Dokic Still Chasing Her Dreams


MELBOURNE, Australia - Although her quest to retake the Grand Slam stage was cut short as she lost during Australian Open qualifying, former Top 5 player Jelena Dokic still made her way back to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour limelight a week before at Hobart. And despite all the setbacks, non-believers and a fairly removed sense of confidence, she still believes she can do it again.

Following an excellent junior career, which included a US Open singles title and a Roland Garros runner-up finish (to Nadia Petrova), Dokic first made a stir on the Tour with a shock 62 60 upset win over then-world No.1 Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon in 1999. In the seasons to follow she pretty much accomplished it all: won Tour titles (five in singles, four in doubles), cracked the Top 10 in both disciplines (going as high as No.4 in singles and No.10 in doubles) and clearly asserting herself as one of the most promising young stars in the women's game. As quickly as it all came, however, it went.

"The last couple of years were tough for me," said Dokic, who dropped out of the Top 100 in 2004 and has not been back inside since. "I had some personal issues off the court that I was trying to sort out, and I just couldn't give tennis the focus I wanted. I wanted to give it 100% before coming back - and right now I feel I'm at that stage."

Having barely played over the last few years - and playing only one match in 2007 - an unranked Dokic needed a wildcard just to enter the qualifying draw at the Moorilla Hobart International the week before the Australian Open. It would end up being a breakout performance, as she won three matches to reach the main draw (including two wins over Top 100 players) and then beat world No.54 Martina Müller in the first round of the main draw to make the second round.

"I really didn't expect to make it that far, and I don't think a lot of people were expecting me to even make it through my first qualifying match," Dokic added. "But I beat three players in three days and won my first round match as well. I really exceeded my expectations and I'm really excited."

After four straight days of play, disaster struck, however. Dokic aggravated a right ankle injury during the first set of her second match against Flavia Pennetta and retired, a disappointing end to a marvelous comeback week.

"I hurt it in my first round but aggravated it there," Dokic said afterwards. "It was obviously great to come back in Australia, but it was pretty tough to do so at a Tour-level event. I had some tough opponents and I was playing hard all week. But it went far better than I thought it would - I'm really pleased."

Dokic got a wildcard into Australian Open qualifying and won her first match but fell in her second match to Tamarine Tanasugarn. With the sudden spike in play, however, it's not unheard of that a comeback suffers a setback like that. And the big-hitting Australian certainly isn't letting that cast a shadow on her 2008 goals.

"My goal at the start of the season was to make it back into the world's Top 50, but of course, as you saw, I'm going to be prone to injuries the next few months probably, just because I haven't played this much in the last two years.

"What I really miss about playing on the Tour is the competition. Day in and day out just playing points and matches, and seeing how I can do against the other players. In Hobart, I think I showed that I still have the desire. And I'm looking forward to playing this year out."