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Acclaimed coach David Taylor says Jelena Dokic can win the Australian Open – providing she holds her nerve against Russian heavyweight Dinara Safina in Tuesday’s quarter-final showdown.
Hailing Dokic as a mental giant, Taylor on Monday declared the Australian wildcard a genuine title contender following her amazing run at Melbourne Park.
“Anything’s possible with her now. She’s exceeded everyone’s expectations and it kind of takes the pressure off,” said Taylor, the Australian Fed Cup captain and former mentor to world No.1s Martina Hingis and Ana Ivanovic plus Alicia Molik, the only other local woman to make the Open quarter-finals in the past two decades.
“The last match you could see that she actually put pressure on herself. She’s actually got to keep still thinking everything’s a bonus.
“The trouble is, you keep progressing through the rounds and suddenly you actually think that you should win matches.”
Taylor said Dokic had proven she has the game to trouble the world No.3.
“Jelena has a great backhand cross, good backhand (down the) line,” he said.
“The things that she’s got to be careful of is her forehand (down the) line. She’s got to be able to hit that shot with confidence.
“She’s got to be able to serve with confidence as well.
“Dinara has a really aggressive second-serve return and has got a big serve herself; Dinara’s got a bit more of a holding game than Jelena. She can hold serve with more confidence than Jelena.
“If Jelena can keep her first serve maybe around 60 to 70 per cent, she’s got a big shot.
“Jelena’s beaten bigger players; she’s beaten top-five players, but not for a long, long time.”
Safina, Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva are all in a position to seize the world No.1 ranking from third-round casualty Jelena Jankovic if any of the trio can win the Open.
Taylor said such a scenario could only be a burden for the Russian.
“There’s big pressure on her,” he said.
“If Jelena wins, it’s great. If she loses, it’s great. So massive pressure on the other girl.
“So if Jelena can get in her head and Dinara can keep thinking about being the No.1 player in the world and not thinking about winning the match, then Jelena’s definitely a chance.
“It’s how well more Dinara handles the situation because I think Jelena will handle it well.
“Holding the first few service games is big. Then, if Dinara can come out and give her a whole lot of second serves and if Jelena can break, she could win.
“But if Dinara comes out with a big first serve, attacks Jelena’s serve and Jelena doesn’t start well, it’s going to be hard for her to win.
“You’d have to favour Dinara, of course, but she can win, yeah.
“But she’s got to do everything at a pretty high level.”
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