Jelena Dokic a mental giant, can win Australian Open, acclaimed coach says

JELENA Dokic can win the Australian Open, providing she holds her nerve against Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, acclaimed coach David Taylor says.

Taylor, hailing Dokic as a mental giant, declared the Australian wildcard a genuine title contender following her amazing run at Melbourne Park.

"Anything's possible with her now," said Taylor, Australia's Fed Cup captain and the former coach to world No.1s Martina Hingis and Ana Ivanovic plus Alicia Molik, the only other Australian woman to reach the Open quarter-finals in the past two decades.

"She's exceeded everyone's expectations and it kind of takes the pressure off.

"The last match you could see that she actually put pressure on herself. She's actually got to keep still thinking everything's a bonus.

"The trouble is, you keep progressing through the rounds and suddenly you actually think that you should win matches."

Taylor said that Dokic had proven she had the game to trouble world No.3 Safina.

"Jelena has a great backhand cross, good backhand (down the) line," he said.

"The things that she's got to be careful of is her forehand (down the) line. She's got to be able to hit that shot with confidence.

"She's got to be able to serve with confidence as well.

"Dinara has a really aggressive second-serve return and has got a big serve herself; Dinara's got a bit more of a holding game than Jelena. She can hold serve with more confidence than Jelena.

"If Jelena can keep her first serve maybe around 60 to 70 per cent, she's got a big shot.

"Jelena's beaten bigger players, she's beaten top-five players, but not for a long, long time."

Safina, Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva are all in a position to seize the world No.1 ranking from third-round casualty Jelena Jankovic if they can win the Open.

But Taylor said that scenario could only be a burden for the Russian.

"There's big pressure on her," he said.

"If Jelena wins, it's great. If she loses, it's great. So massive pressure on the other girl.

"So if Jelena can get in her head and Dinara can keep thinking about being the No.1 player in the world and not thinking about winning the match, then Jelena's definitely a chance.

"It's how well more Dinara handles the situation because I think Jelena will handle it well.

"Holding the first few service games is big. Then, if Dinara can come out and give her a whole lot of second serves and if Jelena can break, she could win.

"But if Dinara comes out with a big first serve, attacks Jelena's serve and Jelena doesn't start well, it's going to be hard for her to win.

"You'd have to favour Dinara, of course, but she can win, yeah.

"But she's got to do everything at a pretty high level."


"The last match you could see that she actually put pressure on herself. She's actually got to keep still thinking everything's a bonus. The trouble is, you keep progressing through the rounds and suddenly you actually think that you should win matches."”

– David Taylor
Australia's Fed Cup captain believes
Jelena Dokic can go all the way at Melbourne Park.

Jelena Dokic could be set for a sponsorship windfall as her fairytale continues

SHE returned to Australia a ruined figure, bruised, broken and penniless.

Sleeping on the hard floor of a St Kilda flat, she was ranked 999th in the world, weighed 83kg and was too self-conscious to remove her tracksuit pants when she would go out to Melbourne Park that October of 2007 and train.

Her $US3,792,158 in career prizemoney was lining the pockets of her controlling father, Damir. That was the financial price Jelena Dokic was prepared to pay to gain the independence and it is beginning to pay off.

Tonight she will ride a wave of emotion and public support into her first quarter-final since 2002 against world No.3 Dinara Safina at the Australian Open after resurrecting her personal life and tennis career.

On the back of her resurgence, experts believe Dokic is not only ready to return to the ranks of the tennis elite but she is also in line for a huge payday, with potential million-dollar endorsement deals in the wings.

Even if Dokic loses tonight she will pocket $182,250. If she wins, she is guaranteed a cheque for $365,000.

So while the glamour of Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova, the suave image of Roger Federer and the marketability of Rafael Nadal are a licence to print money, industry sources say Dokic is also transforming herself into hot property.

"She is a huge success story," says managing director of SFX Sports, George Mimis.

"Companies aspire to build brands on athletes that can achieve that level of success. What she has been able to fight through to rebuild her life on the stage at the Australian Open has endeared her to the public."

Mimis estimates Dokic's worth at seven figures in terms of sponsorship and endorsements.

"It is a tough time for sporting goods companies," he says.

"But given Australian tennis has had such a drought of highly ranked women's players, if she can continue to progress through the Open, her value in the industry will be quite significant. If she makes a final she would be looking at a seven-figure clothing and footwear deal and six-figure racquet deal, which is very significant in the current market."

Any potential sponsor need only glance at the television ratings to gauge how warmly Australia has re-embraced Dokic - and her huge market reach.

The 25-year-old's emotional ride through the tournament has had host broadcaster Seven rubbing their hands with ratings glee.

Each of Dokic's matches have attracted more than a million viewers.

Her round-one win had a national audience of 1.164 million last Monday, followed by 1.435 million and 1.148 million in her next two matches. The courageous round-four victory over Alisa Kleybanova in Sunday night prime time was the highest of all. A staggering 1.745 million people were glued to the screens watching Dokic's win.

It was the highest-ranked program of the day.

The Dokic family fled the Croatian town of Osijek as Serbian refugees during the 1991 war.

Damir was a truck driver who was inspired by the tennis success of the Serb-born Monica Seles and took his daughter to a local tennis club.

She was barely able to see over the net but her coaches noted that she had a maturity of someone twice her age.

She was tutored by Seles' coach for two years before the family emigrated in 1994 to escape "a hard life", landing in Fairfield in western Sydney where the pony-tailed young star soon embraced the new culture.

Her rise in tennis was swift.

She went from outside the top 1000 to top 40 within the space of eight months in her first WTA year.

Her junior career peaked with a ranking of world No.1.

Then former grand slam greats Lesley Bowrey and Tony Roche nurtured her game, while in the past week she has largely credited her charmed run at the Australian Open to the support of brothers Tin and Borna Bikic - her boyfriend Tin for helping her reconstruct her confidence and self-esteem and coach Borna for helping reconstruct her game.

In the past 12 months she has also worked with national coaches at Tennis Australia including Chris Mahoney, who believes her big weapon, the backhand, is possibly still the best in the women's game.

"I think this past week she has proven with her groundstrokes that she is still able to at the very least match it with these girls, particularly on the backhand side," says Mahoney who sat in her supporters' box in the fourth round.

"Even today it is one of, if not the best, backhands in the world.

"On the groundstrokes, she can match it with any female in the world.

"But there was always a question mark and she knew the game had moved on but she wasn't sure how far and she was looking forward to testing herself against some top-10, top-20 and top-30 players."

Dokic's trademarks have always been immense determination, a lack of fear and an incredible ability to block out distractions.

"Her determination and focus is there, as is her confidence," Mahoney says.

"She is showing a lot of emotion which is great for the general public to see and it it obviously spurring her on. And Jelena would be the first person to tell you she is in a lot better shape.

"She has obviously worked very hard on her fitness. You can see that in her agility to the ball and lasting long three-set matches. Her win in the fourth round was a good example."

But for a youngster whose struggles with self-confidence are well documented, perhaps the most telling indication Dokic's comeback is no one-slam wonder emerges from her own words.

A loss tonight won't derail her future.

"To come after a three-year layoff and to be in the quarter-finals of a grand slam straight away really gives you a lot of confidence," Dokic said.

"When I get my match fitness back to 100 per cent, and physically and mentally improve and get stronger - and we are now seeing a lot of seeds falling - maybe I can have a chance to do even better at a grand slam."

Jelena Dokic could be set for a sponsorship windfall as her fairytale continues

SHE returned to Australia a ruined figure, bruised, broken and penniless.

Sleeping on the hard floor of a St Kilda flat, she was ranked 999th in the world, weighed 83kg and was too self-conscious to remove her tracksuit pants when she would go out to Melbourne Park that October of 2007 and train.

Her $US3,792,158 in career prizemoney was lining the pockets of her controlling father, Damir. That was the financial price Jelena Dokic was prepared to pay to gain the independence and it is beginning to pay off.

Tonight she will ride a wave of emotion and public support into her first quarter-final since 2002 against world No.3 Dinara Safina at the Australian Open after resurrecting her personal life and tennis career.

On the back of her resurgence, experts believe Dokic is not only ready to return to the ranks of the tennis elite but she is also in line for a huge payday, with potential million-dollar endorsement deals in the wings.

Even if Dokic loses tonight she will pocket $182,250. If she wins, she is guaranteed a cheque for $365,000.

So while the glamour of Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova, the suave image of Roger Federer and the marketability of Rafael Nadal are a licence to print money, industry sources say Dokic is also transforming herself into hot property.

"She is a huge success story," says managing director of SFX Sports, George Mimis.

"Companies aspire to build brands on athletes that can achieve that level of success. What she has been able to fight through to rebuild her life on the stage at the Australian Open has endeared her to the public."

Mimis estimates Dokic's worth at seven figures in terms of sponsorship and endorsements.

"It is a tough time for sporting goods companies," he says.

"But given Australian tennis has had such a drought of highly ranked women's players, if she can continue to progress through the Open, her value in the industry will be quite significant. If she makes a final she would be looking at a seven-figure clothing and footwear deal and six-figure racquet deal, which is very significant in the current market."

Any potential sponsor need only glance at the television ratings to gauge how warmly Australia has re-embraced Dokic - and her huge market reach.

The 25-year-old's emotional ride through the tournament has had host broadcaster Seven rubbing their hands with ratings glee.

Each of Dokic's matches have attracted more than a million viewers.

Her round-one win had a national audience of 1.164 million last Monday, followed by 1.435 million and 1.148 million in her next two matches. The courageous round-four victory over Alisa Kleybanova in Sunday night prime time was the highest of all. A staggering 1.745 million people were glued to the screens watching Dokic's win.

It was the highest-ranked program of the day.

The Dokic family fled the Croatian town of Osijek as Serbian refugees during the 1991 war.

Damir was a truck driver who was inspired by the tennis success of the Serb-born Monica Seles and took his daughter to a local tennis club.

She was barely able to see over the net but her coaches noted that she had a maturity of someone twice her age.

She was tutored by Seles' coach for two years before the family emigrated in 1994 to escape "a hard life", landing in Fairfield in western Sydney where the pony-tailed young star soon embraced the new culture.

Her rise in tennis was swift.

She went from outside the top 1000 to top 40 within the space of eight months in her first WTA year.

Her junior career peaked with a ranking of world No.1.

Then former grand slam greats Lesley Bowrey and Tony Roche nurtured her game, while in the past week she has largely credited her charmed run at the Australian Open to the support of brothers Tin and Borna Bikic - her boyfriend Tin for helping her reconstruct her confidence and self-esteem and coach Borna for helping reconstruct her game.

In the past 12 months she has also worked with national coaches at Tennis Australia including Chris Mahoney, who believes her big weapon, the backhand, is possibly still the best in the women's game.

"I think this past week she has proven with her groundstrokes that she is still able to at the very least match it with these girls, particularly on the backhand side," says Mahoney who sat in her supporters' box in the fourth round.

"Even today it is one of, if not the best, backhands in the world.

"On the groundstrokes, she can match it with any female in the world.

"But there was always a question mark and she knew the game had moved on but she wasn't sure how far and she was looking forward to testing herself against some top-10, top-20 and top-30 players."

Dokic's trademarks have always been immense determination, a lack of fear and an incredible ability to block out distractions.

"Her determination and focus is there, as is her confidence," Mahoney says.

"She is showing a lot of emotion which is great for the general public to see and it it obviously spurring her on. And Jelena would be the first person to tell you she is in a lot better shape.

"She has obviously worked very hard on her fitness. You can see that in her agility to the ball and lasting long three-set matches. Her win in the fourth round was a good example."

But for a youngster whose struggles with self-confidence are well documented, perhaps the most telling indication Dokic's comeback is no one-slam wonder emerges from her own words.

A loss tonight won't derail her future.

"To come after a three-year layoff and to be in the quarter-finals of a grand slam straight away really gives you a lot of confidence," Dokic said.

"When I get my match fitness back to 100 per cent, and physically and mentally improve and get stronger - and we are now seeing a lot of seeds falling - maybe I can have a chance to do even better at a grand slam."

Jelena Dokic is much happier now than ten years ago, says former mentor

WHEN Pam Whytcross walked into the women's locker rooms at Melbourne Park a few days before the Australian Open started, she met someone she'd not seen in more than two years: Jelena Dokic.

The pair was teamed together in 1998 under the WTA's mentor program, where former players help the up-and-comers deal with both the grind and the glory of the professional tour. Both being Australian, it was considered a good match.

"I was there for her if she needed it. We saw each other at tournaments and we had regular chats," Whytcross said.

Whytcross, a former tour player in the mid-to-late 1970s, did not need a second opinion to see how happy and relieved Dokic looked in 2009 compared with the Dokic of 10 years ago.

"Absolutely. You can see it in her face," Whytcross said.

"The first day I came here and saw her in the locker room, we hadn't seen each other for the last couple of years. It was lovely.

"She was so happy, had a big smile, and we had a hug and kiss 'hello'."

As far as her father Damir Dokic's talk of coming to Australia to watch her if she made the final, Tennis Australia confirmed that he would not be given the accreditation necessary to sit in the players' box.

The WTA clarified there was no life ban on Damir Dokic but that he was "a person of interest" and his appearance at any tournament in the players' areas would depend on his daughter's wishes.

Whytcross was appointed tennis competition manager for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Paralympics so she had to leave the WTA's mentor program. She came back to women's tennis in 2001 to take up a job as tour supervisor, which has her "on the road" regularly with tournaments in the US, Europe and Asia.

But she is one of the few with some inside knowledge of Dokic. Whytcross witnessed first-hand the torment the teenager was going through as she began to assert herself on the tennis scene in Australia and then the world.

She now rejoices with the nation at Dokic's rebirth as a professional player and a person.

"Everyone is so proud of her and feels 'what an amazing girl' and how mentally tough she still is," Whytcross said.

"How mentally tough she was back then, having to deal with the issues she had and now after years in the wilderness, she still has that burning desire.

"Now that she's free, you can see the metamorphosis. It's fantastic. It grabs you in the heart."

Dokic returned to Melbourne Park yesterday after her drama-packed fourth-round win, where the Australian rolled her left ankle late in the third set before clinching victory.

A practice session with coach Borna Bikic was cancelled late yesterday afternoon, but tournament officials said it was a long-standing booking to have a court available at 5pm daily for her.

Dokic came to the courts yesterday to have WTA medical staff treat her ankle but she did not need any scans and is expected to have full movement for tonight's quarter-final against third seed Dinara Safina, according to Bikic.

"Jelena got physiotherapy treatment on her ankle last night and again today," Bikic said. "The treatment is progressing well. It was always intended she would not practise today and use this as a recovery day."

Bikic and his brother Tin, Dokic's boyfriend of nearly six years, should be given some of the credit for bringing the Australian back to her sport, according to Whytcross.

"We've known Borna and Tin for several years. They've been under a lot of pressure too," Whytcross said.

Bikic first linked with Dokic in 2003 but reunited with her in 2005 when her former coach, Heinz Gunthardt, could not commit to travelling.

"Some, at the time, thought they were not necessarily good for her. But how can anyone know or judge those things when so much was going on behind closed doors," Whytcross said.

"She had to make her own decisions and she's made them. And now they're proving to be right. They're a happy unit and the three of them are totally there for each other.

"I know the boys have gone through some tough times from lots of sources and they're now able to show everyone 'Hey, we had a belief and the hard work is paying off'."

The Dokic story is having a ripple effect among the players in Melbourne as well.

World No.2 Serena Williams, who won the 2007 Australian Open when ranked No.81 in the world, hoped Dokic might draw some inspiration from her fight two years ago.

"I'm really rooting for her to go far," Williams said.

"Obviously, if I make it, I don't want her to win. But I really am rooting for her to go as far as she can in this tournament because I think she has a chance to do extremely well.

"Hopefully she can be motivated by what I did when I was ranked in the 80s. I think it's just an amazing story. I'm so happy for her. She has nothing to lose.

Jelena Dokic feels no pressure ahead of her clash with Dinara Safina

SHE might have one dodgy ankle, but Jelena Dokic will have 20 million hearts to prop her up as her quest for the biggest grand slam miracle continues at the Australian Open.
Dokic's captivating return to top-level tennis and back into the good books of the nation she quit faces its toughest test against world No.3 Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old will also have to battle fatigue from four, three-set matches at the tournament ahead of this one, as well as any lingering pain from rolling her ankle late in Sunday's brave fourth-round win over Russian Alisa Kleybanova.

Dokic's coach Borna Bikic said on Monday the injury had responded well to treatment and the reborn Australian herself shrugged off any suggestion the mishap was tournament-threatening.

"Jelena got physiotherapy treatment on her ankle ... the treatment is progressing well," Bikic said.

"It was always intended that she would not practice today (Monday) and use this as a recovery day."

Dokic's fairytale run so far has guaranteed her at least a top 100 world ranking after the tournament.

If she beats Safina, Dokic's ranking is likely to move into the mid-sixties.

But, as she prepared for her first appearance in a grand slam last eight since the French Open in 2002, the former world No.4 refused to put any pressure on herself.

"Whatever happens doesn't really matter. I'm not thinking about a semi-final, but just putting in a good match," Dokic said.

"I'm playing a girl that's two, three in the world, could be No.1 after this tournament and is probably the favourite for the tournament at the moment with everybody going out.

"This is a really pure match with no pressure on me. Even if I lose easily, it will not be a surprise (but) I would like to see how I can do against her."

Victory would put Dokic into a semi-final on Thursday against either Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva or French 16th seed Marion Bartoli and keep alive her dream of becoming the lowest-ranked grand slam champion ever.

In other quarter-finals on Tuesday, men's second seed Roger Federer continues his bid for a fourth Australian title when he plays rising Argentine star Juan Martin del Potro while defending champion Novak Djokovic meets Andy Roddick.