Jelena Dokić

Infobox Tennis player
playername = Jelena Dokić


country = AUS (1998–2000, 2006- )
SCG (2001–2005)
residence = Monte Carlo, Monaco
datebirth = birth date and age|1983|4|12
placebirth = Osijek, SFR Yugoslavia
now Croatia
height =height|m=1.75
weight = convert|60|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro = 1998
plays = Right; Two-handed backhand
careerprizemoney = $3,773,276
singlesrecord = 244–159
singlestitles = 5
highestsinglesranking = No. 4 (August 19 2002)
AustralianOpenresult = 3R (1999)
FrenchOpenresult = QF (2002)
Wimbledonresult = SF (2000)
USOpenresult = 4R (2000, 2001)
doublesrecord = 111–89
doublestitles = 4
highestdoublesranking = No. 10 (February 4, 2002)
updated = May 12, 2008
note = 1- From

Jelena Dokic (Serbian: Јелена Докић, "Jelena Dokić", pronounced roughly YELL-e-nuh DOK-itch , born April 12, 1983) is a female professional tennis player from Australia.

During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro (FR Yugoslavia prior to February 2003) and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on August 19, 2002. However, after several family issues (particularly from her father's side), she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006. She is now slowly returning to tennis, and after wining three ITF tournaments in 2008, she has reached World No. 187 as of August 18, 2008.

The highlights of Dokić's career include reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open in 2001. Other highlights include beating several former World No. 1 players: Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon in 1999, Kim Clijsters at the 2003 Zürich Open, and Venus Williams at the 2000 Italian Open. Other high-calibre players who Dokić has defeated include Monica Seles, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce, and Jennifer Capriati.

Early life

Jelena was born to a Serbian family in Osijek, Yugoslavia [ [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/players/playerprofiles/Playerbio.asp?PlayerID=40344 WTA Profile Jelena Dokic] ] (now Croatia) as an eldest child of Damir and Ljiljana Dokić. She has a younger brother, Savo. At the start of the war in Croatia in June 1991, where they lived in Osijek, her family moved away to Sombor, Serbia, and later, in 1994, emigrated to Australia. From 1994, they lived in Fairfield, a suburb of Sydney, where she attended Fairfield High School. [ [http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/dhbvg87/Encyclopedia1.htm Jelena Dokic Encyclopedia 1 ] ]

Tennis career

Junior career

Dokić was an accomplished junior player. In 1998, she won the US Open girls singles title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters, ending the season ranked World No. 1 in the International Tennis Federation junior singles rankings and World No. 7 in doubles.

1999

Dokić started the year by teaming up with Mark Philippoussis to win the Hopman Cup title. To date, it is Australia's lone victory at the event. She then received a wildcard into the Australian Open, winning two rounds before losing 6–1, 6–2 to world No. 1 Martina Hingis. At Wimbledon, Dokić made her professional breakthrough. As a qualifier, she caused one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, defeating World No. 1 Hingis 6–2, 6–0, in the first round. Ranked World No. 129 at the time, she was the lowest-ranked player to have defeated the top seed in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era. She also defeated ninth-seeded Mary Pierce in straight sets before losing 6–3, 1–6, 6–3 to Alexandra Stevenson in the quarterfinals. Dokic also reached her first WTA doubles final with Amanda Coetzer in Tokyo. During 1999, Dokic jumped 298 spots, finishing the year at World No. 43.

2000

Dokić was defeated in the first round of the Australian Open by Rita Kuti Kis of Hungary, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3. After the match, Dokić said, "I lost to a player who has never been a player and, I guess, probably never will be." This assessment of her opponent resulted in many critical remarks about Dokic from the media and the tennis world.

During the spring clay court season, Dokic reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I events in Hilton Head, South Carolina and Rome (upsetting Venus Williams en route), as well as earning Fed Cup victories over Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova, and Sandrine Testud respectively. However, Dokić lost in the second round at the French Open.

Her successes at Wimbledon continued. She lost in the semifinals to Lindsay Davenport 6–4, 6–2. Jelena reached the fourth round of the US Open, where she lost to Serena Williams 7–6(7), 6–0. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, representing Australia, she lost to Monica Seles in the bronze medal match 6–1, 6–4. In doubles, she teamed with Rennae Stubbs, but they lost in the second round. Dokic finished the year at World No. 26.

2001

Beginning with the Australian Open, she began playing for Yugoslavia. Her father, Damir, claimed irregularities in the draw after her first-round loss to Lindsay Davenport and his ban from the tennis tournament due to abusive behavior. Damir later said "I think the draw is fixed just for her" [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2001/australian_open/news/2001/01/14/dokic_yugoslavia/ Dokic to be recognized as Yugoslav at Open] , article from Sports Illustrated (January 14, 2001)] After the Australian Open, her family moved to the United States.

In May, she won her first singles title in the Rome Masters, defeating Amelie Mauresmo in the final, 7–6(3), 6–1. Later that year in doubles, she teamed with Conchita Martinez to reach the final of the French Open, where they werer defeated by Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez in straights sets.

Later in the year, she reached five finals, winning two titles, in Tokyo (defeating former World No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario), and the Kremlin Cup (defeating Elena Dementieva). She also won her second title in doubles in Linz, with Nadia Petrova. She also qualified for the WTA Tour Championships in singles, reaching the quarterfinals. She finished the year at World No. 8.

2002

Dokić reached the final of the Open Gaz de France, where she was forced to hand a walkover to Venus Williams, after her first victory over Monica Seles a day earlier, due to a right thigh strain suffered in her win. In April, she won her fourth singles title in Sarasota, Florida defeating Tatiana Panova 6–2, 6–2 in the final. At the Hamburg event, Dokić collected a 7–6(3), 7–6(3) win over Justine Henin, before having to retire in the semifinals. Dokic was unable to defend her Rome Masters title, losing to eleventh-seeded Anastasia Myskina in the third round. In Strasbourg, she reached her fifth final, losing to Silvia Farina Elia, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3. At the French Open, she was defeated by top-seeded Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals, 6–4, 4–6, 6–1. Dokic then won her fifth career singles title in Birmingham, defeating Myskina in the final 6–2, 6–3. Dokić then lost in fourth round at Wimbledon to Daniela Hantuchova 6–4, 7–5.

After Wimbledon, Dokić reached the final of the Acura Classic in San Diego, scoring her first win over Capriati in a three set match. In the final, however, she was defeated by Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2. She also reached the semifinals of Los Angeles, losing to Chanda Rubin, and Montreal, grasping a 6–4, 6–3 victory over Martina Hingis before retiring hurt against Capriati. Despite a 6–4, 6–2 loss to Elena Bovina in the second round of the US Open, Dokic reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 4.

Dokić then reached the semifinals in Bahia and Tokyo. Dokic again qualified for the WTA Tour Championships, losing in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams 7–6(1), 6–0. She finished the year ranked World No. 9 in singles.

In doubles, Dokić won titles in Sarasota (with Elena Likhovtseva), Los Angeles (with Kim Clijsters), and Linz (with Nadia Petrova), as well as reaching the finals of Moscow and Zurich (both with Petrova). This success resulted in Jelena reaching her career high doubles ranking of World No. 10.

2003

After parting ways with her erratic father Damir, who was also her coach, her career problems began. In 2003, she hired Borna Bikić from Croatia to be her trainer (while simultaneously dating his brother Tin), contrary to the wishes of her father Damir on both counts. Her tennis suffered and her slide down the standings continued.

A string of first or second round losses commenced as she clearly suffered from a severe loss of confidence. No longer a part of her life physically, her father continued to be a presence as he publicly criticised her choices. At one stage, he termed her boyfriend Enrique Bernoldi, a former Formula One driver with whom she lived at the time, "an idiot."

She played matches at 30 events, reaching one final, one semifinal, and seven quarterfinals. At Zurich, she beat the then World No. 1 player, Kim Clijsters, later to lose to Justine Henin in the final. She also reached a final in doubles, in Rome with Nadia Petrova.

2004-2005

In mid-2004, Dokić returned to her family in Serbia, trying to put her life back in order and regain confidence. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, and in November 2005, after a turbulent period of 4–5 months during which she canceled all her tennis commitments and not even her family knew her whereabouts, she returned to Australia proclaiming, "I want to play for Australia again."

2006

Representing Australia for the first time in 5 years, Dokić received a wild card into the ASB Classic in Auckland. However, she lost her first round match to Julia Schruff, 5–7, 7–6(3), 6–1, hitting 51 unforced errors and 28 double faults. Dokić then earned a wildcard berth at the Australian Open after winning the wildcard playoff. She held a match point on her opponent Virginie Razzano's serve and hit what she thought was a forehand winner, only to have the umpire overrule the ball out. She went on to lose the match, 3–6, 7–6(6), 6–1, hitting over 70 unforced errors. Later in the year, Dokić played in the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon, where she received a wildcard. However, she suffered a 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–2 loss to Alexandra Stevenson. Under the guidance of new coach Nikola Pilić, after over three months away from the tour due to injury, Dokic qualified for a $10,000 tournament and reached the semifinals of the main draw before losing to Astrid Besser 3–6, 6–3, 7–6(5). In late November 2006, Dokic denied reports from her father, Damir, that she had been kidnapped by her boyfriend, Tin Bikić. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/6181140.stm BBC SPORT | Tennis | Dokic slams father's kidnap claim ] ] In her interview, she said she would not play in the 2007 Australian Open because she was not ready and her aim was to get back into the top 30. Shortly after, Dokić left the Nikola Pilić tennis academy. She was due to sign a contract to be in the academy for a year, but she instead returned to Borna Bikić, her coach. Dokić said she was not satisfied with the contract Pilić's Academy offered her.

2007

After withdrawing from several ITF events in the early months of 2007, Dokić lost in the early rounds of two $10,000 events in Rome. Dokić then continued to withdraw from events, allegedly due to a wrist injury which had been troubling her for some time. Back in Australia on October 17, Dokic released a statement through Tennis Australia saying that she would be using their facilities in an attempt to make a successful comeback. [ [http://www.tennis.com.au/pages/News.aspx?id=4&pageId=11478&HandlerId=2&archive=false&newsid=3490 Tennis Australia - News - Articles - Exclusive: Jelena's first interview] ] She said that she had not felt "within herself" to play during 2007 season but was now ready to put in the hard work necessary to get back to the top. She cited Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati, and Andre Agassi as inspirational figures for her to follow towards her goal of reaching the highest echelons of tennis once more. Dokic's long awaited return to tennis came during the Australian Open wildcard playoff, where she was hoping to earn a wildcard into the first Grand Slam tournament of 2008. Dokić emerged from the round robin stage with a 3–0 record before retiring in her quarterfinal match while trailing 6–3, 3–1 due to a thigh strain.

2008

Dokić received a wildcard for the qualifications of the Moorilla Hobart International, where she won four matches to reach the second round of the main draw, where she retired in her match against Flavia Pennetta due to an ankle injury. Dokić received a qualifying wildcard into the Australian Open, where she lost in the second round.

After a three month layoff, Dokić finally returned to action at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem tournament in Fes where she qualified but lost in the first round against Greta Arn.

She then entered the following week in a $25,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Florence, Italy, where she successfully qualified and proceeded to win the tournament, saving two match points against Mirjana Lucic in the quarterfinals and defeating seventh-seeded Lucie Hradecka in the final 6-1, 6-3. A week later, Dokić continued her winning streak by capturing the $25,000 ITF tournament in Caserta, Italy.

She was then offered a wildcard to the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she lost in the first round to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.

In July, she won a $25,000 ITF in Darmstadt after winning the final 6-0, 6-0.

After a period with less successful results, Dokić has taken a temporary break and withdrawn from all ITF tournaments during September - October.

Career titles (12)

Career runner-ups (14)

ingles (8)

ingles performance timeline

"To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through Olympic Games in Beijing, which ended on August 17, 2008."

References

External links

*wta|id=40344|name=Jelena Dokic
*ITF womans profile for [http://www.itftennis.com/womens/players/player.asp?player=20011049 Jelena Dokic]
*ITF junior profile for [http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/players/player.asp?player=20011049 Jelena Dokic]