Home | Bio | Rankings | Photos | video | Messageboard | links

19th January :Jelena loses her 1st round match in Australian Open tonight 6-1 6-4 against Russian palyer Alisa Kleybanova

BackgroJelena Dokic Country:   Australia Birth Date:   12 April 1983 Birthplace:   Osijek, Croatia Residence:   Monte Carlo, Monaco Height:   5 ft. 9 in. (1.75 meters) Weight:   132 lbs. (60 kilos) Plays:   Right Year Turned Pro:   1998 Current Ranking:  56 High rank for singles:   4 High rank date for singles:   19 August 2002 High rank for doubles:   10 High rank date for doubles:   4 February 2002 Career prize money:  $4,067,477 USD Coached by Borna Bikic Father's name is Damir; mother's name is Liliana; brother, Savo, eight years younger, has a black belt in tae kwon do Emigrated to Australia from Serbia with her family in 1994 Enjoys shopping, music and the beach Likes to visit Rome, Paris Self-described as friendly, outgoing, open, and on-court as determined, motivated, competitive Most memorable experience has been participating in the 2000 Olympics Tennis person most admired is Steffi Graf. Personal She enjoys: shopping, roller-blading, going to the beach and listening to music  .... Likes to visit Rome and Paris... Superstitious about stepping on the lines on court... Self-described as friendly, out-going, open, and on-court as determined, motivated and competitive... Most memorable experience has been participating in the 2000 Olympics... Tennis person most admired is Steffi Graf... Favorite movies are Titanic and Notting Hill;  favorite actors are Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and Richard Gere. Jelena had a lot of success in the junior tournaments winning the 98 US Open and having many other notable performances. Jelena was at quarterfinal of Wimbledon where she defeated Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce to get world wide coverag Nickname "Jeca" (which is usually a nickname given to girls that are named Jelena). "Jeca" is changed to "Jeco" when it is called out in conversation. e... Tennis Coaches Nead Trifunovic her first tennis coach in Osjek Josip Molnar trained her when she was in Sombor. He was tennis coach of Monica Selez Kim Warwick was her first tennis coach in Australia at age of 11 Craig Miller her first tennis coach who spotted her talent in Australia. Lesley Turner-Bowrey Australia's Fed Cup captain. Wally Masur Former Australian Davis Cup player coached her on part time basis  Anthony Dalton Roche Australia's Davis Cup coach from 1994 to 2000. Pam Whytcross Former professional player. WTA tour director. She was at WTA mentor program. Chris Kachel Former professional player - from 1973 to 1980 John Trickey Former professional player. Australia's national women's tennis development coach. Currently coached by Borna Bikic 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.

18th January :Jelena will be palying tonight in the Australian Open against Russian palyer Alisa Kleybanova RUS (27) - GOOD LUCK JELENA!! 15th January :Jelena Dokic is out of the Hobart tennis international by second seed Shahar Peer of Israel.Peer, ranked 30th, overpowered Dokic 6-2 6-2 in a match lasting just 55 minutes. World No.56 Dokic served eight double faults against three aces in a lacklustre performance a week out from the Australian Open   11th January :JELENA DOKIC says she is fitter and hitting the ball better than at the same time last year.Jelena was a comfortable first-round winner at the Hobart international tennis tournament beating British qualifier Elena Baltacha 6-4, 6-2. Battling a sweltering 35 degrees, Dokic served five double faults and four aces to the world No.83. In the second, she added two double faults and seven aces. ''I feel like I'm fitter this year and hitting the ball better,'' she said later. ''It's just a matter now of how I'm playing in the match situations.'' Dokic said she was managing her injuries, including a tricky ankle, and was planning a full year of tennis in 2010. ''The start of the year is always difficult,'' she said. ''You always get a little bit sore after matches but it's OK. I'm still working on that, and the more matches I play, the better.'' Dokic will play Shahar Peer on Wednesday night after the Israeli beat Melbourne's Olivia Rogowska 6-3, 6-2. 4th January : Jelena unfortunately was unable to come up with a win today in Brisbane, she ended up losing to Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.   2009-12-27:AUSTRALIAN tennis starlet Jelena Dokic will return to Hobart for the 2010 Moorilla International tennis tournament. Tournament director Michael Robert yesterday confirmed the former world No .4 will make her third consecutive appearance at the event, looking to erase the memories of her past two visits. Dokic is playing in the Brisbane International the week before Hobart where she is in the main draw and any success she has in Queensland will be welcomed by Roberts. 2009-12-26 :JELENA Dokic has joined the Mouratoglou tennis academy in Paris, only weeks before a career-defining Australian Open tilt. Dokic, 26, and her coach Borna Bikic have agreed to terms with the academy, which employs leading Australian coaches Tony Roche and Peter McNamara. Dokic is defending 500 ranking points at Melbourne Park from January 18-31 after her run to last season's Australian Open quarter-finals. If the former world No. 4 is unable to defend those points, she could fall from her ranking of 56 out of the top 100. The baseliner resurrected her career at the Open when, as a wildcard, she stormed into the last eight. Dokic was finally defeated by world No. 1 and top seed Dinara Safina. 2009-11-01: Yea Jelena wons the singles final today against Sofia Arvidsson 6-4, 6-4 Well done Jelena!! 2009-10-31: Jelena advanced to the singles final today as she defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 7-5 to reach the singles final where tomorrow 2009-10-31: Jelena won her 2nd round match, she won 6-4, 6-2 against Anastasia Rodionova and then reached the semifinals as she defeated Lucie Hradecka... 2009-10-29: Jelena won her opening match against Stephanie Foretz posting a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 Win 2009-10-26: Jelena is back in action this week playing a 100K ITF event in France. 2009-10-18: Jelena Dokic and Ana Ivanovic will join Kim Clijsters in the women's draw after Brisbane International organisers on Thursday bolstered the drawcards for the first tennis tournament of 2010. Australian tennis's prodigal daughter, Dokic will return to Rafter Arena after beginning her emotional ride into this year's Australian Open quarter-finals in Brisbane, where she lost in two tiebreakers to France's Amelie Mauresmo. 2009-10-18: Jelena loses the final today, a 6-2, 7-6 loss against Arvidsson. 2009-10-17: Jelena continued her road in the 50K event as she won her semifinal match 7-6, 7-5 against Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, she will now face Sofia Arvidsson in the final! 2009-10-16: Jelena continued her road today, she did need 3 sets but won 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 against Darija Jurak, and will now face Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in the semifinals tomorrow! 2009-10-14: Jelena has advanced to reach the 3rd round. She will now face Violette Huck or Darija Jurak! 2009-10-12: Jelena will be playing this week, in a 50K event in France and she is the #1 seed. 1st September 2009 Jelena loses her first round match in the US OPEN  to  Kirsten Flipkens 6-3 6-4 5th June 2009 JELENA Dokic's recovery from the back injury that forced her French Open retirement will keep her off the practice court until the end of the week, but is unlikely to thwart the jelena's plans to contest Wimbledon lead-up tournaments at Birmingham and Eastbourne this month. Dokic's agent, Lawrence Frankopan, said the world No. 80 expected to be able to play in both WTA grasscourt events as scheduled, having been cleared of permanent lower-back damage by an MRI scan after her second-round mishap against fourth seed Elena Dementieva in Paris. A Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2000, Dokic will be returning to the All England Club for the first time since 2004. Her most recent qualifying attempt, at Roehampton in 2006, produced a first-round loss to Alexandra Stevenson. Dokic's win-loss record of 17-6 at Wimbledon is her best at a grand slam, despite the 26-year-old also reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and, this year, in Melbourne. 5th May 2009 Originally scheduled to play in the 2009 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in early May, she will instead appear as the number 1 seed in the $100,000 ITF event at Bucharest. 25th April - 2009 : Jelena Dokic has admitted she has returned to Australia for this weekend's Fed Cup clash with Switzerland "in pretty bad shape". Dokic, who made a memorable run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January after winning the wildcard tournament, said on Wednesday she had struggled in recent months. She has played only three events since Melbourne and withdrew from tournaments in Ponte Vedra and Charlston this month with "sports fatigue injury". Dokic said her effort in becoming only the fourth wildcard in the Open era to make the quarter-finals of a grand slam had drained her. "For me, after a four year lay-off, it was hard after the Australian Open. I really struggled mentally and physically," Dokic said. "I've been in pretty bad shape physically but I'm getting there. "I'm a lot better and even though I had to fly a long way I feel pretty good. "I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. "There are only so many chances that you get and I think there's a lot of players who are proof of that. "This is pretty much my last shot at it and I think I've started very well, so we'll see how far I can go." Dokic said her well-documented personal problems had made her more relaxed and given her a different perspective. "When you go through the stuff that I've been through ... just being here is a great achievement," she said. "I enjoy my life much more now and I look forward to every single day. "Even if I lose a match, it's just a tennis match and at the end of the day I think a lot of people have it a lot tougher than we do. "You walk down the street and you see a person in a wheelchair and I think that's enough to get you through. "I think tennis is probably the easiest thing that we have in our lives." Dokic is joined by top-ranked Australian Sam Stosur, experienced doubles campaigner Rennae Stubbs and youngster Jessica Moore for the World Group II playoff against a Swiss team missing No.1 Patty Schnyder. Switzerland will be led by 19-year-old Stefanie Voegele, who is coached by Melanie Molitor - the mother of Martina Hingis - and is touted as one of the world's rising tennis stars. Stosur said she and her teammates had struggled trying to acclimatise to grass in the middle of the clay court season. "It's okay, it's not my favourite surface but we've got four days to try and work it out," she said. Stosur, Australia's highest-ranked player at 30 in the world, said she felt no pressure to win going into the tie. "No, not really, we're all trying to get to the highest ranking we can ... we all want to keep improving. "The more of us that can get inside the top 100 we're all going to keep pushing each other higher and higher and hopefully we can have three inside the top 50 and then, who knows?" The tie will be staged from April 25-26. 30/03/2009 JELENA Dokic's career-reviving run to the Australian Open quarter-finals has delivered another major financial reward, with the world No. 80 recently sealing an endorsement deal with French sportswear company Lacoste believed to be potentially worth close to $4.4 million over three years. Dokic competed in her new sponsor's apparel at this week's tournament in Miami, where the 25-year-old's first-round defeat of Romanian Edina Gallovits was her first at tour level since she upset four higher-ranked opponents at Melbourne Park in January. Dokic was then eliminated by 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki to reverse the celebrated result from Rod Laver Arena two months earlier. Dokic, who is now represented by management giant IMG, has also entered into a lucrative arrangement with Australian budget airline Jetstar, negotiated after she became the Open's reborn local star. A modest racquet deal with Wilson is soon due for renegotiation and the asking price is expected to rise significantly in the wake of her recent success. Before this year, Dokic had not won a grand slam match since 2003. But the former world No. 4 has struggled since, admitting to fatigue following a long period away from her Monte Carlo home and an intense pre-Christmas training period in Melbourne. After representing Australia at Fed Cup zone level in Perth in February, she qualified for the Memphis tournament before again running into the ubiquitous Wozniacki, the top seed. A few weeks later as a wildcard entry into Indian Wells, she fell to American Jill Craybas in straight sets. Next on Dokic's schedule are US claycourt tournaments in Ponte Vedra and Charleston, before a return to Australia to contest next month's Fed Cup World Group II play-off tie on grass in Mildura. For her teammate, Sam Stosur, meanwhile, Miami has hosted a career-best win, a 6-1, 6-4 dismissal of Russian second seed Dinara Safina in the third round. The result was a major breakthrough for Stosur, who blew four match points in a painful choke against world No. 1 Serena Williams at the Sydney International, and has also failed to win close matches against fellow top-tenners Elena Dementieva and Agnieszka Radwanska this season. The Queenslander, who turns 25 today, next plays Amelie Mauresmo.   March 11th 2009: Damm Jelena loses her first round match against American Jill Craybas at the Indian Wells tournament losing 6-4, 6-2.....She said aftewards "I am having a hard time figuring out what to do on the court right now,” and said she may have been mentally beaten before taking the court against Craybas. I’m really, really struggling mentally,” said Dokic, 26. “I need to just settle down and get myself together again.” March 10th 2009: Jelena will be playing Indian Wells tournament this week she received a main draw wild card and will be playing American Jill Craybas in her opening match. February 27th 2009: Jelena Dokic is training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. for the next week or so while prepares for the rest of the season. February 24th 2009: Jelena ranking climbs to 80 and is now the Aussie #2 February 18th 2009: Unfortunately, Jelena was not able to reproduce her Melbourne performance as today she was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 6-2 in the 1st round of the Memphis main draw. February 14th 2009: Good news today as Jelena won her match in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, Qualification 2nd round posting a 2 sets win against Russia's Alexandra Panova, a 6-3, 6-1 win. She now advances to the main draw..! February 13th 2009: Jelena is playing in Memphis in the qualifying draw! She won her opening match today 7-5, 6-1 against Yulia Fedak! February 9th 2009: Jelena Dokic Accepts Qualifying Wildcard for 2009 Cellular South Cup in Memphis, which starts February 13th. Dokic will be working her way through the qualifying round in hopes of competing for the Memphis title and a share of more than $200,000 in prize money. The tournament, which is scheduled February 13-21 at The Racquet Club of Memphis, will also feature one of the game's all-time greats, Pete Sampras, in a charity singles exhibition match versus two time Grand Slam winner Lleyton Hewitt on Monday night, February 16 at 6:30 p.m., to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. February 8th 2009: Australia did make it! With a win by Sam Stosur over Marina Erakovic 6-1, 6-4 and a win in doubles, Australia advances to the World Group II playoffs to be played in April:) February 7th 2009: Well, Jelena won her match! She won 6-4, 6-4 against Diane Hollands giving Australia a 1-0 lead over New Zealand.. way to go:) Jelena was in action in the 3rd tie today, as Australia once again won, tFebruary 6th 2009: hey defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0!!! Australia will now face New Zealand tomorrow with the winner advancing to the World Group II playoffs in April:) February 5th 2009: Jelena won her 2nd match, defeating Suchanun Viratprasert (THA) 6-1 6-2 February 4th 2009:Australia won against Korea in fed cup Jelena won 6-0, 6-3 against Lee Jin-A! January 30th 2009: JELENA Dokic has capped the spectacular comeback that won her a top-100 ranking in women's tennis and a wad of prizemoney with a $1 million sponsorship. Dokic, 25. has signed a three-year-contract - her first in seven years - to become the new face of budget airline Jetstar. As part of the deal she will receive free flights to all venues in Australasia.   January 29th 2009:Jelena Dokic has won her way onto the Australian Fed Cup team. Australian Fed Cup captain David Taylor selected Dokic to join No. 51 Samantha Stosur, No. 52 Casey Dellacqua and doubles specialist Rennae Stubbs on the squad that will compete in the eight-nation Asia-Ocean Group I event set for February 4-7. Taiwan, India, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand, Thailand and Uzbekistan will all compete in the event. It will be Dokic's first Fed Cup appearance for Australia since 2000 when she scored a 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3, win over Anna Kournikova in Russia's 2-1 World Group C Round Robin victory over Australia in Moscow. Dokic has posted an 11-3 career Fed Cup record, including an 11-2 mark in singles, playing for Australia and her native Serbia (then known as Serbia and Montenegro). Dokic owns a 9-2 singles record playing for Australia in Fed Cup from 1998 to 2000, including victories over Kim Clijsters, Barbara Schett and Sandrine Testud. The 25-year-old Dokic is the third-highest ranked Australian woman. January 27th 2009: Jelena put in an awesome game but was defeated by Dinara Safina 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, she played a great game with everyone on the edges of their seats as it was anyone's game in the third set, but the 3rd ranked player Safina took it by two games in the decider. Jelena will now head to Perth and represent Australia in the Fed Cup. January 25rd 2009: Yes She did it ! Jelena WON! and is thru to the final 8 in the Australian open with a great win over Alisa Kleybanova ranked 31 in the world 7-5, 5-7, 8-6 , with this won jelena moves into the top 100 in world rankings for women. Jelena will play Russian, Dinara Safina in the quarter finals.. January 23rd 2009: Jelena Plays another great game and beats #11 seed, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki Jelena won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and advances to the 4th round of the Australian open.

LUCK JELENA!!

 

Jelena Dokic 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 lose to Justine Henin in finals. She also reached a final in doubles, in Rome with Nadia Petrova.

2004
In mid-2004, Jelena returned to her family in Serbia, trying to put her life back in order & regain confidence. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, & in November 2005, after a turbulent period of 4-5 months during which she canceled all her tennis commitments & not even her family knew her whereabouts, she returned to Australia proclaiming, "I want to play for Australia again".

2005

Jelena started her season at Pattaya City, where she snapped her nine-match losing-streak with a 7-6 6-3 win over Anne Kremer in the first round - her first victory since April 2004. But she was trailing Alyona Bondarenko 6-7 0-1 when she retired with a left leg/groin-injury.
Her ranking plunged from #124 to #209 as the points from her semi-final showing at Tokyo 2004 came off.

She played Hyderabad the following week, but lost 7-6 6-3 to Mara Santangelo in the first round. She tried to qualify for Indian Wells, beating Lilia Osterloh 3-6 6-4 6-4, but losing 7-6 6-0 to María Emilia Salerni in the second qualifying-round.
On 4th April, her ranking took another nosedive as the points from Miami 2004 came off: from #237 to #336; two weeks later she plummeted again to #447, and on 25th April it reached its trough for the year: #450.

After crashing out of Estoril with a 6-2 3-6 6-2 first-round loss to Alyona Bondarenko, Jelena announced that she was considering stepping down to the ITF Women's Circuit. "I would not like to go down to Challenger events, but matches-wise and confidence-wise, it could be a good thing. My tennis isn't there, so I have to build it up from the beginning, like I did when I was 14."

But first she enjoyed her best tournament of 2005, winning four matches in a row to qualify and reach the second round of Rabat. To qualify, she beat Carolina Malheiros 6-0 6-1, María Vanina García Sokol 5-0 retired, and the pretty little Slovak girl Dominika Cibulková 6-4 6-1. In the main draw, she thrashed Lubomíra Kurhajcová 6-2 6-2, but lost 6-0 3-6 6-2 to top seed Li,Na in the second round.
Jelena was rewarded with a rise from #443 to #364 in the rankings.

But she lost 6-4 6-1 to Zuzana Ondrášková in the first round of Prague - after which she announced she was taking a seven-week break from competition (thus skipping the French Open and Wimbledon), during which time she would be training and practising. She was offered a wild card to play in the qualifying for Wimbledon, but declined. "I refused since I didn't have enough time to prepare for grass."

Then Jelena dropped down to the ITF Women's Circuit, starting with ITF Fano during the second week of Wimbledon. But the lower level didn't make things any easier for her, as she crashed 6-3 6-1 to Eva Birnerová in the first round.

Jelena then revealed that she stopped working with Borna Bikic at Indian Wells. "Since then I am alone, I train alone, I travel alone." This implies that she had become estranged from her father Damir some time after October 2004 and before March 2005. But Tino Bikic was still her boyfriend.

Jelena played ITF Cuneo the following week, losing to Conchita Martínez-Granados (not to be confused with Conchita Martínez) 6-4 5-7 6-0 in the first round. It was at Cuneo that she played her only doubles of the year: she and Tina Pisnik upset top seeds Eva Birnerová and Andreea Vanc in the first round, before losing to Sara Errani and Giulia Gabba in the second.

Jelena pulled out of ITF Vittel, but tried to qualify for the following week's ITF Petange: she beat María Vanina García Sokol 7-5 6-1, Maria Geznenge 6-0 6-1, but, having to play her second and third qualifying-matches on the same day, she lost to Laura Vallverdú-Zaira 6-0 4-6 7-5 (after fighting back from 0-6 0-3).
She got into the main draw as a lucky loser, but withdrew before her first match - we don't know why she withdrew, but after her qualifying-campaign, she had said: "An elbow-injury as well as private problems were the reasons of my crash."

Jelena successfully qualified for ITF Martina Franca, beating Stefanie Haidner 7-6 6-3, Tessy van de Ven 6-3 6-1 and Zuzana Kucová 6-3 6-3. In the main draw, she beat Ivana Abramovic 6-7 6-3 6-4, but was losing to Lourdes Domínguez Lino 1-6 0-1 when she retired with a left-adductor contracture.
Her ranking rose from #367 to #336; it would gradually sink to a year-end ranking of #349.

ITF Martina Franca proved to be her last tournament of 2005, and it was only August. She pulled out of ITF Rimini and ITF Coimbra, and in September, she didn't bother to turn up for - or withdraw from - ITF Glasgow (the term for this is no-show). She withdrew from ITF Porto with a sinus-problem, pulled two more no-shows at ITF Nantes and ITF Jersey, and withdrew from ITF Seville and ITF Saint Raphael (these two withdrawals are believed to be automatic, as Jelena was banned from the ITF circuit until she paid her fines for the no-shows).

Jelena's disappearance led to a number of rumours, such as: that she wasn't answering her telephone, that she was no longer on speaking terms with her father but maintained irregular contact with her mother (with three months' complete silence from August to November), that no one knew where she was (she is now believed to have been living in Croatia), that she was no longer practising, even that she had retired from professional tennis. These rumours - together with the no-shows and a total lack of quotes from Jelena herself - painted a picture of a young lady who had lost the plot and cut herself off from the real world. We were all very concerned about her.

We finally got some real news in November: Jelena had decided to return to Australia, and to play for Australia in 2006 (starting with January's tournaments in Australia for the first time since 2001). "I am Australian, I feel like an Australian, and I want to play for Australia again."
On 5th December, the WTA changed Jelena's nationality from SCG to AUS.

Jelena arrived in Melbourne on 3rd December to attend the Australian Open training-camp, culminating in the Australian Open wild-card play-off: a 16-player knockout-tournament where the winner was awarded a wild card into the main draw of the Australian Open 2006. Despite suffering from a groin-injury which induced her to wear tracksuit-bottoms, Jelena won the wild-card play-off, beating Beti Sekulovski 6-2 7-6, Shayna McDowell 7-6 6-1, Trudi Musgrave 6-1 6-3, and Monique Adamczak 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the final.
Jelena appointed Lesley Bowrey as her new coach, reestablishing the relationship that her father had severed in 1999. It was just a temporary appointment which they planned to review after the Australian Open.

 

2006

Representing Australia for the first time in 5 years, Dokic received a wild card into the ASB Classic in Auckland in January. She lost her first round match to Julia Schruff, 5-7 7-6(3) 6-1, hitting 51 unforced errors & 28 double faults. Dokic then earned a wildcard berth at the 2006 Australian Open. She held a match point on her opponent Virginie Razzano's serve, & hit what she thought was a forehand winner, only to have the umpire overrule the ball out. She went on to lose the match, 3-6 7-6(6) 6-1, hitting over 70 unforced errors.

Dokic didn't play again until April 10. After 3 months away from the game, she was beaten 7-5 7-5 by 18-year-old, 709th ranked Eleonora Punzo in the first qualifying round at the ITF circuit tournament (the level below the WTA tour) in Biarritz, France.

In May, the media reported that she was training in the Iva Majoli tennis academy.

In June, Dokic turned down a wild card in Zagreb & instead played in the qualifying rounds of the $25K event in Gorizia. She beat the sixteenth seed Michaela Johansson, Giulia Gatto-Monticone, & world number 325 Olga Panova. She then won her first round match against Maria-Vanina Garcia-Sokol, before losing to Romanian Madalina-Victorita Gojnea.

Later that month, Dokic played at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships. She gained entry into the qualifying draw via a wild-card entry, due to her past successes. However, she was defeated in the first qualifying round 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2 by Alexandra Stevenson after serving for the match at 6-4 5-4. She then declined a main-draw wild card in Martina Franca, Italy, & pulled out of tournaments in Hechingen, Germany, & Rimini, Italy.

Under the guidance of new coach Nikola Pilic, after over 3 months away from the tour due to injury, Dokic qualified for a $10K tournament defeating Mika Urbancic & Lynn Blau. In the main draw, she advanced to the semifinals, losing to Astrid Besser of Italy 3-6 6-3 7-6(5), who went on to win the final.

Controversy
In late November 2006 Serbian press (mainly tabloids) reported her "mysterious disappearance" in Zagreb & that Dokic was "allegedly missing". An Australian news website ran a piece about this which was then carried by other sites including Eurosport. Damir Dokic, Jelena's controversial father had reported Jelena missing with Serbian police & claimed that Jelena "had been kidnapped" by her boyfriend, Tin Bikic. Her German coach Martin Ruftner added fuel to the fire by claiming he had been scheduled to meet Jelena at the Munich Airport on Sunday, 19th November but she did not show & did not call, which Ruftner claimed was "totally out of character" for Jelena.

Jelena Dokic slammed these allegations stating in Serbian sports daily Sportski žurnal that this was nothing but nonsense & that she was alive & well in Zagreb with her boyfriend & that she would soon be back at Nikola Pilic's Academy in Munich for a further 7 weeks of training before attempting a full-scale comeback on the ITF circuit in 2007. She also stated that she was no longer speaking with her father & hadn't been for some time.

In her interview she said she would not play in the Australian Open because she wasn't ready, & her aim was to get back into the top 30. Shortly after, Jelena left the academy. She was due to sign a contract to be in the academy for a year, but she instead returned to Borna Bikic, her coach. Jelena said she was not satisfied with the contract Pilic's Academy offered her.

2007
Jelena withdrew from events in Stuttgart, Caprioli & Ortisei, Biberach & Buchen. She then lost early in the $10,000 events of Rome Real & Rome Panda to low-ranked players. Jelena then continued to withdraw from events, allegedly due to a wrist injury which had been troubling her for some time. It is also believed that Jelena's father, Damir, is currently seriously ill.

2008

2008 was something of an encouraging turnaround for Jelena, as she had her best year since 2003 if not 2002. She compiled a 35:10 win/loss record mainly on the ITF circuit, winning the first three ITF singles-titles of her career: Florence, Caserta and Darmstadt (where she won the final 6-0 6-0). Unranked at the start of the year, she rose to #179 at the end of it. She also won the Australian Open wild-card play-off in December to earn a place in the main draw of the Australian Open 2009. She was trimmer, fitter and more confident than in 2004-2007, and seemed to have put her personal problems of those years - when she battled severe depression after her well-documented family problems - behind her.

On the other hand, Jelena failed to make an impact on the WTA Tour or the Majors in 2008. She won four matches to qualify and reach the second round of Hobart in January, but after that, all she had to show at these levels were first-round main-draw losses at Fès and Strasbourg, and second-round qualifying-losses at the Australian Open and Linz.