Dokic to grace our shores

Darrell Halim reports, Jelena Dokic wants to call Australia home again.

Remember a certain Serbian tennis player who once represented Australia, before turning her back on us. Yes. That would be Jelena Dokic.

Recent reports have suggested that Dokic’s eccentric father, now simply known as Damir, has confirmed that his estranged daughter will resign from her decision to play under the Serbian flag and seek clemency from Australia and, more importantly, the Australian public.

Dokic was 11-years-old when her parents decided to move to Australia, fleeing the dismemberment war of Yugoslavia and relying on the support of relatives in Sydney. They were living in Sydney’s western suburb of Fairfield, an area where working hard is the only way.

When Dokic was a junior growing up in Sydney, most active members of the tennis community would no doubt have heard of the name, Jelena Dokic. In fact, I still have a vivid memory of seeing a young Jelena at an Open tournament at Leumeah, a suburb in Sydney’s south-west.

At this tournament, Dokic would have been in her early teens. I recall her sitting calmly on a picnic rug with her father, Damir, mother, Liliana, and younger brother, Savo, all waiting patiently and quietly in anticipation for her next match in the tournament’s Opens women’s singles event.

It all appeared normal enough.

Little did I know that this same family would become one of the most outrageous stories on the WTA Tour.

In the six or so years since my sighting of Dokic, many incidents have occurred to prove that this girl, whom I had once considered simply as another honest, budding tennis star, is not your average player.

First and foremost, the talent that Dokic displayed at such a young age on the court was eye-catching and drew the attention of a nation.

Wimbledon was the place where she really made a name for herself. In 1999, en route to a quarterfinal at the age of 16 and as a qualifier, Dokic scored the biggest upset of the Open Era with a victory over the tournament’s number one seed, Martina Hingis. Dokic was ranked 129 in the world at the time.

A year later in 2000, as a 17-year-old, she became the first woman representing Australia to reach the semi-final of Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.

Her form in 2001 and 2002, the period in which she won all seven of her WTA Tour titles, saw her climb up the world rankings to as high as number four in the world in August of 2002.

By this stage, Australia had jumped on the Dokic bandwagon. At the time we were thinking how lucky we were to have adopted such a promising young sportsperson who was as marketable as she is talented.

However, in 2001, Dokic’s career experienced the worst event in her soap opera-like career when her father, Damir, believed that the Australian Open draw had been rigged against her daughter.

This was the last straw in their anger at Australian tennis officialdom and as a response, Jelena was reported to have been prejudiced by her father to quit Australia and sign with Serbia after the 2001 Australian Open.

Damir Dokic has had his fair share of run-ins with certain sections of the media and various tournament officials, including an incident where he was actually escorted out of a tournament venue and banned.

While all this was happening, Jelena’s career began to slide, her world ranking reaching a career low of 450 at one point. She is currently ranked 351, making 2005 her lowest year-end ranking since turning pro in 1998 where she ended the year ranked 10 spots higher than her current ranking.

Her most recent episode was a literal no-show at three Challenger events where she was due to compete.

After reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2000, who would have imagined that such a fresh and gifted player would be ranked so lowly just five years later. She should really be approaching the peak of her powers. Instead, she has continued on her downward spiral.

However, Dokic is still only 22, as young as or younger than the current crop of women at the top of the sport. She still has time on her side, but time is short for a player who has displayed that she is as impatient off the court as she has been on it through the years.

We can assume that Jelena Dokic is hoping she can produce a comeback to the top of women’s tennis similar to that of Jennifer Capriati, who came back from being arrested, or Mary Pierce, who has resurrected her career from being weighed down by her troubled father.

Sound familiar?

The tennis world should also be hoping that whenever a young talent crashes and burns in her early 20s, it won’t be known as ‘doing a Dokic’. ‘Doing a Damir’ is probably already one more catchphrase than the Dokic camp would appreciate.

Dokic is expected to apply for an Australian citizenship in time so that she can play at the Australian Open as an Australian once again. Whether she even graces our shores at all is anyone’s guess.

If she does, that’s great. However, if she doesn’t, I for one won’t be surprised.

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