lost 7-6 6-3 to Mara Santangelo in the first round. She tried to qualify for Indian Wells, beating Lilia Osterloh 3-6 6-4 6-4, but losing 7-6 6-0 to Mar�a Emilia Salerni in the second qualifying-round.
����������� On 4th April, her ranking took another nosedive as the points from Miami 2004 came off: from #237 to #336; two weeks later she plummeted again to #447, and on 25th April it reached its trough for the year: #450.
After crashing out of Estoril with a 6-2 3-6 6-2 first-round loss to Alyona Bondarenko, Jelena announced that she was considering stepping down to the ITF Women's Circuit. "I would not like to go down to Challenger events, but matches-wise and confidence-wise, it could be a good thing. My tennis isn't there, so I have to build it up from the beginning, like I did when I was 14."
But first she enjoyed her best tournament of 2005, winning four matches in a row to qualify and reach the second round of Rabat. To qualify, she beat Carolina Malheiros 6-0 6-1, Mar�a Vanina Garc�a Sokol 5-0 retired, and the pretty little Slovak girl Dominika Cibulkov� 6-4 6-1. In the main draw, she thrashed Lubom�ra Kurhajcov� 6-2 6-2, but lost 6-0 3-6 6-2 to top seed Li,Na in the second round.
����������� Jelena was rewarded with a rise from #443 to #364 in the rankings.
But she lost 6-4 6-1 to Zuzana Ondr�kov� in the first round of Prague - after which she announced she was taking a seven-week break from competition (thus skipping the French Open and Wimbledon), during which time she would be training and practising. She was offered a wild card to play in the qualifying for Wimbledon, but declined. "I refused since I didn't have enough time to prepare for grass."
Then Jelena dropped down to the ITF Women's Circuit, starting with ITF Fano during the second week of Wimbledon. But the lower level didn't make things any easier for her, as she crashed 6-3 6-1 to Eva Birnerov� in the first round.
Jelena then revealed that she stopped working with Borna Bikic at Indian Wells. "Since then I am alone, I train alone, I travel alone." This implies that she had become estranged from her father Damir some time after October 2004 and before March 2005. But Tino Bikic was still her boyfriend.
Jelena played ITF Cuneo the following week, losing to Conchita Mart�nez-Granados (not to be confused with Conchita Mart�nez) 6-4 5-7 6-0 in the first round. It was at Cuneo that she played her only doubles of the year: she and Tina Pisnik upset top seeds Eva Birnerov� and Andreea Vanc in the first round, before losing to Sara Errani and Giulia Gabba in the second.
Jelena pulled out of ITF Vittel, but tried to qualify for the following week's ITF Petange: she beat Mar�a Vanina Garc�a Sokol 7-5 6-1, Maria Geznenge 6-0 6-1, but, having to play her second and third qualifying-matches on the same day, she lost to Laura Vallverd�-Zaira 6-0 4-6 7-5 (after fighting back from 0-6 0-3).
����������� She got into the main draw as a lucky loser, but withdrew before her first match - we don't know why she withdrew, but after her qualifying-campaign, she had said: "An elbow-injury as well as private problems were the reasons of my crash."
Jelena successfully qualified for ITF Martina Franca, beating Stefanie Haidner 7-6 6-3, Tessy van de Ven 6-3 6-1 and Zuzana Kucov� 6-3 6-3. In the main draw, she beat Ivana Abramovic 6-7 6-3 6-4, but was losing to Lourdes Dom�nguez Lino 1-6 0-1 when she retired with a left-adductor contracture.
����������� Her ranking rose from #367 to #336; it would gradually sink to a year-end ranking of #349.
ITF Martina Franca proved to be her last tournament of 2005, and it was only August. She pulled out of ITF Rimini and ITF Coimbra, and in September, she didn't bother to turn up for - or withdraw from - ITF Glasgow (the term for this is no-show). She withdrew from ITF Porto with a sinus-problem, pulled two more no-shows at ITF Nantes and ITF Jersey, and withdrew from ITF Seville and ITF Saint Raphael (these two withdrawals are believed to be automatic, as Jelena was banned from the ITF circuit until she paid her fines for the no-shows).
Jelena's disappearance led to a number of rumours, such as: that she wasn't answering her telephone, that she was no longer on speaking terms with her father but maintained irregular contact with her mother (with three months' complete silence from August to November), that no one knew where she was (she is now believed to have been living in Croatia), that she was no longer practising, even that she had retired from professional tennis. These rumours - together with the no-shows and a total lack of quotes from Jelena herself - painted a picture of a young lady who had lost the plot and cut herself off from the real world. We were all very concerned about her.
We finally got some real news in November: Jelena had decided to return to Australia, and to play for Australia in 2006 (starting with January's tournaments in Australia for the first time since 2001). "I am Australian, I feel like an Australian, and I want to play for Australia again."
����������� On 5th December, the WTA changed Jelena's nationality from SCG to AUS.
Jelena arrived in Melbourne on 3rd December to attend the Australian Open training-camp, culminating in the Australian Open wild-card play-off: a 16-player knockout-tournament where the winner was awarded a wild card into the main draw of the Australian Open 2006. Despite suffering from a groin-injury which induced her to wear tracksuit-bottoms, Jelena won the wild-card play-off, beating Beti Sekulovski 6-2 7-6, Shayna McDowell 7-6 6-1, Trudi Musgrave 6-1 6-3, and Monique Adamczak 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the final.
����������� Jelena appointed Lesley Bowrey as her new coach, reestablishing the relationship that her father had severed in 1999. It was just a temporary appointment which they planned to review after the Australian Open.
I was optimistic about Jelena's future at the start of 2006, feeling that things could only get better after seeming to hit rock-bottom in 2005, followed by her return to Australia. But she suffered her worst year yet, playing only eight tournaments, sacking three different coaches, and crashing out of the top 600 instead of getting back into the top 300!
Auckland was a harsh reality-check for Jelena-fans, as she crashed out in the first round to world #81 Julia Schruff 5-7 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 after Schruff had served to stay in the match at 4-5 and 5-6 in the second. Jelena looked unfit and lacking in confidence, she served 28 double faults(!), and admitted to being "very scared of playing again" and "very nervous". She was in tears after losing the second set, and again when leaving the court.
����������� Jelena's ranking dropped from #349 to #370 on 9th January, when the WTA removed all quality-points (points based on the rankings of defeated opponents).
Jelena had sacked her new coach Lesley Bowrey just before Auckland, which Bowrey implied was for financial reasons. Jelena then pulled out of Canberra, citing a recurrence of an injury to the left abductor muscle in her groin.
It was a very similar story to Auckland as Jelena crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open: 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-1 to world #54 Virginie Razzano. She was actually robbed of victory when she had a match-point with Razzano serving 3-6 5-6 (30/40): Jelena hit a forehand winner and raised her arms in triumph, only to be told - incorrectly in the opinion of many who saw it - that it was out! She wasted a second match-point in that game, and couldn't put those missed opportunities behind her as she capitulated in the third set.
����������� Jelena: "I would have to say one of the most disappointing losses probably in my career so far. I was already really happy, and then half an hour later the most disappointed that I've ever been."
����������� According to Serbian tabloid Kurir, her estranged father Damir accused Australia of "brainwashing" Jelena; he threatened to kidnap her, to drop a nuclear bomb on Sydney, and to kill an Australian in revenge. "I'm not crazy when I say this - they are the crazy ones who give you hot sausages before the match when it's 40�C outside!"
How much Jelena let these setbacks affect her motivation, and how much her injuries were responsible for ruining her whole year, only she knows. She didn't play again until April, pulling out of Pattaya City "due to illness", and subsequently withdrawing from eight ITF tournaments. In this time, her ranking dropped from #362 to #446.
Jelena returned to action at ITF Biarritz, only to plumb new depths with a 7-5 7-5 loss in the first round of qualifying to world #678 Eleonora Punzo: a player who goes round the ITF circuit regularly getting thrashed by deplorable scorelines.
Jelena took another long break from competition, pulling out of eleven more ITF tournaments, dropping from #441 to a year-low #692 in the rankings, and surviving a minor car-crash in Zagreb on 26th April. On 21st May, it was confirmed that Jelena had been training at Iva Majoli's tennis-centre in Zagreb for the past two months, and was now being coached by Iva's brother: Dado Majoli!
Jelena's next tournament was ITF Gorizia, where she won four matches to qualify and reach the second round. In qualifying, she beat Michaela Johansson 1-6 7-5 6-4, Giulia Gatto-Monticone 6-1 7-5 and Olga Panova 6-2 6-4. In the main draw, she beat Mar�a Vanina Garc�a-Sokol 6-3 6-1, but lost to the promising and not-at-all-unattractive Madalina Gojnea 6-3 7-6. She broke back into the top 600 at #598.
Jelena tried to qualify for Wimbledon, but lost in the first qualifying round - ironically to the very player who had beaten her in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 1999, when they were both qualifiers: Alexandra Stevenson!
����������� It was another choke for Jelena, as she led 6-4 5-3*, but committed three double faults as she served for the match at 5-4. And again she left the court in tears after losing 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2. She blamed her failure to close out the match on nerves and lack of match-play.
So it was back to Italian clay for Jelena, as she tried to qualify for ITF Padova. She beat sexy Dia Evtimova 6-4 7-6 in the first qualifying round, but then lost to Larissa Carvalho 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (7/2) - yet another match which Jelena was only a second-set tiebreak away from winning.
Jelena came through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals of ITF Darmstadt. In qualifying, she beat Lenka Hojckov� 7-5 6-1 and Diana Nakic 6-1 6-3. In the main draw, she beat Franziska Etzel 6-2 6-1 and Dominika Nociarov� 6-4 6-4 before losing to Andrea Hlav�ckov� 7-6 6-1 in the quarter-finals. She rose from #618 to #522 in the rankings, only to drop back down to #616 on 7th August as the points from ITF Martina Franca 2005 came off.
Jelena didn't play at all from late July to early November, pulling out of eleven more ITF tournaments (between late July and early September). By late October, she had sacked Dado Majoli, and had started training at Nikola Pilic's tennis-academy in Munich, eager but overweight.
����������� Her personal coach at this academy was Martin Ruftner, who said: "For the next five weeks, Jelena trained very hard. She gave 100% and lost about 6kg, and was beginning to feel good about herself. Jelena was very positive about wanting to do well in the sport again."
While the game's elite were competing for the season-ending championship at Madrid, Jelena stooped to the lowest of the low: qualifying for a $10k ITF satellite at Ismaning. After receiving a bye in the first qualifying round, she advanced to the third at the expense of Mika Urbancic: 3-6 6-2 1-0 retired. There she whitewashed Lynn Blau 6-0 6-0.
����������� Jelena thus entered the main draw as both a qualifier and the seventh seed, having opted to qualify in order to obtain more match-play. She beat Danielle Harmsen 6-3 4-6 6-4, Nikola Hofmanov� 6-4 6-1 and fourth seed Sabrina Jolk 6-4 6-2 to reach the semi-finals, where she lost to eighth-seeded Astrid Besser (a lapsed Selesian, I believe) 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5).
����������� This elevated her ranking from #617 to #583, and it finished the year at #587 (on 18th December 2006).
On 20th November, Jelena went missing in Zagreb, and her father Damir told Kurir that she had been kidnapped by the Bikic brothers! Martin Ruftner added fuel to the fire by expressing his fears for her safety to Australian broadsheet The Australian, after she had failed to return to the Pilic academy on 19th November. When even Eurosport published the story on their website, I began to worry that this might be more than the latest bizarre rumour!
����������� But on 24th November, Jelena herself told Sportski Zurnal: "Of couse I haven't been kidnapped - that's complete nonsense. I have been listening to so much rubbish from my father for the last three years.
����������� "My only option is to stay with his [Pilic] academy. I am now in Zagreb looking for sponsors to finance my comeback-attempt. I feel I can still play top-level tennis, and getting back into the top 30 would satisfy my ambitions."
But on 7th December, Jelena told daily newspaper 24Sata that she had left Pilic's academy for good. My understanding is that players who wish to stay at his academy are not free to come and go as they please, or to have visitors, and that this conflicted with Jelena's relationship with her boyfriend Tino Bikic.
����������� Jelena: "I'm returning to Borna Bikic, my former coach. I'll try to return to the world's best, but I'm facing hard times and will have to be terribly strong. We [Pilic and I] simply could not agree. The offer was anything but fair. He should stay out of my private life."
Fox Sports reported that Jelena and the Bikic brothers were surrounded by an angry gang of Croatian men on 14th December after a training-session in Zagreb. The gang allegedly jostled Jelena, shouted anti-Serbian abuse, and threw fruit-juice at her. Apparently, they had been angered by her father Damir's anti-Croatian remarks. Jelena was reportedly uninjured but traumatised by the incident.
After playing two ITF $10k claycourt-tournaments at Rome in March, Jelena opted to take a long break from tennis, and having started the year at #587, she dropped out of the rankings altogether. However, in October she reported that she was training hard in Melbourne, and in December she won three matches at Tennis Australia's play-off for a wild card at the Australian Open 2008 before her campaign was cut short by a left-thigh injury.
Jelena planned to start 2007 on the ITF Women's Circuit from 15th January (instead of the Australian Open), but pulled out of six ITF tournaments after injuring her wrist in training, dropping out of the top 600 in the process.
In March, a #611-ranked Jelena started her season by attempting to qualify for ITF Rome - Real. In the first qualifying-round, she thrashed Francesca Ballarini 6-2 6-1. In the second qualifying-round, she dismissed unranked 16-year-old Madalina Lupu 6-3 6-1. But in the third qualifying-round, she lost 6-4 6-4 to Martina di Giuseppe.
����������� Jelena also played her first doubles-match since July 2005: she and Selesian player Astrid Besser lost 3-6 6-3 7-6(3) to Emilia Desiderio/Sonia Iacovacci in the first round. That remains Jelena's latest doubles-match as of the end of 2008.
The following week, Jelena successfully qualified for ITF Rome - Panda, beating Claudia Giovine 7-6 6-4 and Nicole Buitoni 6-1 6-0. But she lost 6-2 6-4 in the first round of the main draw to a player she had beaten in 2006: world #490 Giulia Gatto-Monticone. Jelena's ranking continued to fall steadily, hitting the #620 mark after this tournament.
That was the last tournament that Jelena played in 2007. She pulled out of seven further Italian ITFs between March and May. There were rumours that she was retiring in May, and her father Damir told Serbian tabloid Kurir that he was seriously ill (with diabetes, according to DokicMilan). Her ranking nosedived from #647 to #753 on 25th June, and her name disappeared from the rankings altogether when they were next updated on 9th July.
Jelena's name next appeared on the commitment-lists in September, when she entered and withdrew from two more ITFs in Italy.
In mid-October, at last we got some positive news about Jelena: she had just arrived in Melbourne, Australia, looking quite out of shape after months of inactivity (her weight had ballooned to 83kg), but ready to make a full-time commitment to fitness- and tennis-training. The following quotes are from her Tennis Australia interview, published on 17th October:
����������� "I am trying to make a full comeback, and only a few people have done it. It is not an easy position to be in; you have to earn respect all over again. It is 100 times harder than when you first come along, because everything [then] is new, and there's no pressure, and you are very young.
����������� "I just haven't played because I didn't feel within myself that I was ready to play. That's why I took pretty much the whole year off. You always have ups and downs in a career, and I have had a bit of a down period. I felt like I just wasn't ready to play, until now. I think if you are not ready, it is counterproductive to try and come back. It is better to leave it and get yourself together. That is what I have done. It has taken some time, but right now I feel like I am in a place mentally and physically that I am ready and able to compete.
����������� "I am doing a lot of fitness-stuff off the court, and am starting slowly on the court. I am trying to get my fitness sorted first and then get some rhythm on the court, and I will up the workload as I go along. I need to put in a good two to three months of hard training, and this is the best place to do it. I am under no illusions. This is going to be very difficult. I have to keep reminding myself that I am starting from scratch. But right now, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I am in a city I love, and training hard for a comeback to a game I love."
����������� And she told the Sun-Herald: "I needed some time away from the game to sort through some personal issues, but now I'm back and very focused. I'd like to think that by the end of 2008, I could be somewhere in the top 50."
As in December 2005, Jelena played in the Australian Open 2008 wild-card play-off - looking much fitter than she did in October, I must say! The format of the play-off has changed: instead of a straight knockout, the 16 competitors were drawn into four round-robin groups, with the two best players from each group advancing to the quarter-finals. From 15th to 17th December, Jelena won her three round-robin matches: she beat 17-year-old Alenka Hubacek 7-6 (7/2) 6-0, Christina Wheeler 3-6 7-6 (7/0) 6-3, and Karolina Wlodarczak 6-2 2-6 6-4. None of these girls were ranked in the top 200.
����������� Jelena said: "I didn't pretty much touch my racquet for six months and fitness either, so I've come a long way and done as much as I can do in training. Obviously, my fitness is not there yet. It will just take a lot of matches like this. These girls are actually supposed to beat me, so I don't think I have any pressure on me."
����������� On 19th December, Jelena was trailing 16-year-old schoolgirl Olivia Rogowska 3-6 1-3 in the quarter-finals when she retired with a left-thigh injury. (Rogowska went on to reach to reach the final, but it was Wheeler who won the wild card, despite having been beaten by Jelena in the round robin.)
So Jelena didn't win a main-draw wild card for the Australian Open as she did two years ago. She could still have been given one at the discretion of Tennis Australia, but she said: "I would rather play qualifying. That would suit me better overall for my game. The harder I'm made to work early on, the easier later on it will be to get up the rankings. The injury was from not playing a lot of tennis. You do as much as you can in practice, but lack of matchplay is difficult."
2008 was something of an encouraging turnaround for Jelena, as she had her best year since 2003 if not 2002. She compiled a 35:10 win/loss record mainly on the ITF circuit, winning the first three ITF singles-titles of her career: Florence, Caserta and Darmstadt (where she won the final 6-0 6-0). Unranked at the start of the year, she rose to #179 at the end of it. She also won the Australian Open wild-card play-off in December to earn a place in the main draw of the Australian Open 2009. She was trimmer, fitter and more confident than in 2004-2007, and seemed to have put her personal problems of those years - when she battled severe depression after her well-documented family problems - behind her.
On the other hand, Jelena failed to make an impact on the WTA Tour or the Majors in 2008. She won four matches to qualify and reach the second round of Hobart in January, but after that, all she had to show at these levels were first-round main-draw losses at F�s and Strasbourg, and second-round qualifying-losses at the Australian Open and Linz. I just hope that she can reestablish herself on the WTA Tour in 2009, before it's too late - I've read rumours that she might retire at 26 if she fails to do so.
Jelena won four matches in a row to qualify for Hobart and reach the second round. In the first round of qualifying, she battled past world #593 Evgenia Linetskaya (who had been as high as #35 in 2005 before falling off the face of the Earth due to personal problems) 3-6 6-4 6-1. She then beat #71 Yvonne Meusburger 6-3 6-2 and #83 Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2 6-3 to qualify.
����������� In the first round of the main draw, Jelena overcame a second-set walkabout to defeat world #54 Martina M�ller 6-4 0-6 6-2. "I was getting tired in the match - it was a little bit hot out there," said Jelena. "For me, coming off two years' lay-off, it's physically and mentally hard to keep going each day, and that's why I lost the second set. I really fought hard from 2-0 down in the third, and I think I played some really good tennis to come back and win the big points in the third."
����������� This set up a mouthwatering second-round match with Flavia Pennetta, who would rise from #39 to #13 by the end of 2008. Sadly, Jelena retired trailing 0-5 with a right-ankle injury. At least that saved her from having to choose between playing a Hobart quarter-final and going to Melbourne for the Australian Open qualifying!
����������� Jelena: "I hurt it in my first round, but aggravated it there. It was obviously great to come back in Australia, but it was pretty tough to do so at a Tour-level event. I had some tough opponents, and I was playing hard all week. But it went far better than I thought it would - I'm really pleased.
����������� "I really didn't expect to make it that far, and I don't think a lot of people were expecting me to even make it through my first qualifying-match. But I beat three players in three days, and won my first-round match as well. I really exceeded my expectations, and I'm really excited.
����������� "The last couple of years were tough for me. I had some personal issues off the court that I was trying to sort out, and I just couldn't give tennis the focus I wanted. I wanted to give it 100% before coming back - and right now, I feel I'm at that stage."
Jelena attempted to qualify for the Australian Open, but sadly she fell in the second of the three qualifying-rounds for the year's first Major. In the first qualifying-round, she trounced world #138 Marina Erakovic 6-4 6-1 - no mean feat, since Marina had upset Vera Zvonar�va at Auckland! Despite Jelena struggling for breath in the heat, she scored the only break of the first set at 5-4*, and never looked back in the second.
����������� Jelena: "I feel like I've been through Hell and back, so this is good fun for me right now. If I win, I'm really happy, but if I lose, then at the end of the day, it's just a tennis-match."
����������� [Re. her weight: 67kg] "I think it is about 16kg now that I have lost. I have a little more to go, obviously... but I'm very proud of myself. Before I got here, I didn't touch a racket or do any kind any running or fitness for about seven months. I didn't have the will to play, and I was very tired, and then all of a sudden I just clicked one day, and I thought I want to do this again. I am really starting from scratch, and there is no easy way to go through that. I have really worked hard on everything, and really sacrificed a lot the last three months. If you had [told] me a month ago that I would do as well as did in Hobart, and even winning my first match here, I would have been pretty happy.
����������� "It is not like I just went on a holiday and wasn't here for two years. I had a lot of issues I had to sort through and, mentally, I had to just be able to play and be able to enjoy tennis. That is the thing I have missed the most, and that is the thing that has suffered the most. I have really missed it, but I had to wait for the right frame of mind to play again.
����������� "The kind of situation I was in the last two years, I am happy to be sitting here right now. It has been a long road. It has been a lot of hard work and a lot of nights that I haven't slept through. This is just something that needed to happen. I thought I would never pick up a racket again. I feel like, honestly, I have been through Hell and back, so this is just fun for me right now. If I win, I am really happy, but if I lose, at the end of the day, it is just a tennis-match. I haven't had a great life and a great couple of years, so I am really just enjoying this. This is the thing that I will always love, no matter what happens in my life off the court. That is all I want to do right now."
����������� But in the second qualifying-round, in blustery conditions, a lethargic Jelena suffered a lopsided 6-2 6-1 loss to 30-year-old #117 Tamarine Tanasugarn.
����������� Jelena: "After the first game, I was a little bit slower than usual, and they just kind of carried on. The conditions were not easy, and I didn't handle them very well."
����������� [Re. not getting a main-draw wild card] "I was disappointed they didn't even take me into consideration, but that's the way Tennis Australia does things."
After the Australian Open, Jelena didn't play again until late April. By this time, she was no longer living in Croatia. She had sold her flat in Zagreb, and was training in Monte Carlo.
Jelena qualified for the WTA Tier IV claycourt-tournament at F�s, but lost in the first round. In qualifying, she beat #521-ranked wild card Sophie Lef�vre 6-2 6-1, #232-ranked 15-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-3 7-5, and world #208 Johanna Larsson 1-6 6-2 6-3.
����������� In the first round of the main draw, Jelena lost 6-4 6-2 to world #143 Gr�ta Arn (a far cry from Wimbledon 2000). Jelena served 11 double faults, and converted only one of four break-points.
����������� On 5th May, Jelena reentered the WTA singles-rankings at #429, which is pretty good for someone who had only played three tournaments in the previous 52 weeks!
The week after F�s, Jelena won the first ITF singles-title of her career at the $25k Florence. She did it by winning seven matches in a row (two in qualifying, five in the main draw), so it was just like winning a Major! ;-)
����������� Jelena recovered from a dreadful start to beat world #581 Camila Giorgi 0-6 6-4 6-2 in the first qualifying-round, then thrashed #310-ranked Florence Haring (the top seed of the qualifying) 6-0 6-1.
����������� In the first round of the main draw, Jelena recovered from 0-3* and *2-4 in the first set to beat #284 Giulia Gabba 7-5 6-2. In the second round, she eased past #442-ranked qualifier Elisa Balsamo 6-1 6-2.
����������� This set up an intriguing quarter-final against Wimbledon 1999 semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic: now a #546-ranked wild card. Jelena fought back for a 3-6 7-5 6-2 victory after saving two match-points in the second set.
����������� The last two rounds were much more straightforward, as Jelena eased past world #301 Anne Sch�fer 6-3 6-3 in the semi-finals, and #205-ranked Selesian player Lucie Hradeck� 6-1 6-3 in the final.
The week after that, Jelena won her second ITF singles-title at the $25k Caserta. Getting into the main draw with Special Exempt status, she overcame #159-ranked top seed Jorgelina Cravero 3-6 7-5 6-2 in the first round.
����������� After that, Jelena's path to the title was straightforward: she beat #455-ranked qualifier Alexia Virgili 6-4 6-2 in the second round, world #253 Ksenia Palkina 6-3 6-4 in the quarter-finals, and #299 Anne Sch�fer 6-0 6-4 in the semis.
����������� In the final, Jelena thrashed #333-ranked qualifier Patricia Mayr 6-3 6-1. The only moment of concern for Jelena was when she let *4-1 in the first set become 4-2*.
The week after that, Jelena wild-carded into Strasbourg, but sadly she was unable to translate her success on the ITF circuit to the WTA Tour: she lost 6-4 6-2 to world #71 Timea Bacsinszky in the first round.
����������� With ITF Florence and Caserta being added to the rankings one week late, Jelena rose from #431 to #318 on 19th May, and to #269 on 26th May.
Jelena didn't get to play the French Open, so instead she played a $75k ITF at Rome - Tiro a Volo. She reached the semi-finals by beating world #318 Nathalie Vierin 6-3 2-0 retired, #247 Magda Mihalache 1-6 6-3 6-2, and #151 Jelena Kostanic To�ic 6-4 6-2.
����������� In the semi-finals, Jelena was trailing 1-6 3-4 when she retired with a leg-injury. She pulled out of the following week's WTA tournament at Barcelona, but rose to #225 in the rankings.
Jelena had requested a wild card for Wimbledon - even just to get into the qualifying - but apparently this request wasn't acceded to, so she played two ITF $25k tournaments on clay during the Wimbledon-fortnight. At Padova, she beat world #364 Valentina Sassi 6-3 6-7(4) 6-4 in the first round, but lost 7-5 6-2 to #219 Sandra Z�hlavov� in the second.
At Stuttgart - Vaihingen, Jelena reached the semi-finals, beating world #259 Veronika Chvojkov� 4-6 6-1 6-2, #260 Laura Siegemund 6-1 6-2, and #483-ranked qualifier Darija Jurak 6-1 6-0. In the semi-finals, Jelena lost 7-5 3-6 6-4 to #246 Yevgenia Savranska. Jelena's ranking rose from #227 to #211.
Jelena won her third ITF singles-title at $25k Darmstadt, winning the final 6-0 6-0. In the first two rounds, she beat world #361 Evelyn Mayr 6-4 6-2, and #369 Dominice Ripoll 6-3 7-5. Her quarter- and semi-finals were tough three setters: she beat #387 Carmen Klaschka 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4, and #688-ranked Selesian player Korina Perkovic 6-7(2) 7-5 6-3.
����������� In the final, Jelena whitewashed world #292 Michelle Gerards 6-0 6-0. It was the third double bagel of Jelena's career, following the French Open 2001 and ITF Ismaning 2006.
����������� Jelena's ranking rose from #216 to #185: her first time in the top 200 since February 2005.
Jelena's next two tournaments were not so successful. She lost in the first round of ITF Hechingen: 7-5 6-3 to #569-ranked qualifier Danielle Harmsen. She reached the quarter-finals of ITF Katowice by beating #596-ranked qualifier Karolina Kosinska 6-1 2-6 7-6 (8/6) and world #288 Katalin Marosi 6-4 6-4, but lost 6-7(7) 6-4 6-1 to #239 Anastasija Sevastova in the quarters.
����������� Jelena's ranking rose from #187 to #182.
Jelena didn't play for eight weeks after that, pulling out of numerous ITF and WTA tournaments in September and early October. During this time, her ranking fluctuated between #182 and #176, due to the movements of other players.
Jelena then attempted to qualify for Linz, beating world #207 Petra Martic 6-3 6-2 in the first qualifying-round, but losing 7-5 6-3 to #63 Jill Craybas in the second. Her ranking rose to a year-high #175, although it dipped to #179 by the end of the year as she was displaced by other players.
After Linz, Jelena talked about the impact of leaving her family: "I was on my own, and I was learning for two or three years what to do, where to go, and whom I could rely on. Once you feel that you've lost your family, you've pretty much lost everything. You can lose a match, you can lose a friend, but your family always stays with you. It took a long time to deal with, and to realise exactly what I have, which was just myself.
����������� "I battled severe depression for about two years, so it was not easy to play tennis, and there was a stage where I didn't play for six months and I definitely did consider not playing again - not because I didn't love tennis, just because it was too difficult to even try and come back. And you could never know if you're going to be well again. But I was lucky in the sense that I did so well when I was so young, so I kind of had time to see if I wanted to play again.
����������� "At one stage, I was doing so bad mentally that I wasn't getting out of bed, so it didn't matter what I was going to do with my life, whether I was going to play tennis or not. I had to sort out myself first, and that's what I've done.
����������� "I still have contact with my mum, which is good for me because I think she was in a very difficult position as well, but I felt like I had to go off alone, and had to leave that whole situation - that was the only way I could get out of it. I still have contact with her, and we are building up our relationship again, and I think that could still be something in a couple of years. Even now, it's a lot better than it was."
����������� Regarding her progress in 2008, she said: "Yes, it's been good. I've won a couple of tournaments. I've won a lot of matches this
year, and gone a couple of steps forward, which is the main thing. I just need to continue working hard and playing as many matches as I can get, and continue to be there when things don't go well.
����������� "I feel like I am starting from zero. You lose everything that you had before. The only thing you have to go on is experience. You lose the confidence and the matchplay and everything, so you
really are starting from zero. It's something that will take time, but I think I'm getting there slowly. It's been a lot better this year, and I think next year will hopefully be even better. I'm slowly getting into that rhythm again,
and I think next year should be big for me.
����������� "I've practised with a couple of girls from the top 10, top 20. There's work to do, but it's encouraging, and I feel I have the type
of game that's very aggressive and that can be in the top 20 again. I
think that's a realistic goal. It will not be easy, for sure, but I don't think it's something I cannot achieve.
����������� "I'm in the best shape I've probably been in the last four years. I've made a couple of steps forward, and I need to continue for the next six months. I think I'm on the way. I didn't play a full schedule this year, and I still got my ranking up enough to be in the qualies of tournaments. I've worked hard on my physical and mental condition. I think I'm close to having a really good year."
Jelena won the Australian Open wild-card play-off to earn a place in the main draw of the Australian Open 2009. On Monday 15th December, a trim, fit and confident Jelena crushed unranked 16-year-old Sophie Letcher 6-3 6-0 in her first match of the round-robin phase.
����������� Jelena: "I didn't have to play to my maximum. I feel like I've come into this play-off with more confidence than usual - I've already come into this with some matches and good practice, so it was not so hard to get used to the conditions. Obviously I think I'm not close [to my best], and I still need more matches and still more work, but compared to 12 months ago, I think I've made a huge improvement. I haven't been hitting that much; I've just been really focusing on my fitness-work: gymwork, footwork, a lot of running, endurance, everything. I've improved my serve a lot, and I think everything will come together as I go forward."
����������� On Tuesday, Jelena's chances of winning the wild card were dealt a blow, as she lost her second round-robin match 4-6 6-3 6-4 to #528-ranked 16-year-old Monika Wejnert, who said: "She definitely has a great forehand, and I knew if I stayed in a crosscourt rally, she would always come on top of me, so I was trying to avoid that as much as possible."
����������� Jelena: "I was really disappointed. I had really tried to focus a lot more, and that was a careless performance and shouldn't have happened, so maybe it was good for me in a way. I was actually up in that match, even considering I didn't play that well, so that's why I was disappointed that I lost and really lost my concentration at the end. I would like to play her again; I think it would be a good test for me."
����������� Jelena had to win her third round-robin match to qualify for the quarter-finals, and on Wednesday she did just that, beating #424-ranked 18-year-old Marija Mirkovic 6-4 6-2.
����������� Jelena: "I had a really horrible performance yesterday. I really didn't focus much at all in a match I should've won. It was a little bit better today, but I still need to improve a lot. I wanted to win in two sets, to have a comfortable match to try and get into the quarter-finals. Maybe it was good because it was better today, but I'm still just a little frustrated with yesterday. If I didn't get through, it would've been my own fault. I've come from a much faster surface and indoors, and I'm standing too far back. Sometimes my footwork is off, so it's just the timing."
����������� In the quarter-finals on Friday, Jelena trounced #551-ranked 17-year-old Brittany Sheed 6-2 6-2 in 53 minutes. Jelena handled the gusty wind much better than her less-experienced opponent.
����������� Jelena: "It was good: I played calm, steady tennis, and safe tennis. She can be a tough player - she was No.1 in her group, and she beat the No.1 seed. I watched her play a little bit: she can hit the ball well, but I had to keep her moving and not make errors."
����������� In Saturday's semi-finals, Jelena was just too strong for #414-ranked 19-year-old Emelyn Starr, whom she thrashed 6-1 6-1. This set up an intriguing rematch with Monika Wejnert in Sunday's final. Wejnert had won all five of her matches going into the final; in fact the only set she dropped was when she beat Jelena in the round robin. Jelena avenged that loss with a 6-7(3) 7-5 6-3 victory in the final, after being a set and a break down.
����������� In the first set, Wejnert broke in the second game. She led 5-2* by virtue of that break, and had three set-points at *5-3 before Jelena broke back and forced a tiebreak, which Wejnert won 7/3.
����������� The second set featured seven breaks of serve. Jelena was 3-4* down, and then up 5-4*. The next two games went with serve, then Jelena broke to take the set 7-5 (courtesy of a double fault at set-point).
����������� In the third set, Jelena led *2-0, then found herself trailing 2-3*. But she won the last four games of the match to secure the wild card.
����������� Jelena: "Monika came in today with absolutely no pressure; she's played well all week and she's beaten everybody, so the pressure was on me to beat her today. I lost to her in the group, so I really felt nervous going out there, and the conditions were really, really difficult in the first two sets, so I'm happy to have come through. It was not an easy match, nor was it a pretty match [I beg to differ!], but I did what I had to do.
����������� "I think the nerves set the whole match for me today, and straight away from the beginning, they were there and kind of didn't let go until the third set. I played a good game there at 3-2, and just never looked back from there - just played three really, really good games.
����������� "I don't have to worry about the Australian Open now. I came into here wanting to play qualifying, but to be in the main draw gives me two tournaments before the Open to play, which is extra practice, which is good."