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by Prip Evie Dominikovic would have to be the surprise of the tournament thus far. Still riding confident from winning three straight ITF tournaments during the summer circuit despite having no coach to speak of whatsoever, the youngster perhaps has more self-confidence than is due. Only finally considering a coach in the form of Leslie Bowrie just prior to the Aussie Open, in Sydney, the Aussie-born girl of Croatian descent might find it a little late to have professional help. Nevertheless, Evie has grown in maturity in the last 2 weeks, once a classic head case but now a little more controlled. Emulating Lleyton Hewitt's "come on", the youngster tried to fight it out in the end when Rita got nervous about closing out the match, but just didn't have the goods. And neither do I see her coming up with any to get very far in the game. All Rita had to do was pretty much keep the ball in play and occasionally venture in to net to finish off the points. The Italian will meet Martina Hingis in the next round, perhaps the first familiar opponent for the top seed. |