New year sees new role for Evie

Evie Dominikovic recently announced that she is pregnant, making 2006 a year of transition for the 206th ranked Australian.

Dominikovic, who has been ranked as high as number 64 in the world, is set to miss a large portion of the 2006 WTA Tour because she is due to give birth to her first child in May.

She has already missed two-and-a-half months of tennis, as she stopped playing as soon as she first found out of her pregnancy.

Born and bred in Sydney, the 25-year-old has said that her and partner Joe Ivisic were not planning for this event, yet are delighted that they will become parents for the first time.

“I wasn’t planning to have kids right now, but it’s happened and we’re really excited,” she reportedly said.

Dominikovic’s pregnancy means that she can now put even more of her time into helping her 18-year-old sister crack the elite circuit.

Daniella Dominikovic has, in the past three years, been on a gradual climb in the WTA Tour world rankings, finishing 2003 at 967 and 2004 at 500, and is currently ranked 392.

The younger of the Dominikovics has been ranked as high as 324, which occurred in October of this year.

Her game still has a way to go but, as she is only turning 19 just before the start of the 2006 Australian Open, she has time on her side.

As for Evie and her own tennis career, she also believes she has time.

“I’m hoping to get back into it by October or November next year – I haven’t finished playing tennis,” she said.

Hence having the two Dominikovics playing at the highest level on the Tour at the one time is still not out of the question, but appears unlikely to happen in the short-term.

At this stage, Daniella is aiming for a wildcard entry into next month’s Australian Open, while Evie’s current ranking of 207 will continue to fall with her absence from the Tour.

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