TENNIS in DEPTH.

Jelena Dokic has been included in Australia’s Fed Cup team for February’s Asia/Oceania zonal group I tournament.

Eight years after controversially switching nationality to Serbia and Montenegro, she has been named alongside Sam Stosur, Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs for the tie, taking place at the State Tennis Center in Perth.

Dokic, 25, who is currently ranked world No. 177(she will jump way up after the Aussie Open) last played for Australia in April 2000 against Russia in Moscow. But after her father Damir moved his family back to Belgrade in 2001, she played for Serbia-Montenegro in 2004 in the Europe Africa zone. Her history in the competition is a healthy 11-2 win-loss in singles.

Australia’s Fed Cup captain David Taylor said Dokic’s inclusion has given Australia one of their strongest teams in years who must overcome Taipei, India, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, Thailand and Uzbekistan to move out of zonals and up into the World Group II.

“We probably haven’t had a lot of luck on our side with injuries, we had about four girls finish in the top 80 last year and we had one available to play,” he said. “So there’s a real sense of excitement this time. And Tennis Australia invested a lot to get the tie in Australia and the girls are appreciative of that.

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The Davis Cup yearbook is published annually as a record of the Davis Cup competition. It is written by a leading tennis journalist and illustrated with a stunning collection of pictures taken by top international tennis photographers. Available from the ITF Store for $35.00…..a must buy for all tennis fans.

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Fernando Gonzalez has triumphed over No. 24 seed Richard Gasquet in one of the best matches in recent Australian Open history

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Women

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Here is what she said about her loss in Aussie Open, and the dismal direction her career has taken since she won in Paris in June 2008.

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After beating #17 and #11 in the world, it would seem that Jelena’s next opponent will be a lot easier. Alisa Kleybanova did Jelena a favour by eliminating the #5 player Ana Ivanovic. Even though Ivanovic has not been playing well she is always a threat, and might have been able to conjour up a better game had she advanced to the next round. Kleybanova does not have the speed or movement to return Jelena’s ground shots. Her second serve is poor, and should be easy to put away. She does possess a good forehand angled cross court shot that is hit with power, and Jelena must be sure to not to leave any ball short.

If she wins and moves on to the quarter final, she will meet the winner of Dinara Safina/Alize Cornet match which on paper looks to be Safina. Cornet is playing her best tennis at the moment, but she may not be powerful enough to stop Safina. This might be the end of the road for Jelena.

There are two other 4th round matches that could be a deciding factor in the eventual outcome of the tournament. One is the match between Serena Williams and Azerenka, and unless Williams can up her game to another level she might well be upset. The other match is between Carla Navarro and Flavia Pennetta. Navarro outplayed Venus in the biggest upset so far, and maybe playing the best tennis of any player in the draw. Don’t be surprised to see her in the semi final!

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Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, #39 in the world defeated #5 Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 in a match riddled with errors by both players….total errors were just shy of a combined total of 100!

It was one of the worst displays of women’s tennis I have seen in years, and it was hard to believe that one of the players is in the top ten. It would seem to me that if you are a professional tennis player, and someone who has played for many years to reach the pinnacle of their chosen sport, that tossing the ball in the air for a service would be second nature, yet Ivanovic can only do this simple task about one in ten times. One part of her game which she does excell at is fist pumping, she pumps her fist continually, partly to keep her focus I’m sure, but it borders on bad sportsmanship when she pumps her fist after the opposing player double faults or makes a bad shot into the net not as a result of anything she can take credit for. Unless Ivanovic hires a new coach, a person who will give her career some direction, she will slide out of the top ten and into obscurity.

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Australia

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