Australia Loves Jelena Even More!
January 25, 2009
Jelena Dokic continues to delight her Australian fans, or converts more over to her side with each match she plays.
In another thrilling night match on Rod Laver Arena Dokic has pulled off a gutsy 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 victory over Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova. Jokic who went into the tournament after winning the Australian wild-card playoff said after the match that she would be happy to win just her first round match. She did that and a whole lot more.
Dokic has now booked a spot in the quarter-finals. She has not been that far in a grand slam since the 2002 French Open. Dinara Safina is the opponent in Dokic’s next match. Safina is lucky to still be in the tournament after escaping from a 5-2 defecit in the third set against Alize Cornet.
Tonight Dokic played like a top twenty player. Her most important quality was that she never gave in. If she got down a break she fought back to get the break back. She chased ball after ball and threw in a few winners much to the delight of the Aussie crowd.
Kleybanova was equally as determined as Dokic. The 19-year-old Russian kept pounding ball at Dokic, or chased hard when the ball was hit out of reach.
In the end it came down to a few great shots that made the difference.
After looking down and out in the third set Dokic had fought back and had the end in sight when she stumbled after twisting her ankle. After staying down for a short while Dokic was up again to fight for another day.
Playing with clear discomfort this seemed to inspire Dokic and she managed to close out the match. Another fantastic win for the Aussie darling.
Tough day at the office for three Australian Open players
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