KAROLINA SPREM vs. JELENA KOSTANIC
By Katarina Tepesh
At US OPEN on opening day, JELENA KOSTANIC, ranked 40th defeated KAROLINA SPREM, ranked 18th with 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 results.
Despite heat and humidity, the two Croatian players produced a dramatic tennis match with many Croatians in the audience spurring them on with "Idemo Hrvatska!" or "Go Croatians!"
Jelena Kostanic was born on July 6, 1981 in Split. According to Women's Tennis Association www.wtatour.com , Jelena's rank is 34th in Doubles and 40th in Singles. "Capturing the Junior Australian Open is my most memorable experience," says Kostanic. She plays left-handed like her idol Goran Ivanisevic, who comes from the same tennis club in Split. Jelena's coach is Petar Buljevic and her off-court trainer is Goran Zufar. Jelena's father works as an external bank auditor and her mother is a dental nurse. The Kostanic family has a private tennis court and Jelena has been competing since 1996. Her career prize money is close to a million dollars.
"I enjoy comedies, movies with Tom Hanks, love to read Leo Tolstoy and admire Michael Jordan along with Ivanisevic as the greatest sportsman of all time." Like Ivanisevic, Kostanic is not beyond cursing during a heated match. She is all smiles when it comes to Olympics "I love it."
Born on October 25, 1984 in Varazdin, Karolina Sprem started to play tennis at age nine. Karolina's best results so far were quarterfinals at Wimbledon 2004 and finals in Strasbourg and Vienna 2003.
Officially, Karolina emerged among the "Most Improved Players" along with a couple of Russian players, who have surged up the rankings during 2004. From No. 66 Sprem moved to No. 18. Wearing her signature outfit, a pink blouse with a very low cut white skirt, Karolina's photo was prominently displayed in the official US Open program.
Karolina was even considered as a serious contender for the US Open champion title along with a million dollar check. Nevertheless, she lost in the first round and arrived at the press conference with a big smile on her face, appearing casual and seemingly carefree. Peppered with questions from reporters, Karolina said "I don't mind that I lost….Sometimes I win and sometime I lose….I can't win all the time….I will continue to play other (much smaller) tennis tournaments for the rest of the year….I play every tournament as if it is Grand Slam!"
When asked about very recent turbulent breakup with her longtime coach Sasa Hirszon, who coached her for the past five years, she adamantly repeated in English and Croatian, "I don't want to talk about it!"
She turned professional in 2001. Her former coach Sasa Hirszon, used to be a tennis player himself. "I usually have four hours of training every day plus fitness," say Karolina.
Her father Gabro sells artificial flowers at the market in Varazdin. Mother's name is Bozena. Her sister's name is Gordana and she was seating in the stands at US Open. "No one else plays tennis in the family, but we are very close. It is important to me to have a coach from Croatia, so that I can be with my family in Varazdin and train at the same time," says 19-year-old Karolina. Wearing her signature outfit, a pink blouse with a very low cut white skirt.
Karolina bids adieu to US Open with a $14,000.00 check in her pocket for play less than 2 hours long.
Qualifying Round:
The bright future of tennis took center stage several days prior to US Open, as the schedule featured several players making transition from junior ranks and attempting to make the transition to big-time professional players. Unfortunately, the following Croatian players did not qualify to enter US Open: IVANA ABRAMOVIC, ranked 169; ROKO KARANUSIC ranked 190 and LANA POPADIC.
Other listed Croatian players are SANDA MAMIC, ranked 147; ZELJKO KRAJAN ranked 191; SASA TUKSAR ranked 234;
US OPEN PRIZE MONEY:
This year's US Open purse tops $17.75 million and will potentially exceed more than $19 million - the highest purse in sports. For the 32nd consecutive year, the USTA is offering equal prize money to both men and women - a Grand Slam first and a US Open tradition dating back to 1973. All players also receive per diem payment to help with the cost of accommodations and other expenses.
