Reality Served Cold by Venus

Jelena Dokic, who rarely lacks confidence, hardly sounded optimistic about her chances against Venus Williams in today’s final of the Acura Classic.

“She presents all sorts of problems for everyone,” said Dokic, who fought off two match points in her semifinal victory against Anna Kournikova of Russia. “Serena [Williams] is the only one to beat her recently. She has the power and the speed. Maybe if she commits 50 or 60 unforced errors, I’ll have a chance.”

There was laughter in the interview room, and Dokic joined in. But she wasn’t joking.

Lindsay Davenport, who won three games against Venus Williams on Saturday night, handicapped the final and supported Dokic’s thesis after an up-close-and-personal drubbing. Williams, the two-time defending champion and top-seeded player, defeated No. 3 Davenport, 6-2, 6-1, in 60 minutes at the La Costa Resort and Spa.

“Maybe Jelena will, hopefully, play better than I did,” Davenport said. “I think that Venus is going to win, no offense to Jelena. She’s going to have to play a great match. I see Venus winning it. I don’t know how bad that is to say.”

Reality hit her hard. Williams had five aces, hit 21 winners and fired off serves in excess of 110 mph. It was the most one-sided loss Davenport has taken since returning to the circuit late last month after being out since November because of an injured right knee and subsequent surgery.

“I wish I could go back to 2-2 and try and play that first set again,” Davenport said. “It happened so fast. It kept going and it just kept getting worse and worse, like a nightmare.”

Williams has been there, too. She missed four months because of tendinitis in both wrists two years ago and grew frustrated when she returned during the clay-court season, especially after a particularly one-sided loss at the Italian Open.

“I lost to Jelena Dokic, 6-1, 6-2, and it was all I could do to stay on the court,” Williams said of her only loss to Dokic. “It was hard.”

The one-sided nature of the night semifinal between Williams and Davenport brought out the usual barbs. Late in the second set, one fan yelled, “Give us our money back.”

Richard Williams, the coach and father of Venus, had something to say, too. According to courtside photographers sitting near him, he said, among other things, “You might as well go home” when Davenport went to change rackets in the second set.

Davenport said she didn’t hear him, but she did pick up the other spectator’s words.

“It was so silent and I was about to receive. What are you going to do about fans?” she said.

“Normally, people that say that aren’t the ones that ever take the court or the field or a position. It is disappointing. If I was a fan I would have wanted a better match too.”

The compelling, competitive semifinal turned out to be the first one. The sixth-seeded Dokic of Yugoslavia had little time to celebrate her first victory over Jennifer Capriati on Friday or to prepare for her match Saturday afternoon against Kournikova. Dokic managed to save two match points in the 10th game and defeated Kournikova, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 6-0.

But don’t ask the turnaround artist how she pulled this one off.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking genuinely perplexed, and exhausted.

The 19-year-old was fried after the two-hour contest in the hot sun. She talked about saving three or four match points. In fact, it was two.

On the first, Kournikova hit a backhand long, forced by Dokic’s powerful forehand down the line. Dokic erased the second when she hit a strong first serve to the body and Kournikova hit a backhand return out.

Dokic carried her aggressive play into the tiebreaker and won it, 7-2, hitting two return winners to finish it off, and appearing to greatly deflate Kournikova in the process. The third set lasted 21 minutes.

“I knew that was my chance because in the third I was really tired,” said Kournikova, still in search of her first tournament title on the women’s tour. “It took a lot out of me. It was really tough to turn it around. Whenever she was down 5-4 and 6-5 [in the second] for some reason she started playing more aggressively and I was more passive. It was like changing the role.”

The pinpoint accuracy Dokic showed against Capriati was fleeting Saturday. Her first-serve percentage was 56% for the match, dipping to 47% in the second set. She had 12 double faults and no aces.

Said Dokic: “Mentally, I’m a strong person. I usually play the key points, the big points well. After a few match points, I was back even. I told myself I had nothing to lose.”