Dokic to try Australia again?

[Yours!05]

The origin of this story, other than Damir, is unclear.

Dokic back in Australian fold
From correspondents in London
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Sans-Serif]11nov05[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Sans-Serif]JELENA Dokic will re-apply for Australian citizenship when she visits Melbourne next month to prepare for the Australian Open.

The tennis star's high-profile father Damir Dokic has confirmed his estranged daughter will go back on her decision to play under the Serbian flag and return to the Australian fold.

She is expected to apply for Australian citizenship in time for the Australian Open in January – an event she has not played since 2001.
"Jelena phoned her mother and told her she plans to travel to Melbourne in December to prepare for the Australian Open," Damir Dokic told Kurir, a Serbian newspaper.
"She wants to take Australian citizenship when she is there and to play at the Australian Open as an Australian citizen."
Dokic has been a tennis recluse for the past two years, with her world ranking dropping into the 300s after being estranged from her controversial father, who caused infamous incidents at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Her parents said they had not heard from her since a tournament in Italy in August and were considering calling police before she telephoned her mother.
"She phoned my wife from Croatia saying she was OK," Damir Dokic said.
"I thought she had been kidnapped or something.
"She did not call for three months and I was about to ring the police."
Serbian Tennis Federation chiefs said they had not been able to contact the player for a year.
"If Jelena's application for Australian citizenship will be good for her career then I wish her well," Serbian Tennis Federation president Slobodan Zivojinovic said.
"I've tried to contact her but have been unable to do so for the last 12 months."
Dokic, 22, moved with her family to Australia in 1994 and became a rising star on the tour, making the semi-finals of Wimbledon shortly after her 17th birthday.
She quit Australia and signed for Serbia after the 2001 Australian Open when the family's perceptions of the draw being rigged against her proved to be the last straw in their anger at Australian tennis officialdom. Dokic has not won a grand slam match since the first round of the 2003 US Open.

AAP
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[10splaya]

YAY! I am sooo glad she is getting trying to make SOMEWHAT of a comeback... I really liked her! Hope she can get things together!

 

[Cybele]

poor Jelena, I always thought she was destined for great things. She's had a rough time. Hope she makes it back.

 

[Keifers]

Very tough to have a father like Jelena's; typically, it takes years of work to get over it. I hope she can set all that aside for now and focus on her tennis -- she certainly had the talent to be a top 20 player, maybe higher...

 

[equinox]

Play at the Australian Open? With what? A ranking of 300+?

She's not ever getting a wildcard into Ausopen qualifying or the main tournament.

 

[Keifers]

Play at the Australian Open? With what? A ranking of 300+?

She's not ever getting a wildcard into Ausopen qualifying or the main tournament.

Her fall in the rankings may prevent her playing in the 2006 AO, but that doesn't mean we can't wish her well in getting her career back on track.

Or has she (and her dad) burned her bridges with Aussies too badly for them to take her back? (Genuine question; no irony or sarcasm intended.)

 

[Yours!05]

Her fall in the rankings may prevent her playing in the 2006 AO, but that doesn't mean we can't wish her well in getting her career back on track.

Or has she (and her dad) burned her bridges with Aussies too badly for them to take her back? (Genuine question; no irony or sarcasm intended.)

When a "return" has been mooted before, some prominent members of the tennis hierarchy have been very encouraging. (These people, whose job security is related to tennis success, have mostly moved on due to shakeup in Tennis Australia.) Meanwhile the Letters Pages of the papers fill up with "stay where you are" etc.
However, this time I haven't actually seen any response at all to what may just be another Damir fantasy - perhaps trying to provoke some personal contact from Jelena - who knows?
Personally, I have no time for "Passports of Convenience". To me, she will never be an Australian now and I would not want her representing us.
Fact is, this would not be the best among many offers she is choosing from - rather it would be her only salvation.
She has had years to retract her statements about the crooked AO draw, and hasn't.

Edit: When this has been discussed before the feeling has been that she didn't renounce citizenship anyhow. Nobody seems to know for sure...

 

[Cybele]

She has had years to retract her statements about the crooked AO draw, and hasn't.

Are you going to hold that against her forever, Y05?

She was young and stupid, and had been brainwashed and bullied for her entire life by the father from hell....
Everyone should be allowed a little slack for the things they do when they are young and stupid, and I would be inclined to allow Jelena rather more slack than most.

I think the poor girl was lost then, and is lost now. I truly hope she finds her way again.

 

[Yours!05]

Are you going to hold that against her forever, Y05?

She was young and stupid, and had been brainwashed and bullied for her entire life by the father from hell....
Everyone should be allowed a little slack for the things they do when they are young and stupid, and I would be inclined to allow Jelena rather more slack than most.

I think the poor girl was lost then, and is lost now. I truly hope she finds her way again.

Surely the UK takes "economic refugees", and probably needs a Fed Cup boost even more than we do? (If that's possible ) Mine is not a unanimous opinion in Oz...

Edit: of course you're right about appalling life. But I feel this apple fell close to the tree, and won't be changing any time soon.
Edit again: showing my conflixion ( I coined one - nah probably already in Websters), it'd be OK if she could play here, and be helped, on same basis as a contracted County Cricketer, but not for Oz.

 

[Deuce]

Indeed, she seems lost. Looking for something - acceptance... validation... Love...

The prison of bad parenting is quite difficult to escape.

I surely hope that she doesn't now become obsessed with drinking orange juice...

 

[Yours!05]

Dokic has dual citizenship

Dokic 'can return to top 10'
By David Riccio
November 20, 2005

TROUBLED tennis star Jelena Dokic will cement herself among the top 10 on the WTA Tour if she returns to play under the Australian banner.

According to Dokic's first coach, Craig Miller, the strained star can save her career if she shifts her allegiance to the country she turned her back on in 2001.
"I've always thought she was top-three material," Miller said.
"Jelena has the ability to get back to the top again. She was very well supported when she was here, so I think it could only be a positive thing for her."
Serbia-based Dokic, 22, has not made an official approach to Tennis Australia, but her eccentric father Damir indicated last week that her departure from Belgrade was imminent.
Dokic would not need to reaply for citizenship, as reported, because she is already afforded a dual passport for Australia and her homeland, Serbia and Montenegro, formerly Yugoslavia.
If she does return in time for the Australian Open in January, it will be her first appearance at the event since 2001.
But under Tennis Australia rules, Dokic will be unable to represent Fed Cup for at least two years - unless she is granted a special dispensation.
No.351 on the WTA rankings, Dokic's career has spiralled out of control since her about-face on Australia in 2001.
Miller, who coached Dokic when she was 12, said she would thrive under the guidance of Australia's elite coaching.
"She probably has a few knots that need untying in terms of her outlook towards the game," Miller said.
"She has to let go of the baggage that's probably going on in her head and work towards her strength, which is her incredible groundstrokes."
Davis Cup coach Tony Roche would welcome Dokic back to Australia.
"If she commits to playing for Australia and sticks to it, yeah, I would happily welcome her," Roche said.
Roche is anxious to see Dokic find the form that took her to a Wimbledon semi-final in 2000. "You hate to see somebody who has been up near the top get to where she now is, but she's a fighter," he said.

The Sunday Telegraph

 

[gugafanatic]

Cant see the scud or Dokic make a comeback. Too many hungry upcoming players to compete with.

 

[norcal]

She quit Australia and signed for Serbia after the 2001 Australian Open when the family's perceptions of the draw being rigged against her proved to be the last straw in their anger at Australian tennis officialdom.

Hey look, barry and Chadwixx finally found someone who agrees with them about rigged draws - Damir Dokic! Like 3 peas in a pod.

 

[Yours!05]

Hey look, barry and Chadwixx finally found someone who agrees with them about rigged draws - Damir Dokic! Like 3 peas in a pod.

The rigged draw crock was very insulting . Surely even dimwits would rig it in favour of an "Aussie" .

 

[vantagepoint]

Have a heart, Yours! She was a kid four years ago, and is probably something of a kid now.

Your tune will change if she starts producing results and bringing glory to the wombats and 'roos. Yes, indeed...

 

[Yours!05]

Have a heart, Yours! She was a kid four years ago, and is probably something of a kid now.

Your tune will change if she starts producing results and bringing glory to the wombats and 'roos. Yes, indeed...

Errr...maybe so.

 

[Yours!05]

Dokic arrives in Melbourne

She did seem nervous and I didn't sight the b/f. Obviously some bridges to build with the local players too...
I really hope she gets some assistance with PR.

It was all Dad's fault: Dokic
By Chris Tinkler and Rosanne Michie
December 4, 2005

TROUBLED tennis player Jelena Dokic has pleaded with Australians to allow her to make a fresh start and blamed her unpredictable father for past controversies.

After flying in from Vienna last night, Dokic, 22, refused to apologise for her acrimonious exit from Australia in 2001.
"I really want to make new start and I feel Australian already," a nervous Dokic said.
Asked about her father, Damir, she said: "He's my father, he's family, but he doesn't make my decisions any more. I make my own. We didn't agree on a lot of things, but that's life - we have to look forward and go from here."
Monte Carlo-based Dokic said she'd been building up the courage to return after breaking free of her father's influence.
"It wasn't a sudden change. I wanted to do it even two years ago and there was talk about that.
"I was a little bit worried about the people's reaction, but I took a risk and this is what I want and it would be nice if people accept it."
But former Federation Cup teammate Rennae Stubbs is not ready to forgive and forget.
"She owes a lot of apologies to people and the Australian public is one of them, as well as her fellow Australian players that she left hanging," Stubbs said. But Dokic said she wanted to gain acceptance after almost five years in exile.
"I really want to fit in here and I'm looking forward to playing for Australia again," she said.
"Hopefully people will understand my side of the story. I've had some very difficult things to deal with, but this has always been home. This is where I did most of my tennis and most of the help I've been given has been here."
She said leaving was ill-advised.
"I didn't know any better. I didn't do anything wrong. The decisions were not made by me."
Dokic, who has arrived in Australia without a coach and with few sponsorships, was driven away from the airport with her boyfriend, Tino Bikic. Among her first challenges are securing a berth at the Australian Open by winning its training camp wildcard play-offs, held from December 16 to 19, or through the generosity of the tournament's organisers.

Sunday Herald Sun