One of Surprises Belongs to Dokic

CARLSBAD — The third set used to be the possession of Jennifer Capriati. She may not have owned them outright--who ever does?--but she could at least claim a long-term lease.

Encroachment came from Serena Williams and Justine Henin in 2002 with Williams defeating Capriati four times this year, three times in three sets. Membership in the club expanded on Friday with a surprise guest, Jelena Dokic, who once used to fade in the latter stages against Capriati.

The sixth-seeded Dokic of Yugoslavia defeated second-seeded Capriati, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, in a hard-hitting quarterfinal at the Acura Classic on Friday night at La Costa Resort and Spa. In today’s semifinal, she will play Anna Kournikova of Russia, and top-seeded and two-time defending champion Venus Williams will face third-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the night match.

While Kournikova’s marathon quarterfinal victory against 12th-seeded Anna Smashnova of Israel represented a test of will power and endurance, Dokic’s victory was more of a mental breakthrough. For the 19-year-old, it may well serve as a career turning point.

“She’s always been a good player,” said Capriati, who has not won a tournament since the Australian Open in January. “Today, she was a great player. If she can be consistent like that she’ll move up in the rankings and have more big wins.”

Dokic went so far as to call this the biggest victory of her career, and she has recorded victories against former No. 1 Martina Hingis and Venus Williams. This, however, was her first victory against Capriati in five matches, which included a three-set loss at the French Open in the quarterfinals this year.

“Jennifer was always the one for me to beat,” Dokic said. “I think it may have been the biggest win of my career. She is [ranked] No. 3 right now, but at times, you could still say she’s No. 1.”

The third set of their match featured five consecutive breaks of serve before Dokic held at 5-4 to win it. Every time Dokic looked vulnerable, she came back stronger in the next game. She needed only two match points, moving into the semifinals when Capriati hit a forehand long.

Their quarterfinal lasted 1 hour 39 minutes, and interestingly enough, was the second-fastest of the four quarterfinals. Davenport was the most efficient winner, beating Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 6-1, 6-1, in 46 minutes, calling it her best match since returning from a nine-month layoff after knee surgery.

Venus Williams dropped the middle set of her quarterfinal against fifth-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium, a rematch of their final last Sunday at Stanford. Williams won the final in straight sets, and the two disagreed on the level of Clijsters’ play. Here, Williams committed 73 unforced errors but defeated Clijsters, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, in 1 hour 50 minutes.

“I think she played really well last week,” Williams said. “She’ll probably admit she didn’t feel like she played as well, either. I don’t know how she feels. I think she made more unforced errors [today].”

Clijsters laughed and very politely disagreed.

“Maybe on her side, but not on mine,” she said. “I think the score says it all.”

You could say the same thing about the Kournikova-Smashnova endurance test. Kournikova was exhausted and out of breath after her 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Smashnova, which lasted 2 hours 18 minutes.

“She’s an amazing player,” said Kournikova, who trailed, 1-6, 1-3. “It took everything out of me. My feet are burning. She gives 150%, plays so well and didn’t make many mistakes. She’s basically a wall back there.”

Smashnova may have the best name in tennis, but she has the game to cause the worst nightmares for her opponents. The looping topspin, the tireless running, the endless retrieving.

Harold Solomon may not have invented it, but, well, he knows it when he sees it.

“Must have been like that for people when they used to play me,” he said, joking, of facing Smashnova.

Solomon, a French Open finalist in 1976, now coaches Kournikova and was immensely proud of her effort. “It showed people how gutsy she is,” he said. “It would have been easy to bag it, a sore leg, sore stomach. ‘I’m tired.’ A lot of players would have said, ‘Adios.’ I’m proud of her.”

That was high praise from the man who won his matches by attrition. Kournikova only knows of his glory days by legend and said, giggling: “I heard he invented the moonball. He’s going to kill me.”