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 Wednesday, January 19
Dokic feels pressure of spotlight
 
Associated Press

 Results

MELBOURNE, Australia -- The toast of Wimbledon last summer, Jelena Dokic is having a rough time back home.

She lost to Rita Kuti Kis of Hungary 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 on Monday, then showed up late for a postmatch news conference and was fined $2,500. The 16-year-old Aussie dismissed Kuti Kis as a player without a future.

Geoff Pollard, head of Tennis Australia, said Dokic "overreacted" to her defeat.

The next day Dokic accused tennis officials of intentionally saddling her with tough draws.

"They say they pull them out, but I don't think so," Dokic said.

Many players were incredulous at the remark.

"That's some of the dumbest stuff I have ever heard," second-seeded Lindsay Davenport said.

Dokic also said her father Damir, who was escorted from a tournament at Birmingham, England, last year for loud, drunken cheering, told her there was pressure on her "because of where we come from."

The Dokic family emigrated from Serbia and lived in poverty until Jelena began making money playing tennis.

On Wednesday, Damir Dokic grabbed a radio microphone from an Australian camera crew that was following his family outside a Melbourne hotel. He returned it after police intervened.

Dokic became an overnight sensation when she upset Martina Hingis in the opening round of Wimbledon and reached the quarterfinals.

She rose from virtual anonymity a year ago to a ranking of No. 37. She entered the Australian Open ranked No. 39.

"A lot of it has come from not having made the progress from Wimbledon she would have liked," Pollard said. "Maybe she thought this would be the next jump she would make and it didn't happen."

He said he would talk to Dokic, whose tournament appearances are limited by age restrictions. He added that Australian officials will assess how to help players from different ethnic backgrounds.

"It's a complicated issue," he said.

Part of Dokic's problem, officials suspect, is that she has no full-time coach. Australian Davis Cup coach Tony Roche works with her at Grand Slam events.

Anna Kournikova, an 18-year-old Russian ranked No. 12, says she understands Dokic's difficulties.

"Definitely, it's hard for her. I know, I've been there," she said. "It's obviously very tough when you lose in your own country in the first round and everybody has expectations of you being the one here."

 


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