Tennis: Jelena Dokic Moves To Australian Open Third Round
January 22nd 2009 16:09
Vintage Jelena Dokic evoked memories of her inspired grand slam runs with another brave and emotional Australian Open triumph on Wednesday night. The born-again Australian overcame an Achilles tendon injury to outclass highly-rated Russian Anna Chakvetadze, the world No 18, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena to advance to the third round of a major for the first time since 2003.
The brilliant win, which came just two days after the 25-year-old bared her soul to the world and revealed her desperate battle with depression, was also Dokic's first over a top-20 rival in five long seasons.
Now ranked 187th, having been as high as No.4 in the world after reaching the 2002 French Open quarter-finals, Dokic will next face the No.11 seed, from Denmark, Caroline Wozniacki on Friday for a berth in the last 16 at Melbourne Park.
Estranged from her father Damir, whose erratic and domineering behaviour led to the former Wimbledon junior champion's demise, Dokic had only her long-time boyfriend Tin Bikic and coach, his brother Borna, supporting her from the player's box.
But the Serbian-born star had another 15,000 fans behind her in the stadium plus a few million more watching on TV as she overcame a nervy second-set collapse to upstage the tournament's 17th seed.
Dokic can now dream of a repeat of her magic run to the 1999 Wimbledon quarter-finals as a qualifier and then to the last four of the championships the following year - when she famously ousted then-world No.1 Martina Hingis in the opening round.
Her victory over Chakvetadze, an Open quarter-finalist two years ago, was not without drama.
At one stage as the Australian wildcard playoff winner raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set, Chakvetadze appeared to be almost in tears during a changeover, while Dokic also had her struggles.
She called for some bananas to be delivered to her before the second set and then during the third required courtside treatment for the Achilles injury that forced her withdrawal from last week's Hobart International and had her limping to the finish line on Wednesday night.
But, after failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, Dokic didn't miss her second opportunity.
After breaking Chakvetadze in the opening game of the deciding set, Australia's new tennis heroine progressed when the Russian coughed up her 16th double-fault to send Dokic through after two hours and 17 minutes.
"It's great. I really wanted to just put a good performance in tonight," Dokic said, fighting back tears.
"She's a top-20 player and I just wanted to make it as exciting as possible.
"Things just started going my way and I got nervous but this crowd helped me through as the match went on. They were unbelievable.
"No matter what happens from here on in, this is an amazing experience and a memory I will not forget for a long time."
Dokic said she would have nothing to lose against Wozniacki.
"I'll just try to have a good day off tomorrow and, whatever happens, I'll just try to play some good tennis again," she said.
Open officials announced a crowd of 63,557 on Wednesday, a world record for a single day at a grand slam tennis tournament.
AAP
The brilliant win, which came just two days after the 25-year-old bared her soul to the world and revealed her desperate battle with depression, was also Dokic's first over a top-20 rival in five long seasons.
Now ranked 187th, having been as high as No.4 in the world after reaching the 2002 French Open quarter-finals, Dokic will next face the No.11 seed, from Denmark, Caroline Wozniacki on Friday for a berth in the last 16 at Melbourne Park.
Australia's Jelena Dokic on her way to a three sets victory over Anna Chakvetadze
Estranged from her father Damir, whose erratic and domineering behaviour led to the former Wimbledon junior champion's demise, Dokic had only her long-time boyfriend Tin Bikic and coach, his brother Borna, supporting her from the player's box.
But the Serbian-born star had another 15,000 fans behind her in the stadium plus a few million more watching on TV as she overcame a nervy second-set collapse to upstage the tournament's 17th seed.
Dokic can now dream of a repeat of her magic run to the 1999 Wimbledon quarter-finals as a qualifier and then to the last four of the championships the following year - when she famously ousted then-world No.1 Martina Hingis in the opening round.
Her victory over Chakvetadze, an Open quarter-finalist two years ago, was not without drama.
At one stage as the Australian wildcard playoff winner raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set, Chakvetadze appeared to be almost in tears during a changeover, while Dokic also had her struggles.
She called for some bananas to be delivered to her before the second set and then during the third required courtside treatment for the Achilles injury that forced her withdrawal from last week's Hobart International and had her limping to the finish line on Wednesday night.
But, after failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, Dokic didn't miss her second opportunity.
After breaking Chakvetadze in the opening game of the deciding set, Australia's new tennis heroine progressed when the Russian coughed up her 16th double-fault to send Dokic through after two hours and 17 minutes.
"It's great. I really wanted to just put a good performance in tonight," Dokic said, fighting back tears.
"She's a top-20 player and I just wanted to make it as exciting as possible.
"Things just started going my way and I got nervous but this crowd helped me through as the match went on. They were unbelievable.
"No matter what happens from here on in, this is an amazing experience and a memory I will not forget for a long time."
Dokic said she would have nothing to lose against Wozniacki.
"I'll just try to have a good day off tomorrow and, whatever happens, I'll just try to play some good tennis again," she said.
Open officials announced a crowd of 63,557 on Wednesday, a world record for a single day at a grand slam tennis tournament.
AAP
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