 | July the 25th - Near to perfect week in Knokke is over and
Dominique made it to another final - already her second one during last three tournaments
and even more noticeable fact is that this time it was on clay - Dominique's least
favourite surface. I was lucky to see Dominique playing 5 matches - convincing wins
against Meike Babel (6-3 6-1), Ana-Isabel Median-Garrigues (6-1 6-4), Dally Randrianteffy
(6-1 6-2) and Magui Serna (6-3 6-0) and the final (unfortunately the lost one 2-6 5-7)
against Anna Smashnova from Israel. Even the final was good match in a sense of both girls
playing well - Smashnova's surprisingly great defence forced Dominique to rise her level
of play again and again, to try to hit winner after winner after winner - which were saved
again and again, to risk more and more in order to win the points, hitting almost three
times more winners than her opponent... but on that day it wasn't good enough against the
player who played almost perfect tennis in first set. Anyway, reaching the final in any
clay court tournament is a nice result for Dominique - especially beating such a good
clay-court specialist as Spaniard Magui Serna on the way. A bit more detailed report will
be put up to the site very soon, so keep checking! | ||
| July the 14th - Yesssssss, it's 100% sure now that Dominique will be playing in Knokke (thanks Patrick, Geert, Hildegard, VTV and all the others who informed me!) - she's the top seed there and in first round her opponent will be Germany's Meike Babel. This "Yessss" in the beginning of previous sentence expresses the excitement I feel - because I'm going to Belgium, to see this tournament - and the main thing - to see Dominique playing "live" again!! It has been a while since the last time - Australian Open 1999, so I'm really looking forward this event! The draw was announced today and at first look it seems that everything should be possible! So, I hope it will be another great week in Dominique's career - as it was in Eastbourne when I wasn't able to update the site... hopefully you will find all Dominique's results from Knokke on various news sites - for example try this one - Teletext of Belgian channel TV1 - http://www.tv1.be/tt/tt.php?p=458&g=1&s=1&r=0&x=1 - startpage for tennis is 450, 458 will probably be the page for Knokke... Last year the official site at www.sanex.net was giving some results as well, so try the link Sanex Trophy under the tennisphoto on the main page and you will see the draws and other information about the tournament. Anyway, the best of luck, Dominique! I hope you will have a great tournament in front of your homefans... and all the others coming from far away... J J Good luck! | ||
| July the 5th - Well, Wimbledon 2000 is over for Dominique by now - although she lost in first round of singles it wasn't a bad tournament after all - win/loss record this year in Wimbledon remained positive - 4-3 and hopefully all those matches gave Dominique lots of match practice and positive energy for getting back her confidence and going on with this season. Final score in doubles 3rd round against top seeds was 3-6 6-7 (4-7) and actually the match was even closer than it looks on paper - Dominique and Els showed a great fight against number ones in the world and they deserved at least a third set, but in a decisive tie-breaker Raymond & Stubbs were a bit more solid and closed it out in two sets. Now it will be a short break for Dominique and although it doesn't show in any of the committments' list available in the Net, news from Belgium indicate that after a while Dominique might play another tournament on her home-soil, a Tier IV event in Knokke-Heist after two weeks. So, if any of you have any news or information about that, I would be very greatful to recieve any - thanks already in advance... And of course, good luck, Dominique, whenever or where-ever you will play your next tournament! J | ||
| July the 5th - Dominique has had a great run in doubles this year in Wimbledon - at first, in mixed doubles, after beating the team of Bryan & McShea in first round 7-5 7-5, they went on to put out the 13th seeds Niklas Kulti & Asa Carlsson in tough three-setter 2-6 7-5 6-2 and the only ones who could stop them were 8th seeds Donald Johnson & Kimberly Po - 3rd round match went to Americans in two sets 6-3 6-4. But anyway, reaching the 3rd round in mixed doubles was certainly a good result! It went as well in doubles where Dominique and Els defeated No 11 seeds Nicole Arendt & Manon Bollegraf in very convincing way 6-4 6-1 and reached the third round - to meet top seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Very well done, girls! You are a great doubles team and you can beat anybody on your day - so, let's hope that today is THE DAY... Good luck! | ||
| June the 30th - Dominique and Els played their first round doubles match against Catherine Barclay and Karina Habsudova (who some threathened to upset Monica Seles in first round and was quite close to it) and won it in quite convincing way - 6-2 6-3. Now, in second round it will be a bit tougher - they will meet 11th seeds Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf. Good luck, girls! And in mixed doubles, Dominique and her old-good-Wimbledon-partner Tom Vanhoudt will play their opening match today - 3rd match on Court 19 against Bob Bryan of USA and Lisa McShea of Australia. The best of luck! | ||
| June the 28th - Well, long and exhausting week in Eastbourne proved to be too much for Dominique in this kind of tough opener in Wimbledon as it was against Jennifer Capriati. For example, a day before the final in Eastbourne, Dominique played totally 7 sets of tennis - at first she and Els had to finish the doubles QF from the previous day (2 sets), then the semifinal against Anne Kremer (3 sets) and then doubles SF against top seeds Raymond/Stubbs (2 sets). So, obviously, there was not much steem left for the first round - Capriati broke Dominique in the very first game of the match, but Dominique managed to break back right away in the second, next two games went to the server and then the most decisive game of the match was played - on Dominique's serve, there was so much drama - at first, she game back from 0-40, then there were 6 deuces, 3 more break-points for Capriati and as many game-points for Dominique, but in the end the game went against her. Dominique's next service game was broken to "love" and Capriati had no futher problems to close the first set out 6-2. In the second set drama continued - first two games went against the serve as in first set, then in third, there were 4 deuces and Capriati had two more chances to break, but Dominique held on and she went on to hold her serve in the 5th game and got 3-2 lead. After this, both girls got some very serious and long-lasting medical treatment and it seemed to work better for Capriati as she held her serve and broke Dominique in the next game. On 4-3, Capriati serving, Dominique got one chance to break back, but Capriati was too solid on that day - on 10th game she served out the match on the first matchpoint and Wimbledon's singles tournament was over for Dominique... But, as it was said before, it was a tough opener anyway and after having such a long, but great week a week before, the loss wasn't so bad after all (specially, considering what has happened to other seeds in first and second round... ) | ||
| June the 27th - Dominique hasn't had so much luck with the draw in Grand Slam tournaments in 2000 and this continued with Wimbledon as well - Dominique is drawn to play against Jennifer Capriati in first round - No 16 against No 18, how much closer can it get!?! Both girls have had some great results recently, so it will be probably one of the most exciting first round matches during this Wimbledon's opening round - from one side it will be a great opportunity for Dominique to go on with her recent form and get a revenge for the second round defeat in Australian Open earlier this year (remember, it was 6-8 in third set?!), but on the other hand, Capriati reached semifinal in Rosmalen last week and is in great shape as well, so it will be a very tough match to predict... Fortunately, with her success in Eastbourne last week Dominique earned more than enough points to defend the ones she got from Wimbledon last year, so she can take it quite easy and relaxed and maybe have a better match without having all this pressure on her shoulders... The match will be played later today, as a second match on Court 1, so - those of you who can, take your seats there, those who can follow it from the TV, don't forget to tape the match and all the rest - what a great thing the Java Scoreboard is!! J J J Dominique needs all the support she can get for this match, so let's give it to her!Good luck, Dominique, you can do it!!! | ||
| June the 27th - You were probably wondering why there were no updates on this site during Dominique's best tournament in 2000 - there were two reasons - at first, I had a one-week vacation (visiting the ITF Women's Circuit $10 000 tournament in Tallinn - as soon as I get my photos done, I'll put up a short overview of what did I see) and that's why was not able to do any updates in the office... and secondly, as we changed our Internet Service Provider, there were some mix-ups with some details and in some strange reason I could not access my own page (although you all were able to do that), so I couldn't even let you know in advance, that I won't be here to keep you informed about Eastbourne. So, I'm sorry for that and I hope you got all those splended results from the news services - and hopefully something like that won't happen again - no updates without any notice in advance about that... I hope you understand... | ||
| June the 27th - Some stats from Eastbourne... ROAD TO THE FINAL
| ||
| June the 26th - To round up the last week there's only one thing to say: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Dominique is back on her very best as she showed in her first ever appearance in Eastbourne - after defeating "Lucky Loser" Tina Pisnik in first (6-4 7-6 (8-6)) and her "old" rival Russian Elena Likhovtseva in second round (6-2 6-4), (by the way, now their head-to-head record is 4-all, after being 4-0 in the beginning of 1999!), she went on to send World No 2 Lindsay Davenport packing again in their second match in a row in quarterfinal, after a tough three-setter where Dominique came back to win after losing a first set (4-6 6-3 6-4). And then, on her way to final, in another three-set match she defeated Anne Kremer from Luxembourg 4-6 7-5 6-1 and the only girl who could stop Dominique this week was Julie Halard-Degucis of France, who won very close final 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 and took the title. So, of course, it was a bit sad that Dominique didn't get a title as a reward to her great great tennis, but anyway, it was just a pure pleasure to watch her playing her best tennis again - full of confidence and committment! And one more thing, special thanks go to Eurosport, where 3 of Dominique matches were shown! What a great week for fans of Dominique!! (Check also some photos from Eastbourne). Once again, very well done, Dominique! We were very proud of you during the whole week! Go on like that and another title might not be so far from you! We hope that with what you achieved in Eastbourne, you have proved to herself and all those around you that you are back again! And it's really great! Good luck in Wimbledon! | ||
| June the 9th - Basically, Dominique did quite well in French Open 2000 - apart mentioning the highlight, defeating world No 2 Lindsay Davenport in 1st round of singles, she was showing maybe the best of resistance to young Spaniard Marta Marrero - before she was defeated in quarterfinals by eventual finalist Conchita Martinez; Dominique and Els lost in second round of doubles very tight match against 15th seeds Anke Huber and Barbara Schett, who went on to reach quarterfinals even beating No 2 seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs on the way... and in mixed doubles, together with Tom Vanhoudt, they lost against in first round, in another tight match 6-7 (5-7) 3-6 against Catherine Barclay and Paul Haarhuis who went on up to third round... not mentioning that Paul Haarhuis played in mens' doubles finals... So basically, everything was up to quite a tough draw... But anyway, the memory of this fantastic birthday on May 31 that Dominique gave to herself and all her fans by defeating Lindsay Davenport, will remain with all of us for a long long time! Well done, Dominique! Good luck in your next tournaments! | ||
| June the 2nd - Dominique and Tom did fight hard, but they still lost it in two sets 6-7 (5-7) 3-6... Now the main attention can be given to doubles match which will be played either tomorrow or on Sunday. The best of luck! | ||
| June the 2nd - Well done, girls! Dominique and Els almost crushed their opponents in two easy sets 6-1 6-1! Very impressive! So, as we all could see, despite the yesterday's loss Dominique is still in good shape and all the fans can enjoy more of her tennis on courts of Roland Garros! Good luck girls in your next round match, a tough one against Anke Huber and Barbara Schett! Tomorrow's schedule has not been announced yet, so unfortunately no news about exact timing of this match can be given. At the moment, Dominique and Tom are playing their first mixed doubles match - good luck for that!!! | ||
| June the 2nd - As you can read from Dominique's interview, one of the main reasons she lost yesterday was really the fact that she was very, very tired after the first round - mainly physically, but as her mind was still in first round even 1 hour before the match and she was still very excited about the victory, it was a bit difficult to concentrate as well... But anyway, she considered French Open 2000 to be one the best ones in her career and this is all that matters! Dominique can't have a rest today either as she is scheduled to play her first round doubles match together with Els - against Angelika Bachmann & Karin Kschwendt - the match will be played on Court 4 as the second match. But it's not all for today - the last match on the same court will feature Dominique again - she will play in mixed doubles tournament as well, doubling up with her fellow-Belgian Tom Vanhoudt, with whom she has played together before as well... Good luck, Dominique in both of those matches - just try to have fun, enjoy your tennis and give your best on a day - it's all that matters... | ||
| June the 1st - So, after starting so well in her second round match against Spaniard Marta Marrero and leading 6-0 4-1 probably yesterday's long and both mentally and physically very demanding match on CC against Lindsay Davenport started to feel in Dominique's arms and legs... Marrero broke back and won 7-5 and even had a 4-0 lead in third set, but anyway, Dominique didn't give up, she kept fighting and managed to come back to 5-5 but on the day it wasn't enough... Marrero won the third set with the same score - 7-5... But anyway, let's look at the bright side of the French Open - Dominique had one of the best wins in her career, got even more valuable points with one match than she got in five matches at 1999 AO and the best news - she is back in Top 15 again! So, let's hope that she isn't too sad about what happened today as she showed the whole world again what she is capable of - upsetting big stars and showing some great tennis.... See you on courts again, Dominique! Good luck in doubles! | ||
| June the 1st - Today, after having such a great birthday yesterday, Dominique has to step up to the tenniscourt again - she will play her second round match against your Spaniard Marta Marrero in Court 3, second match. Hopefully yesterday's victory gave her lots of self-confidence, believe in herself and of course, good mood for today's match. Nowadays it might be quite dangerous to play against unknown and young players as you never know what they are capable of, but anyway - let's hope that Dominique got "wings" from what she achieved yesterday! Good luck, Dominique, you can do it again! | ||
| June the 1st - Some NetCam pics and also Dominique's inteview is now available for all you, Dominique fans! Enjoy and keep you fingers crossed for her today again! As it could be seen yesterday, she need all the support she can get!!! | ||
| May the 31th - What a day! What a match! What an achievement! What a fantastic victory! What a great way to celebrate a birthday! Dominique made a perfect birthday present for herself and all her fans by beating current world No 2 and 2nd seed Lindsay Davenport in a thrilling 3-setter 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 in first round of French Open!!! This is what makes you, Dominique, such a great player - your fight hard, you never give up, you give your best - and you fans love you for that!!! We are very proud of you, as is your family, your friends and whole Belgium! You made the unbelievable to come true and showed the whole world the power of committment and desire! Hopefully this great day will help you get more and more back to your "old self" again after all that has happened this year and leads you to many more impressive victories! Good luck in next round against Marta Marrero! Until then, all your fans may check some photos of todays match... |
And once again - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOMINIQUE!!!
| May the 31th - As rain washed out all play yesterday, all the
matches scheduled will take place today. There are some changes as well, but I guess it's
even towards the better - Dominique will start already in the first match on Center Court
after 1,5 hour - |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOMINIQUE!!!
No matter how the match goes today, it's Your Day anyway! We, all your fans all over the world wish the best for you on that day and all the days coming! Lot's of luck, love and happiness! May all your dreams come true and may you accomplish everything you plan to! May you be happy, Dominique, you deserve that!!!
| May the 30th - Today, in second match on Center Court of Roland Garros tennis centre, Dominique will step up against No 2 ranked and No 2 seed Lindsay Davenport. As yesterday's matches showed, the conditions in Paris are very difficult - very windy - and it might have its influence to the match, but hopefully Dominique and Lindsay will show us lots of interesting and enjoyful tennis - if both give their best and neither of them happens to have a "low" or "zero" day - it should be a great match! Good luck, Dominique, your fans believe in you - give Lindsay a good fight! In tennis everything is possible, we all know that... |
| May the 30th - Doubles draw was announced as well - Dominique and Els will meet German/Austrian doubles team of Angelika Bachmann & Karin Kschwendt in first round, if it goes well, next opponents will be either Anke Huber & Barbara Schett or Julie Pullin & Lorna Woodroffe (both GBR). Good luck girls - you are great doubles team and hopefully you manage to show it to the tennis world during this French Open! |
| May the 26th - If anyone would like to get tougher draw for two highest ranked Belgian players Dominique and Sabine, it would definitely be impossible task as Dominique will meet No 2 player Lindsay Davenport and Sabine No 1 player Martina Hingis in first round!?! Now we just have to sit and wait - to see how it goes... If you have to meet a top player, it's really probably best to do it in either first or last round - you can still surprise your highest ranked opponent - if you are good enough and have some luck... And I guess it would be fair to have some after such a tough draw... And there is one more positive side about this kind match-up - we will probably see Dominique from TV as well... So, Dominique! The best of luck for you in French Open - just give your best and it might be enough... if not, you have still given your best... and your fans always give their best to support you! Good luck! |
| May the 25th - Match-up between former doubles partners ended with Flo's win - Dominique and Els were defeated in two very tough sets 5-7 4-6... But let's look at it from the bright side - it gives Dominique some more days to prepare and practice for the French Open, starting already on Monday. Unfortunately it's a first time since 1998 Australian Open when Dominique is not a seeded player - so let's hope for the best of luck with the draw - she needs it now, maybe more than ever... Good luck! |
| May the 23rd - There are mixed news coming from Strasbourg - sad news is that Dominique lost her singles match 0-6 4-6 and won't get any matchpractice before French Open and gain any points... better news is that Dominique and Els came through very tough first round match in doubles and defeated doubles-team "Barclay & Webb" 7-6 (9-7) 7-5!! Well done, girls! In second round interesting intrigue can be seen - Dominique is playing against her former doubles partner Flo... Hopefully it will be a good week in doubles! Good luck, Dominique & Els! |
| May the 23rd - On this very moment Dominique starts her first round match in Strasbourg against Anna Smashnova and will play her first doubles match after come-back later today. Best of luck, Dominique! You can do it!! |
| May the 22nd - This week Dominique is playing in Tier III event in Strasbourg where she is 5th seed in singles and 4th seed together with Els Callens in doubles. First round opponent will be Anna Smashnova from Israel and the match will take place either tomorrow or on Wednesday... As Bart once said (about playing agaisnt someone else): "Normally she should win..." - hopefully this will be the case this time as well... Good luck, Dominique! |
| May the 19th - Unfortunately Dominique's come-back tournament in Rome didn't go so well after the first round - she got surprised by Italian wild card Giulia Casoni in two sets 6-7 (6-8) 0-6... Hopefully it will go better next week in Strasbourg... Some more wins before the French Open would give both her and all her fans much more confidence for the second Grand Slam in 2000... As Dominique has only 2 point to defend there, there's only a chance to gain some more and get better result... Come on, Dominique, you can do it!!! |
| May the 15th - YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Dominique is back again! She defeated Irina Spirlea in two sets 6-2 6-3 in first round... Very well done, Dominique!!! It's really really great you have you back on winning ways!! Hopefully it continues like that as well! Best of luck in next rounds!! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!! |
| May the 15th - Despite the news that Dominique starts her come-back in Strasbourg next week, her name could be found in the main draw of tournament in Rome! Great news! She is seeded 15th and her first round opponent is Irina Spirlea - always very unconvinient opponent for Dominique... Let's hope that despite not having so much match practice and playing the match on clay, on Dominique's least favourite surface, she can still have a great match and hopefully there will be some more good results for her soon again! Best of luck, Dominique! |
| May the 9th - It was announced by VTV (Flemish Tennis Federation) that Dominique is still doing conditional training and won't go to Rome next week, so she starts her comeback in Strasbourg on Monday, May 22nd. All the best for your comeback, Dominique! Best of luck in Strasbourg! |
| May the 2nd - Well done, Belgian girls!!! Els, Laurence and Kim surprised all the opponents, tennis fans and media by beating all their opponents in Moscow by score 2-1 and advanced to semi-finals of Fed Cup!!! Great news!!! A team, which wasn't out there in its strongest, came out as "all for one and one for all" and overcome the threat from the others, suposedly the stronger teams and made it! Well done, and best of luck in November! Hopefully Dominique will be part of the team then as well - she'd love to play for her country and she definitely deserves a place in the Belgian Fed Cup Team! |
| April the 28th - Belgian news announced that there might be a big chance that Dominique won't play in Berlin either... but it might still happen... She is preparing now to play in Rome and in Strasbourg after that - to prepare herself for French Open. All the best for come-back, Dominique! All your fans are here, waiting for you and supporting you in everything what you do!! |
| April the 27th - Unfortunately Dominique didn't feel strong enough mentally to take part in Fed Cup matches in Moscow, but despite the fact that she isn't actually participating, it's great to announce that Belgium has defeated their first opponent Australia 2-1!! Laurence Courtois defeated Nicole Pratt in first three-setter 6-1 2-6 7-5, Kim Clijsters lost a long and tough match against Jelena Dokic 6-7 7-5 7-9 and Laurence & Els Callens saved the day for Belgium in another tough three-setter against Rennae Stubbs & Alicia Molik 1-6 6-0 10-8! Well done, girls! Go, Belgium, go! |
| April the 17th - It was announced in Belgian media in the end of last week that Dominique won't take part in Belgiums Fed Cup campaign in Moscow next week and she is cancelled her participation in tournament in Hamburg as well - to take some rest and try to cope with the sad loss of her mom... We all understand that she needs some time for herself now and hope that those weeks at home among the family and friends help her... And after this break, she has quite a busy schedule - Berlin, Rome and Strasbourg... and French Open, of course... Let's hope that good times will come back for Dominique soon! |
| April the 6th - Dominique has been selected to Belgian Fed Cup team for the first round that will be played in Moscow, from 27 to 30 of April. But it is still not 100% sure if Dominique will be able to play after recent tragedy of losing her mother... She has not said either final "yes" or "no" yet, so probably the decision might come at the last moment - if she feels strong enough, she will probably go to Moscow, if not, we all understand that time is the only thing that might help... The captain of the team, Ivo Van Aken has said that it is acceptable if Dominique joins the team even on the day of departure to Moscow or if she decides to play only doubles... The most important thing is to find a peace of mind and strenght inside yourself and all the others just have to be patient... and they are... |
| April the 5th - To those who sent their messages for Dominique - thank you all! Your wishes have been sent to Dominique. Let's hope that love, concern and support from all those either close to her or far away will help her to be strong... |
| I am very sad to announce that after sudden retirement from tournament in Miami and going back to be with her mom, it has been confimed that Dominique's mom Louise Anne passed away earlier this week, on Tuesday, March 28. |
DEAR DOMINIQUE! ALL YOUR FANS ALL AROUND THE WORLD ARE WITH YOU NOW IN THEIR THOUGHTS - TO GIVE YOU ALL THE STRENGHT YOU NEED... OUR DEEPEST SYMPHATHY AND CONDOLENCES TO YOU AND YOUR CLOSE ONES.
| March the 27th - After getting a bye in first round, Dominique started the tournament in Miami with a win in three sets over Holly Parkinson 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 6-0 - quite an usual score this year - after facing some resistance in first set, Dominique almost demolishes the opponent in two other ones... In third round it was supposed to be another match between Dominique and Amanda Coetzer (already 4th one this year!), but already on early Sunday news agencies started to announce that Coetzer had moved forward after ... walkover... The first thoughts were about another injury - either a new one or the one that has bothered her for quite some time now, but the actual reason was something much different - Dominique rushed back to Belgium to be by the side of her mom who is seriously ill... Let's be with Dominique and her mom in our thoughts and hope for the best... |
| March the 23rd - Dominique has entered the Ericsson Open in Miami this week - she is 16th seed there. The draw has been announced and it seems to be almost a carbon copy of the Indian Wells tournament: Dominique got a first round bye, she might meet Amanda Coetzer in 3rd and Conchita Martinez in 4th round - exactly as last week! But first, after a bye, she will have to beat either Magdalena Grzybowska or Holly Parkinson in 2nd round. The match will probably be played tomorrow - hopefully the injury is not bothering her anymore and we will see some great results! All the best! |
| March the 14th - Dominique's success in Indian Wells ended in very surprising and sad way - a sad loss caused by injury... She was forced to retire after not being able to play her game and losing first 9 games of the match - the final score was 0-6 0-3 and retirement... Very sad news indeed. According to Eurosport, the injury was "a strained right quadricep"... Hopefully it is not anything very serious and Dominique will be able to return to the tenniscourts soon again! Get well soon, Dominique! |
| March the 13th - YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Dominique is in fourth round of Indian Wells after defeating Emmanuelle Gagliardi from Switzerland in another three-set-match (quite usual lenght of the match recently...) - 4-6 6-3 6-0!!! If sometimes it seems that Dominique might have problems to close out the match, it's definitely not the problem these days - the final sets of both matches in Indian Wells have been very convincing!! Well done, Dominique! Hopefully the great run continues in 4th round against Conchita Martinez as well - although she's 6th seed and she has had quite some good results this year, the match will be still played on hardcourts and it should give Dominique at least a small advantage - and although their head-to-head is 2-1 to Martinez, Dominique was the one who won their latest meeting - in Chase Championships 1998... So, let's hope for the best!! Good luck! |
| March the 11th - Dominique and Els lost their first round doubles match against 4th seeds Anna Kournikova and Natasha Zvereva in straight sets 1-6 2-6... Well, it's always sad to lose, but if the opponents are so highly ranked doubles players (especially Natasha!!) there's nothing to be ashamed of... Better luck next time! |
| March the 11th - YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Dominique defeated Amanda Coetzer in
another long three-setter after having lost the first on - final score was 1-6 6-4 6-1!
Well done, Dominique! It was a great win in many ways - getting back in winning ways,
defeating one of her main rivals to higher placement in rankings and another Top 20 player
- and last but not least - winning a match during spring-season in America for some time
now... Very well done! In next round, either Gala Leon Garcia or Emmanuelle Gagliardi is
waiting - hopefully the tournament continues as it started - with another win! All the
best for that, Dominique! |
| March the 9th - Indian Wells draw has been announced - Dominique got a first round bye and will meet Amanda Coetzer in second round. They have met twice this year and the 2000 head-to-head is 1-1, so it might be quite promising - in case Dominique can go "all the way" and close the match out... All the support from the fans side is needed now - so, keep your fingers crossed! Good luck, Dominique - we know that you can do it!! |
| March the 8th - After having two very though three-setters in previous rounds, Dominique and Els couldn's show much of resistance in their semi-final match and lost in it two sets 1-6 2-6... But anyway, reaching the semis in Tier II tournament is a great achievement and hopefully it gave back some of the confidence Dominique needs in singles - to get back in winning ways again... |
| March the 4th - YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Dominique and Els played a very well last night reaching the semifinal of the Tier II tournament by beating a tough team of Elena Likhovtseva & Rita Grande in three sets 7-5 2-6 6-2! Well done, very well done! Now in semis, they will meet Cara Black & Irina Selyutina - hopefully a good run in Scottsdale doubles will continue tonight! Best of luck for that!! |
| March the 2nd - Despite the early end of the singles tournament things are looking better in doubles for Dominique and her doubles partner Els Callens in Scottsdale - in first round they managed to defeat team Halard-Sugiyama in three tough sets 6-7(3) 6-3 7-6(3)! This was an important match to win - to get at least some confidence back after such an unfortunate times... and Dominique & Els did it! Well done! Now in second round Elena Likhovtseva and Rita Grande are waiting - the best of luck for the match! |
| March the 1st - Unfortunately Dominique's comeback to tour wasn't as successful as desired - she had a tough battle against her old rival Sandrine Testud in first round losting the match in three sets 6-3 3-6 2-6. Sadly, one of the main reasons of this loss apear to be doublefaults - totally 14 of those in the match... Let's hope that this kind of lack of confidence was only caused by this long break and having such a long competitive match (over 2 hours) gives some more hope for the future... Hopefully it goes much better next week - although now Dominique and all her fans need lots of luck to get the best possible draw... Best of luck - we all really need it now! |
| Feb the 28th - Dominique has entered the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic - a Tier II tournament in Scottsdale, U.S. this week. She is not seeded there and will play against 7th seed, Sandrine Testud of France in first round - thing that hasn't happened for some time now - last time she was unseeded and met a seed in first round (except the Chase Championships, of course) was on October 29th, 1997 in Moscow where she beat 5th seed Anke Huber 5-7 6-4 6-3... as a matter of fact, after defeating Anke and Irina Spirlea (2nd seed) on her way, she entered the Top 20 for the first time in her career! Now there is a threat that in case the tournament does not go well for Dominique, she might drop out from Top 20 for the first time (after February 9th, 1998)... Hopefully everything goes still well - all the signs show that: Dominique has rested for some time and prepared for the spring season in America and well, she won three last matches she played against the seed in first round - October 10th, 1997 in Zürich against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, October 29th, 1997 in Moscow against Anke Huber and then November 16th, 1998 against Conchita Martinez... Quite some statistics to support our hopes for good tournament! ( My thanks go to "Lolo" for this statistical support! ;-) Anyway - All the best, Dominique, we believe you can do that!!! Good luck tomorrow!!! |
| Feb the 17th - Dominique had plans to play in Hannover this week, but in some reasons she still decided to take a break and prepare herself for quite long American hardcourt period where it hasn't gone so well for her previous year - let's hope for the best this time! |
| Feb the 9th - Unfortunately, Dominique's comeback after Australian Open wasn't supposed to be so successful - she was defeated by Irina Spirlea in first round 4-6 2-6... After that Dominique was also forced to withdraw from doubles - because of the flu that seemingly influenced her play in singles on previous day already as well... Hopefully it wasn't anything serious and we can all cheer for Dominique next week in Hannover again! Get well soon, Dominique!!! |
| Feb the 8th - Dominique plays in Paris, Open Gaz de France tournament this week. She is 8th seed there and will play against Irina Spirlea in first round later today - this should be the match that could be won, but you never know against Spirlea - her slice backhand can be very inconvinient for Dominique... In doubles Dominique is teaming up with local girl Anne-Gaelle Sidot. Good luck! Hope to see you in Eurosport coverages starting on Friday! |
| Jan the 26th - Dominique and Els make a good team indeed! They reached a quarterfinal of AO second year in a row (well, at least Dominique did, as last year she and Flo defeated Els and Julie Halard-Decugis in 4th round)!! In second round Dominique and Els defeated the 4th seeds Nathalie Tauziat & Alexandra Fusai in very convincing 2 sets 6-3 6-3 - what a great achievement! Considering the fact that very important Fed Cup matches and Olympic doubles tournaments are to come, Dominique and Els are very promising doubles team! In 3rd round Dominique got the revenge from Jennifer Capriati in doubles - she and Els defeated the double Capriati & Jelena Dokic in two sets, although the second set's tie-break was really tough 14-12 to us!! The final score was 6-4 7-6 (12). In quarterfinal the opponents were the same as in previous Sydney tournament - Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett - unfortunately the match didn't come out as good as Sydney - they lost 1-6 6-7 (4)... But anyway, a great tournament - QF of the Grand Slam is a really good result for any doubles team! Well done, Dominique and Els! Good luck in Paris! |
| Jan the 20th - Despite the loss in singles, Dominique and Els teamed up very successfully - the first round match against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Magui Serna was won in two sets 6-2 6-4! Well done, girls! Go on like that! |
| Jan the 20th - Unfortunately it wasn't supposed to be... after a long long fight and very brave effort to give her best, Dominique and all the fans had to face a sad loss against Jennifer Capriati - it wasn't decided before an extra long third set which went to Capriati 8-6... First set started so promising for Dominique - already the first return of Capriati's serve was such an impressive winner!! But after breaking the first game of the first set, something went totally wrong - it wasn't so much about Dominique doing anything wrong - Capriati was just too good or had more luck in some important points.... Second set was Dominique's at the end and after trailing in third with a break, she managed to break back to 3-3 and even go ahead - at 5-5 she got broken again, but managed to break back right away - the same situation happened at 6-6 again, but then the same trick didn't go through - Capriati won 8-6... Well anyway, 56 points were earned (the same amount as in 1998 with 2 wins), more than expected after the draw was announced... Hopefully better luck next time! |
| Jan the 18th - So, tomorrow will be a big day for Dominique and all of her fans - 2nd round match will be played as one of the two main highlight-matches of night session on former Center Court (called Rod Laver Arena now)!!! It will also be the first 'live' match on Eurosport tomorrow, so all you, the fans outthere, make sure that you turn on the Eurosport at 9.00 C.E.T. - Dominique will need all the support she can get tomorrow!!! The funny thing is that despite the fact that she is the seeded player in this match, she is probably still the underdog there - but still... no matter how it goes, it has still been a very brave performance for her as there weren't many of those who expected her to reach so far after getting such a difficult draw... But she made it! And she might still do it! All the best, Dominique! |
| Jan the 17th - YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! SHE DID IT!!! DESPITE ALL THE DOUBTERS, SHE DID IT!!! DOMINIQUE DEFEATED HER FELLOW-BELGIAN KIM CLIJSTERS IN THREE SETS - AFTER LOSING THE FIRST 3-6, DOMINIQUE STORMED BY CLIJSTERS 6-1 6-1 IN TWO FOLLOWING SETS!! VERY WELL DONE, DOMINIQUE!!! YOU SHOWED THE WHOLE WORLD, THAT IT'S DEFINITELY TOO EARLY TO WRITE YOU OFF BEFORE THE MATCH - EVEN WHEN THE OPPONENT IS THE TOUGHEST NON-SEED ON THE TOURNAMENT, THE YOUNG AND UP-AND-COMING TALENT.... YOU CAN STILL DO IT!!! GREAT JOB!!! GOOD LUCK IN NEXT ROUND AGAINST JENNIFER CAPRIATI - ANOTHER TOUGH OPPONENT... Check also some photos and articles (unfortunately in French only) about this 1st Round match! |
| Jan the 14th - Ooooops!!! The Australian Open draw was announced this morning and well, we all have to agree that Dominique has got probably the most unlucky draw of all... L In first round Dominique was drawn against... Kim Clijsters... very very tough draw for anyone in the draw... In second round the opponent will be either Jennifer Capriati or Barbara Schwartz - both very dangerous opponents as well... and in case she manages to go so far, in 4th round it will be her last year's quarterfinal opponent Amelie Mauresmo... Ohhhh, talking about toughness of the draw - this is as tough as it can be! L We all know, that on her day, Dominique can beat anyone and that's why it's not as sad as it seems at first, but in case it happens to be one of "not-her-days", it's very very difficult to get anyway... Anyway, let's hope for the best!! Good luck, Dominique, you will need it this time!! |
| Jan the 13th - Sad news... Dominique had to retire after first set (1-6) of quarter-final match against Martina Hingis. The retirement was caused by (as it was said in Sports Network's news) an apparent hamstring injury... As you can check from the photos, it looks quite bad, but let's hope that Dominique recovers from it quickly and will be ready for Australian Open next week - she's 14th seed there... Get well soon, Dominique! We are looking forward to see you again in Melbourne! All the best! |
| Jan the 12th - YESSSSSSSSSS! Dominique is in Quarters of Sydney tournament once again! She defeated Amanda Coezter in tough three-setter 0-6 7-5 6-4, revenging the loss she got last week... Now the history of Adidas International will be repeated once again - Dominique's opponent in quarterfinal will be World No 1 Martina Hingis as it was last year! Hopefully the result will be different though... All the best, Dominique! You can do it! |
| Jan the 10th - Doubles tournament in Sydney is over for Dominique - she and Asa Carlsson lost against Schett & Kournikova in three close sets 4-6 6-4 3-6. Now the main attention back to singles again! Lisa Raymond or Amanda Coetzer.... |
| Jan the 10th - Dominique is playing in Sydney Adidas International this week. And she has already won her first match there! YESSSSSSSSSS! In first round match against Paola Suarez, only 4 games went against Dominique - 2 games in each set! Well done, Dominique! In next round possible opponent will be either Lisa Raymond or Amanda Coetzer - it's possible to get a great result against both of us, so lets hope... In doubles Dominique is teaming with Swede Asa Carlsson and they are playing their first round match probably right now - on Center Court and against team Schett & Kournikova... |
| Jan the 6th - by now already two matches have been played - Belgium vs US and vs Sweden. Dominique has got her first win of the season as well as Belgium its first match victory. At first, on Wednesday, according to Dominique, she played even better match than against Amanda, even the match statistics from Dominique's side were if not better then at least as good as Stevenson's, but unfortunately probably only two the most important points went against Dominique and that meant that the match was lost in three sets 4-6 6-1 4-6... But in mixed doubles Dominique and Xavier played great match and as the men's match went to Belgium as well the final score was 2-1 for 'us'! Today Belgium met Sweden and Dominique didn't let Asa Carlsson to surprise her - she won in straight sets 6-2 6-3!! Jonas Björkman was too good for Xavier and mixed doubles was quite tight and could go both ways in second set, but the final score was 1-6 5-7... Anyway, hopefully those matches gave Dominique some chances to practice and get ready for season 2000 - next week (or actually on Sunday already) the first official WTA tournament for her is Sydney. As soon as draw will be announced, it will be put here.... The best of luck! Hopefully it turns out to be a great season for Dominique and all her fans! |
| Jan the 3rd - first round-robin meeting with South-Africa is already played - unfortunately Belgium lost 0-3. Dominique played well against Amanda, but she still lost 4-6 2-6 - Amanda played quite many low balls and dropshots and Dominique didn't quite find a way to deal with them... Malisse lost very quickly (2-6 3-6) to Ferreira and in mixed doubles the win for Belgium was the closest - Malisse went to serve at 5-4 in first set, but lost his service game and after that the set was lost 5-7. In second set South-Africans took the control and won the match 7-5 6-3. The scores may be negative, but as I saw (yesss, I saw the matches from TV!!!), Dominique was doing OK, her serve was quite good and all those fantastic flat direct winners a'la Dominique were there! On 5th of January the next opponents will be US and Alexandra Stevenson... hopefully a loss in Birmingham last year will get revenged... J The best of luck, Dominique! |
| Jan the 3rd - For a first time in her career Dominique is playing in team event Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. She's teaming up with 19 year old Xavier Malisse, representing Belgium that is invited to take part for a first time as well. In Group A (in round-robin format) their opponents are South-Africa (Amanda Coetzer and Wayne Ferreira), US (Alexandra Stevenson and James Blake) and Sweden (Asa Carlsson and Jonas Björkman). |
| Jan the 3rd - A new season has started - Dominique is on tenniscourts again and so are her fans - ready to give all support they can... Happy New 2000 to Dominique, her close ones and all fans! May it be the best ever year for all of us! Lots of luck, love and happiness! Many remarkable achievements, fantastic results and great wins! |
| Dominique's another good season is over now - she lost a quarterfinal against Nathalie Tauziat 3-6 2-6 although the match was actually much more even than this score shows. Dominique served well and hit great and fantastic winners - CNN showed the last point of the 2nd game of the match, and called it the point of the match and the tournament! It was really great to see Dominique hitting winners from every kind of difficult situations, angles and strokes! But well, Tauziat was a bit better on the most important points, so she advanced to semis... Anyway, the season has been good once again - starting with another top 10 place in rankings! Well, I guess after that there is no need to add anything else, but anyway, Dominique finishes her season ranked 14 (only two places lower than last year), reached QF of Australian Open and 4th round of Wimbledon - two of her favourite Grand Slams, reached two finals (Auckland and Luxembourg), 3 semis and 7 quarterfinals on the tour and helped her country in Fed Cup matches, giving a very tough and extremely important first point to her team's account! Well done, Dominique - it has been another great year, full of pleasure of following your achievements on the tour, enjoying your incredible committment and fantastic winners all-over-the-place, no matter on which tournament or surface you were playing! All your fans wish you well for the rest of the year, enjoy your time off... and... WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU SOON AGAIN!!! YOU ARE THE VERY BEST OF THE VERY BEST! GOOD LUCK FOR HOPMAN CUP - YOUR FIRST TOURNAMENT IN JANUARY! |
| So. Dominique will play the third match in Madison Square Garden tonight (after first QF of the day and the doubles) - and it really means 'a night' in Europe. So to all European fans, unfortunately we won't see the match 'live', but Eurosport will show the taped match tomorrow, on Saturday at 3 pm C.E.T. But let's dream about the great match and hopefully good result tonight, especially around 4-5 am... J Good luck for all of us, especially Dominique, of course!!! J J |
| Thursday's schedule of Chase has been announced - according to that, Dominique has been given one more resting day - she is not scheduled to play today... Well, it means she has one more day to get ready for her second Chase QF - and it's an extra day for all her fans as well, especially European ones, who stayed up until 3 am on Tuesday night - get ready to repeat it tomorrow! J Good luck! |
| Some comments from Dominique, given after the 1st round of Chase: "J'ai cru que c'était une plaisanterie. Cela me plaeait dans une situation totalement différente. Je n'étais plus l'outsider d'un match que, sur papier, je ne devais plus perdre. J'étais bien sur trcs contente du changement alors que j'avais déja planifié mes vacances. Mais, a l'échauffement, avant le match, j'étais trcs nerveuse. Cela ne m'était jamais arrivé de changer d'adversaire aussi prcs d'un match. Likhovtseva n'était manifestement pas przte. Mais j'ai eu un peu peur a 5-2 et j'ai du retrouver ma concentration pour pouvoir finir la partie." (I try to give a translation of that as good as I can - "After returning from the lunch I heard that Serena Williams will not play. I believed that it was a joke. That put me in a completely different situation. I was not the outsider of a match anymore, that means that ' on paper', I was not to lose any more. I was of course very satisfied with the change whereas I had already planned my holidays. But, with the heating, before the match, I was very nervous. That had never happened to me before that the opponent was changed at so short notice before the match. Likhotseva was obviously not ready. But I was a little afraid at 5-2 and I had to find my concentration to be able to finish the match.") |
To comment her QF opponent Nathalie Tauziat, Dominique said: "Nathalie, c'est une main en or. Elle sait tout faire. Elle peut réussir des coups miraculeux mzme quand elle est en train de perdre le point. Elle est trcs forte en salle, ol elle n'a pas a se déplacer autant". (Nathalie, has golden hands. She can do everything. She can succeed with the miraculous shots even when she is losing the point. She is very strong indoors, where she does not have to move as much). Check also the official interview
We will see how it goes. They have played eachother six times and the score is three wins each. THE BEST OF LUCK TOMORROW!
| YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Once again, Dominique is in quarterfinal of Chase Championships!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS! Well done, Dominique! As it was said before, she had nothing to lose - just to be prepared to step onto the court and give her best - and then anything can happen! And as it showed - it's really possible! - as just couple of hours before the start of the match - Dominique vs Serena - Serena announced her withdrawal from the tournament... It put Dominique in interesting situation - on one side, she got a better opponent - Russian Elena Likhovtseva, who replaced Serena, but on the other hand, it might have been quite difficult to try to re-focus to totally different match in such a short notice... and instead of match where the opponent was supposed to win as higher ranked player, suddenly Dominqiue was put into position, where she was the one who was expected to become a winner! And to the great pleasure of all her fans - she fulfilled all those expectations!! She gave Elena Likhovtseva her second loss against her in two weeks in quite convincing way 6-2 6-3!! In the end of the match, Elena started to put some more pressure on Dominique and somehow played much better than in the beginning of match, but anyway - Dominique got the victory by breaking Elena's serve in 9th game of the second set once again and the unbelievable had happened - Dominique reached the quarterfinal second year in a row!!! WELL DONE, DOMINIQUE!!! In next round, Nathalie Tauziat is waiting.. So, all the best of luck for that match! And the win-loss record, that is 2-1 now, can't go into negative numbers anyway!J GOOD LUCK! |
| So, today probably the most important showdown of this season for Dominique and her fans will take place. At midnight C.E.T. tonight, Dominique will step onto the Center Court of the Madison Square Garden in New York - to play the third Chase Championships' match of her career - against probably the most dangerous player on the tour right now - 4th seed and US Champion Serena Williams... The starting position is very good - her current career record at Chase is 1-1 and experiences and emotions from another good season are giving more confidence and belief in herself. By using committment, composure and fantastic grandstrokes everything is possible! Come on, Dominique! You might actually win the match, despite all the odds placed on the match... Your fans believe in you! And we are very proud of you, no matter how this match ends - you are the most exciting player on the tour anyway! Good luck! |
| The Chase draw has been announced by now - Dominique didn't have the best luck as she will be playing against Serena Williams in first round... Of course, there is always a chance to win if you step onto the court, no matter against whom you play, even if it's US Open champion... So, let's hope for the best! And congratulations to Dominique for the good season she has had so far! We are proud of you, as we always are! All the best in New York! All the fans will be sitting in front of the TV sets, even if it's 2 am in Europe!!! J J |