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Jelena Dokic Biography

Jelena Dokic is a female professional tennis player who has played for both Australia & Serbia & Montenegro (including Yugoslavia prior to February 2003), & currently plays for Australia. Her career-high ranking is No. 4 (on August 19, 2002), but by the end of 2005 had slipped to 349th place in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings. As of May 28, 2007, Dokic is 650th in the WTA rankings.

The high points of Dokic's career include beating No. 1 ranked Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon in 1999, Kim Clijsters (also ranked No.1 at the time) at the 2003 Zürich Open (October) as well as Venus Williams in Rome 2000. She was ranked No. 4 in 2002 (a career high), No. 14 in 2003, & No. 25 in 2004.
Family life
Jelena was born to a Serbian family in the Croatian town of Osijek (then in Yugoslavia) as an eldest child of Damir & Ljiljana Dokic. She has a younger brother, Savo. At the start of the war in Croatia in June 1991, her family moved away to Sombor, Serbia, & later, in 1994, emigrated to Australia. From 1994, they lived in Fairfield, a suburb of Sydney; where she attended Fairfield High School.

Tennis career
Dokic was an accomplished junior player. In 1998, she won the US Open girls singles title, & the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters, ending the season ranked number 1 in in the International Tennis Federation junior singles world ranking & number 7 in doubles.

In 1999, Dokic made her professional breakthrough. As a qualifier at Wimbledon, she made one of the biggest upsets in Open Era tennis, defeating then No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0, in the first round. Then No. 129, she was the lowest-ranked player to have defeated the No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam in the Open Era. She also defeated No. 9 seed Mary Pierce in straight sets, before losing in the quarter-finals to Alexandra Stevenson. The same year, together with Mark Philippoussis, she won Australia's first Hopman Cup title, & also won her first WTA doubles title with Amanda Coetzer. That year she jumped 298 spots, finishing the year at No. 43.

In 2000, her success at Wimbledon continued. She reached the semi-finals, before losing to Lindsay Davenport 6-4 6-2. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she lost to Monica Seles in the bronze medal match 6-1 6-4. She finished the year at No. 26.

2001
From the 2001 Australian Open, she began playing for Yugoslavia. Her father, Damir, claimed irregularities in the draw, after her first-round loss to Lindsay Davenport & her father's ban from the tennis tournament due to abusive behavior. Damir later said "I think the draw is fixed just for her" After the Australian Open, her family moved to the United States.

In May, she won her first singles title in the Rome Masters, defeating Amélie Mauresmo in the final, 7-6(3) 6-1. Later that year, together with Conchita Martinez, she reached the finals of the French Open, but was defeated by Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suarez in straights sets.

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

2002

Dokic started her 2002 season at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, in Japan, losing to Anne Kremer in the second round. She was also defeated by Kramer in the third round at both Indian Wells & the Miami Masters. In February, she reached her career high doubles ranking, No. 10. In the final of the Open Gaz de France, she was forced to hand a walkover to Venus Williams due to a right thigh strain suffered in her win over Monica Seles in the semi-finals. The following week in Antwerp, she again suffered a right thigh strain, which forced her to retire during the second round, & again in April in the semi-finals in Amelia Island & Hamburg.

In April, she won her third singles title & her second in doubles (with Likhovtseva) in Sarasota, Florida. Dokic was unable to defend her Rome Masters title, losing to No. 11 seed Anastasia Myskina in the 3rd round. In Strasbourg, she reached her fifth final, losing to Silvia Farina Elia.

At the 2002 French Open, she was defeated by No. 1 seed Jennifer Capriati in the quarter-finals, 6-4 4-6 6-1. After Wimbledon, she reached two finals, in Birmingham & San Diego (d. by Myskina & V. Williams). Later that summer, she reached her career high ranking in singles, No. 4.

In Los Angeles, she teamed-up with her junior doubles partner, Kim Clijsters to win her third doubles title. In October, she defended her title in Linz, with Nadia Petrova.

At the Canada Masters, Bahia, & the Toyota Princess Cup, she reached the semi-finals, losing to top 5 ranked players at each. Dokic again qualified for WTA Tour Championships, losing in the quarter-finals to Serena Williams. She finished the year at No. 9.

2003
Despite these early successes, after parting ways with her erratic father Damir, who was also her coach, her career problems began. In 2003, she hired Borna Bikic 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 & her slide down the standings continued.

A string of disappointing 1st or 2nd round exits commenced as she clearly suffered from 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 SF & seven QF. At Zurich, she won, then No.1 tennis player, Kim Clijsters, later to loss to Justine Henin in finals. She also reached a final in doubles, in Rome with Nadia Petrova.

Jelena Dokic