TENNIS in DEPTH.

Dokic was the name on everyone’s lips on the final Sunday; however, it was Rogowska who stood tallest by day’s end, accounting for her older opponent 1-6 7-6(3) 6-3. In a match where the conditions appeared relatively sedate to begin with, Dokic was in her element, breaking her younger opponent to open the match. From the outset, Dokic’s intensity was relentless, paving the way for the top seed to sweep through the first set and overwhelm Rogowska entirely. Evidently feeling overpowered, the Rogowska game was riddled with unforced errors, contributing to her early decline.

Improvement in her movement and a powerful first serve allowed Dokic to go ahead 4-1, eventually closing out the set with the loss of only a single game. In the second set Dokic promptly went ahead 3-1, yet Rogowska refused to bow to defeat. She mustered a comeback, breaking the top seed to level at 3-3. With a newfound spring of confidence in her step, Rogowska went head to head with the more experienced Dokic, whose clinical serving was almost flawless. At 4-4, three straight aces allowed Dokic to take a 5-4 lead. Serving to keep her wildcard hopes alive, Rogowska saved her first match point with an unreturnable serve. Displaying some mental fortitude far beyond her young years, Rogowska took the set to 5-5 with some impressive tennis. However, the pressure was once again on her racquet after Dokic took a 6-5 lead. After making two straight errors to open the following game, the future appeared grim for the Victorian. She eventually committed four forehand errors, and found herself down match point once again. Courageously, she struck her forehand emphatically on match point, mustering a winner past Dokic to send the set to a tiebreaker. In a similar fashion to the entire match, the tiebreaker began at lightning pace with Dokic breaking early and Rogowska breaking back almost straight after to level at 3-3.

Then the rain came. Emblematic of the fast-paced nature of the match, players and fans rushed off the court as swiftly as the skies opened. When play finally resumed, Dokic’s game almost vanished, making two straight backhand errors to give Rogowska her first set points. She took the breaker with the loss of only three points, sending the match into a decider. From then on, the once steady Dokic was rattled. She saved break points in the second game but could do little to halt her opponent’s momentum. Her erratic play contributed heavily to her demise, which was crystallised when she failed to make a single return to go down 5-2. Surrendering only one more game, Rogowska finally sealed her comeback victory 6-3, ensuring her place in the main draw of the Australian Open.

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Watson, 18, and Robson, 16, have both made impressive early strides in the senior game and will join Fed Cup stalwarts Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong for the Europe/Africa Zone Group I round of matches in Eilat, Israel, in the week beginning January 31. Fed Cup captain Nigel Sears said: “This team has an exciting look about it. Two players who have reached top 50 and two junior grand slam champions. “We know all about the challenges of this really tough Fed Cup group, but I believe this is the right time for Heather and Laura to step up alongside Bally and Anne and try to make this a really successful week for British women’s tennis.”

Britain has made significant progress in the women’s game over the last couple of years, with Baltacha currently ranked 55th in the world while Keothavong is battling her way back towards the top 100 after sustaining a serious knee injury in 2009. Watson, the US Open junior champion last year, has climbed to a career-high 176th in the rankings, making her the British number three, while Robson has been preferred to the likes of Katie O’Brien, Naomi Cavaday and Mel South. Watson said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have been selected for Fed Cup. It’s a dream come true as I’ve grown up watching the competition. I can’t wait to head out to Israel with the girls and give it our all.” Britain will be aiming to win a place in the World Group II play-offs in April but, with only two spots available and possible opponents including world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, competition will be tough.

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At year’s end Vera Zvonareva was the only Russian woman ranked in the top ten. For a decade the Russian women have dominated the Women’s game and often had as many as half of the top ten players on tour. The Russian tennis program, and the individual player’s ambition for a better life outside of their homeland, produced what seemed to be a never ending parade of super stars. Most of them are still playing. Some have been struck down by injury, while others have been adjusting to the pressures of just being on tour.

Elena Dementieva, a permanent fixture in the top ten has retired, but Zvonareva, Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Safina are very much alive and kicking. They are all top ten players, all capable of winning against any opponent on any given day, and if they remain healthy and rededicated they can once again dominate the WTA tour. They are all younger than the Williams sisters, Clijsters and Henin. They have experience, Grand Slam titles, Fed cup victories in their resumes, and are just too good to be ranked outside of the top ten.

Just behind this group is a collection of talented yougsters ready to step up and be ready to fill in if one of the ‘big guns’ falters. Kleybanova, Pavlyuchenkoca, Makarova, Kirilenko and Pironkova make up a battalion of competitive players who will once again make Russia the most powerful tennis nation.

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Many things have happened and it feels like my life changed 180 degrees from being #2 in the world to #63. Starting with my injury, of course and everything that followed. Those were very tough moments for me but I want to thank my real fans who have always supported me!!

I am now in Buenos Aires, as I decided to take a long pre-season preparation time. I need it! Daily program consists of physical training (conditioning and back) but also tennis. I’m here with my mother. She is always with me when I’m practicing and soon my father will be coming as well, and even my brother. I am very happy to see them all again, as I miss them often during the year. Apart from practicing, me and my mother went to watch polo. The team that we’ve been supporting, Chapolefue, lost, but still it was a great match. For me they are the best. Thank you to Eduardo el “RUSO” for inviting me to his match. Then we went to visit Tandil. A small city from where tennis champions originated. It is a very beautiful city. I don’t remember when was the last time I did so much sightseeing! If you love cheese you would find Epoca de Queso a paradise.

I’m going be in Argentina till the end of the month and from here I’m going straight to Auckland. My first tournament in 2011 and I am looking forward to a new season! My wish is to be able to play a full year healthy and where I can work hard to come back!

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Jelena Dokic has cruised through to the final of the Australian Open wildcard tournament at Melbourne Park. Dokic crushed top seed Alicia Molik 6-3 6-1 in her semi-final and will now meet Victorian Olivia Rogowska for a spot in the Open main draw. Fifth-seeded Rogowska defeated Sophie Ferguson 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in her semifinal.

If Molik was unsure how Dokic was going to approach their AO Play-off semifinal, she had her answer after the first point. Dokic raced to the net like a sprinter going for gold in an early attacking move and while her backhand volley sailed just long, her intent was clear – she was on the attack. Not happy with her form in her last match – a three-set win over Tammi Patterson – Dokic skipped practice yesterday to ensure she would be fresh for today’s semifinal. “I didn’t play great in my last match and was actually feeling a little bit fatigued yesterday … I’ve been working a lot and it just hit me the last two days,” she explained after her 6-3 6-1 win over Molik.

Early on games stayed on serve with both players making their share of mistakes and winners. But in the seventh game Molik let her guard down and the re-energised Dokic was past her in a flash. With three break points up her sleeve, Dokic converted the second to strike the first blow. Two games later and Dokic was at it again, breaking Molik’s serve with a fizzing forehand down the line to take the opener 6-3. It wasn’t just Dokic’s forehand that was causing Molik grief, but the depth of her backhand was also giving the former world No.8 more problems than she could deal with. With Dokic leading 2-1 in the second, the grey clouds that had been gathering ominously above Court 6 finally showed their true intentions and brought about yet another rain delay. Players didn’t leave the court but instead spent 20 minutes sitting on the sidelines – plenty of time for both to tweak their game plans.

While Molik would have been hoping that the break would provide her with the energy she needed to challenge Dokic, it wasn’t to be. It simply delayed Dokic’s charge to the final. A framed backhand from Molik followed by a missed forehand volley that should have been an easy winner delivered Dokic the break. And from there it was all Dokic. The former world No.4 reeled off the next four games to install herself as the favourite for tomorrow’s final where she will come up against 19-year-old Olivia Rogowska who had earlier dispatched second seed Sophie Ferguson to make the AO Play-off final for the second year in a row.

“I’m happy I’m in the final, I knew it would be tough to play Alicia,” said Dokic. “I didn’t think [the score reflected the match]. But I played the big points very well. I saved a couple of break points early on and the set points I had I took all my chances straight away.”

Dokic is now just one win away from a wildcard into Australian Open 2011, but to get there she will need to find a way past fifth seed Rogowska. The two have met in the AO Play-off before, with Dokic coming away the winner. “I played her a couple of years ago in the play-off. She seems to like to play here, she played finals last year. She’s playing well and hasn’t lost a set yet. “It will be a tough match, but it will be different from today, I think her game suits me more than someone like Alicia who mixes it up so much.”

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Soderling took time out Wednesday afternoon to attend the Monte-Carlo Country Club kids’ Christmas party, posing for photos with Santa and signing autographs for the children. Robin Soderling is beginning his 2011 preparations this week at an ATP World Tour training camp in Monte-Carlo after an extended vacation in the Maldives.

“I am actually trying to work on my weaknesses as much as possible, trying to play more aggressive and come to the net a bit more,” said Soderling, who is joined at the training camp by fellow pros Ivan Ljubicic, Andreas Seppi, Simone Bolelli, Fabio Fognini, George Bastl, Benjamin Balleret and Jean-Rene Lisnard. “So far I only practised a couple of days but it’s been really a lot of fun and I am happy to be back on the court again after two weeks vacation.”

“I work a lot on agility and coordination to be faster on the court and also on injury prevention,” said the 26-year-old Swede. Soderling parted ways with Magnus Norman following the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and said about working with Pistolesi, “We only work 3-4 days together with Claudio. He used to be a good player, has been around for many years and he’s already taught me many new things so I am really looking forward to working with him.”

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Tennis stars Jelena Dokic and Alicia Molik will rekindle a rivalry which has been dormant since their junior days when they meet in the semi-finals of the Australian Open wildcard tournament. Molik and Dokic both battled to win their matches in three sets on day three of the play-offs, with Molik beating Canberra’s Alison Bai 3-6 6-3 6-1 and Dokic outlasting Victorian Tammi Patterson 7-5 2-6 6-3.

Molik, 29, and Dokic, 27, travelled as juniors together but have not met in a senior tour event. “We haven’t played for many years now. I can’t remember the last time,” Molik said. “We’ve practised so many years together and been on so many junior trips together, it’s all a bit of a blur but the junior rivalry will come back out on Saturday, I’m sure. “We always had a pretty healthy rivalry so it should be a really good match.”

Molik recalled Dokic’s stirring run to the Australian Open quarter-finals two years ago, but warned even experienced players could become apprehensive. “She’s a fantastic ball striker, no doubt about that,” Molik said. “Everyone saw her form two years ago in the Australian Open – but there’s a lot up for grabs (and) it’s amazing what nerves can do in a match.”

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