| | Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England -- Now it's Wimbledon that has its hands full with Damir Dokic.
The father of 17-year-old Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic was detained by police Thursday after a loud argument in which he smashed a reporter's cell phone to the ground.
Dokic was speaking with British television on a balcony overlooking Court 14. He drew a crowd of several dozen as he talked boisterously with an English flag draped over his shoulder, chanting: "England is a free country, England is a free country."
At one point, the Serbian-born Dokic shouted: "The Queen is on the side of democracy and the rest of the country is fascist."
Several witnesses described him as drunk.
"I challenge you to do anything to me wearing this flag," Dokic told British TV reporter Mark Saggers. He then asked to borrow Saggers' cell phone and tossed it to the ground.
Dokic then asked for a credit card from his wife, Liliana, who was standing nearby, and offered Saggers $750 for the damaged phone.
Dokic also gestured obscenely at an American female reporter while making derogatory comments about President Clinton.
Saggers signaled for club security, and four police officers removed Dokic. Saggers said he did not intend to press charges.
"Mr. Dokic came to the police room voluntarily while the matter was being investigated," Inspector Andrew Freestone of the Metropolitan Police Service said. "No action was taken and the Dokic family elected to leave the grounds. No further action will
be taken."
Damir Dokic was ejected from a tournament in Birmingham, England, a year ago after calling match officials "Nazis." He later went into the street outside the club, blocked traffic and jumped on the hood of a car and was arrested.
This latest episode came shortly after Jelena Dokic, who was a surprise quarterfinalist a year ago, reached the third round, beating Spain's Gala Leon Garcia 7-6 (5), 6-1.
After his daughter's victory Tuesday over German qualifier Greta Arn, Dokic kept butting into her interview, telling his daughter in
Serbo-Croatian what to say. Angry officials finally stopped the interview.
In January, he accused officials of rigging draws against his daughter and threatened briefly to pull her off the Australian Olympic team. | |
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