Australian young guns hit, miss target
Dokic still alive with shot at No. 2 Hingis in next round
Posted: Thursday January 21, 1999 09:46 AM
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Australian Jelena Dokic was once the world's No.1 rated junior player AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- One is quietly-spoken and cool as
ice on the court, the other is a wild-eyed firebrand who goes for,
and often gets, anything.
Australian teenagers Jelena Dokic and Lleyton Hewitt are
blue-eyed, blond-ponytailed, and fast building reputations as giant
killers who could go all the way to the top ranks of tennis.
Dokic, playing in her first Grand Slam and only second WTA Tour
event, on Thursday swept aside world No. 70 American Kristi Brandi
6-4, 7-5 to set up a third round meeting with world No. 2 and
fellow teenager Martina Hingis.
"She's tough, you can't get much tougher, but I'm just going to
play my game and see what happens," Dokic said.
"I've got nothing to lose," Dokic said. "She's supposed to
beat me so there's pressure on her."
Seventeen-year-old Hewitt, a two-time first-round loser at the
Open and wildcard entry this year, routed 15th-ranked Frenchman
Cedric Pioline 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 in a major first-round upset before
succumbing in four sets to German world No.33 Tommy Haas in the
second round.
Hewitt won the first set and had Haas 4-2 in the second before
the German came back and wore down the Australian.
"It was a big disappointment because there was an opportunity
there to make the third round of a Grand Slam -- and there's no
seeds in my section either," said Hewitt.
"I play my best tennis when I'm pumped. Today I lost some
emotion at the end. I couldn't stay pumped for the whole match and
I think it showed in the end."
Dokic, a diminutive 15-year-old schoolgirl who was born in
Yugoslavia and raised in Sydney, set up her Australian Open success
last year by reaching the junior finals of the French Open and the
semifinals at Wimbledon before taking the junior title in New York
and finishing 1998 as the women's world No. 1 junior.
She capped this with a victory earlier this month over world No.
4 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the Hopman Cup.
Serving at 5-3 in the 4th set, Hewitt's gritty effort included
two aces and chasing down a Haas lob from the net, which he lofted
with a barely-controlled shot to the base of the umpire's tower,
inches inside the net.
A crowd favorite for his energy and physical abandon, Hewitt's
selection followed his victory over back-to-back U.S. Open winner
Pat Rafter at last week's Adidas International and the defense of
his Australian Men's Hardcourt crown.
Last year at 16, Hewitt became the second-youngest and
lowest-ranked singles winner in ATP Tour history, beating Scott
Draper, Mark Woodforde, Vincent Spadea, Agassi and Stoltenberg to
take the title.
Of three starts in a Grand Slam, all the Australian Open, this
is his first advance from the first round. He outran and
overpowered his victim Pioline, a former Wimbledon and U.S. Open
finalist.
Apart youth, inexperience and a very passing resemblance, the
two share passion and a steely determination.
Dokic, ranked No. 341 and who does not even appear in the WTA
Tour players guide, concedes to awe at the achievements of Hingis,
who became world No. 1 at age 16.
But as one of few players who technically could better the feat
-- she turns 16 in April -- Dokic is not intimidated by the prospect
of a meeting with Hingis.
She and Hingis had a friendly hit in Perth just weeks before the
Open, for about 90 minutes. It was businesslike, Dokic said. They
chatted, but it was "just girls talk."
Hewitt said the pressure and recent attention had gotten to him.
"I've learned a lot being under so much pressure ... the media
and everyone's high expectations," he said. "I think I have set
myself up for hopefully a good year."
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