Jelena Dokic

Jelena Dokic (Serbian: Јелена Докић, romanized: Jelena Dokić; pronounced [jɛ̌lɛna dokit͡ɕ]; born 12 April 1983) is an Australian tennis coach, commentator, writer, and former professional tennis player. Her highest ranking as a tennis player was world No. 4 in August 2002. She won WTA Tour events on all surfaces during her career.

Jelena Dokic

Dokic at the 2011 US Open
Country (sports)	Australia (1998–2000, 2006–2014)  FR Yugoslavia (2001–2003)  Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2005)
Born	12 April 1983 Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1998
Retired	2014
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$4,481,044
Singles
Career record	348–221
Career titles	6 WTA, 8 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 4 (19 August 2002)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (2009)
French Open	QF (2002)
Wimbledon	SF (2000)
US Open	4R (2000, 2001)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (2001, 2002)
Olympic Games	SF – 4th (2000)
Doubles
Career record	118–100
Career titles	4 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 10 (4 February 2002)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1999, 2000)
French Open	F (2001)
Wimbledon	3R (1999, 2000, 2001)
US Open	2R (2000, 2001)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2000)
Mixed doubles
Career record	4–9
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2001)
French Open	2R (2000)
Wimbledon	3R (2001)
US Open	1R (2001, 2003)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	Australia (total 14–3) Serbia and Montenegro (2–0)
Hopman Cup	Australia W (1999)

In the 1999 Wimbledon Championships the 16-year-old Dokic achieved one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, beating Martina Hingis 6–2, 6–0. This remains the only time the women's world No. 1 has ever lost to a qualifier at Wimbledon. Dokic went on to reach the quarterfinals of that competition, only her second Grand Slam.

Dokic rapidly ascended through the world rankings after her Wimbledon breakthrough, but her time in the world elite was beset by off-court struggles. Her relationship with her outspoken father and coach Damir Dokić, on whose advice she switched allegiance to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in November 2000, was the subject of much media speculation over many years.[1][2][3] She switched back to Australia in 2005, and accused her father of physical and mental abuse in her 2017 autobiography Unbreakable.

Dokic made a serious return to tennis in 2008 and finished 2009 back in the world top 100, but thereafter struggled badly with form and injuries, and ceased playing professionally in 2014.

Early life

Jelena Dokić was born in Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia to a Serb father Damir Dokić and a Croat mother, Ljiljana (née Podnar).[4] She has a younger brother, Savo, eight years her junior. Her family lived in Osijek until June 1991, when they decided to leave due to the political instability and wars. They settled in Sombor, Serbia, for a short time and emigrated to Australia in 1994. There they lived in Fairfield, a suburb of Sydney, where Dokić (later Dokic) attended Fairfield High School.[5]

Tennis career

Junior career

In 1998, she won the US Open girls singles title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters, ending the season ranked world No. 1 in the International Tennis Federation junior singles rankings and world No. 7 in doubles. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[6]

1999–2000: Major breakthrough

Dokic started the year by teaming up with Mark Philippoussis to win the Hopman Cup title. Until 2016, it was Australia's lone victory at the event. She then received a wildcard into the Australian Open, losing to world No. 1 Martina Hingis in two sets. At Wimbledon, Dokic made her professional breakthrough. As a qualifier, Dokic caused an upset, defeating world No. 1 Hingis in the first round in straight sets. Ranked No. 129 at the time, she was the lowest-ranked player to have defeated the top seed in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era. She also defeated ninth-seeded Mary Pierce in straight sets before losing in three to Alexandra Stevenson in the quarterfinals. Dokic also reached her first WTA doubles final with Amanda Coetzer in Tokyo. During 1999, she jumped 298 spots, finishing the year at world No. 43.

Dokic was defeated in the first round of the Australian Open by Rita Kuti-Kis of Hungary. After the match, Dokic said, "I lost to a player who has never been a player and, I guess, probably never will be." During the spring clay court season, Dokic reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I events in Hilton Head, South Carolina and Rome (upsetting Venus Williams en route), as well as earning Fed Cup victories over Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova, and Sandrine Testud respectively. However, Dokic lost in the second round at the French Open.

Dokic's successes at Wimbledon continued; she lost in the semifinals to Lindsay Davenport. She reached the fourth round of the US Open, where she lost to Serena Williams after holding two set points in the first-set tiebreaker. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, representing Australia, she lost to Monica Seles in the bronze medal match. In doubles, she teamed with Rennae Stubbs, but lost in the second round. Dokic finished the year at world No. 26.

2001: First WTA titles and top 10

Beginning with the Australian Open, she began playing for Yugoslavia. Her father, Damir, claimed irregularities in the draw after her first-round loss to Lindsay Davenport and was banned from the tournament due to abusive behaviour. Damir later said, "I think the draw is fixed just for her".[7] 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, 6–1. Later that year in doubles, she teamed with Conchita Martínez to reach the final of the French Open, where they were defeated by Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez in straight sets.[8]

Later that year, she reached five finals, winning two titles, in Tokyo (defeating former world No. 1 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario), and the Kremlin Cup (defeating Elena Dementieva). She also won her second title in doubles in Linz, with Nadia Petrova, and qualified for the WTA Tour Championships in singles, reaching the quarterfinals. She finished the year at world No. 8. The Yugoslav Olympic Committee declared her its athlete of the year for 2001.[9]

2002: Highest ranking

Dokic reached the final of the Open Gaz de France, where she was forced to hand a walkover to Venus Williams, after her first victory over Monica Seles a day earlier, due to a right thigh strain suffered in her win. In April, she won her fourth singles title in Sarasota, Florida, defeating Tatiana Panova in the final. At the Hamburg event, Dokic collected a straight-set win over Justine Henin, before having to retire in the semifinals. Dokic was unable to defend her Rome Masters title, losing to 11th-seeded Anastasia Myskina in the third round.

In Strasbourg, she reached her fifth final, losing to Silvia Farina Elia. At the French Open, she was defeated by top-seeded Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals. Dokic then won her fifth career singles title in Birmingham, defeating Myskina in the final in two sets. She then lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Daniela Hantuchová.

After Wimbledon, Dokic reached the final of the Acura Classic in San Diego, scoring her first win over Capriati in a three-set match. In the final, she was defeated by Venus Williams. She also reached the semifinals of Los Angeles, losing to Chanda Rubin, and Montreal, notching a victory over Martina Hingis before retiring hurt against Capriati. Despite a loss to Elena Bovina in the second round of the US Open, Dokic reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 4. She then reached the semifinals in Bahia and Tokyo. Dokic again qualified for the WTA Tour Championships, losing in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams. She finished the year ranked world No. 9 in singles.

In doubles, Dokic won titles in Sarasota (with Elena Likhovtseva), Los Angeles (with Clijsters), and Linz (with Nadia Petrova), as well as reaching the finals of Moscow and Zürich (both with Petrova). This success resulted in her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 10.

2003–2004: Out of the top 10

In 2003, Dokic hired Borna Bikić from Croatia to replace her father as her trainer. She played 30 events, reaching one final, one semifinal, and seven quarterfinals. At Wimbledon she narrowly lost in the third round 4–6, 4–6 to a 16-year-old Maria Sharapova. At Zürich, she beat the then world No. 1 player, Clijsters, but lost to Henin in the final. She and Petrova also reached a final in doubles in Rome. She played in the 2004 Fed Cup for the Serbia and Montenegro team and achieved two wins.

In mid-2004, Dokic returned to her family in Serbia to attempt a reconciliation. In November 2005, after a turbulent period of 4–5 months during which she canceled all her tennis commitments and not even her family knew her whereabouts, she returned to Australia proclaiming, "I am an Australian, I feel like an Australian and I want to play for Australia again."[10] She later identified her switch to Yugoslavia as the biggest regret of her career, and said her father was subjecting her to extreme physical and mental abuse at the time he made the decision for her.[11]

2005–2008: ITF Circuit

Representing Australia for the first time in five years, Dokic received a wild card into the ASB Classic in Auckland, but lost her first-round match to Julia Schruff, hitting 51 unforced errors and 28 double faults. Dokic then earned a wildcard berth at the Australian Open after winning the wildcard playoff. She held a match point on her opponent Virginie Razzano's serve and hit a forehand winner that caught the line, only to have the umpire rule the ball out. She went on to lose the match, hitting over 70 unforced errors.

Later that year, Dokic played in the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon, where she received a wildcard but suffered a three-set loss to Alexandra Stevenson. Under the guidance of new coach Nikola Pilić, after over three months away from the tour due to injury, Dokic qualified for a $10,000 tournament and reached the semifinals of the main draw before losing to Astrid Besser. In November 2006, Dokic denied reports from her father that she had been kidnapped by her boyfriend, Tin Bikić.[12]

In her interview, she said she would not play in the 2007 Australian Open because she was not ready and her aim was to get back into the top 30. Shortly after, Dokic left the Nikola Pilić tennis academy. She was due to sign a contract to be in the academy for a year, but instead returned to Borna Bikić, her coach. Dokic said she was not satisfied with the contract Pilić's Academy offered her. After withdrawing from several ITF events in the early 2007, Dokic lost in the early rounds of two $10,000 events in Rome. She then continued to withdraw from events. Back in Australia on 17 October, Dokic released a statement through Tennis Australia that she would use their facilities in an attempt to make a comeback.[13]

Dokic said she had not felt "within herself" to play during 2007 but was now ready to put in the hard work necessary to get back to the top. She cited Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati, and Andre Agassi as inspirational figures for her goal of reaching the highest echelons of tennis once more. Dokic's long-awaited return to tennis came during the Australian Open wildcard playoff, where she was hoping to earn a wildcard into the first Grand Slam tournament of 2008. She emerged from the round-robin stage with a 3–0 record before retiring in her quarterfinal match while trailing 6–3, 3–1 due to a thigh strain.

Dokic received a wildcard for the qualifications of the 2008 Moorilla Hobart International and won four matches to reach the second round of the main draw, where she retired in her match against Flavia Pennetta due to an ankle injury. She received a qualifying wildcard into the Australian Open, where she lost in the second round. After a three-month layoff, Dokic finally returned to action at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem tournament in Fes, where she qualified but lost in the first round to Gréta Arn. She then entered the following week in a $25,000 ITF tournament in Florence, Italy, and won, saving two match points against Mirjana Lučić in the quarterfinals and defeating seventh-seeded Lucie Hradecká in the final. A week later, Dokic continued her winning streak by capturing the $25,000 ITF tournament in Caserta, Italy.

She was then offered a wildcard to the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she lost in the first round to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky. In July, she won her third $25,000 ITF in Darmstadt. Following a period with less successful results, Dokic took a temporary break, withdrawing from all ITF tournaments during September and early October. She returned in mid-October after being awarded a wildcard for qualifying into the Tier II Generali Ladies Linz tournament. There, she won her first round match against Petra Martić before losing to world No. 63 Jill Craybas in the second round.

In December, Dokic again played the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff event, where she emerged from the round-robin stage with a 2–1 record, subsequently winning through to the final playoff, in which she had a tough match against Monika Wejnert, coming out a victor and earning a wildcard into the 2009 Australian Open.[14] After the match, Dokic said:

"Some players just don't have it mentally to go through all that hard work, which I find is not a problem with me." (Jelena Dokic)[15]

During the playoffs, Dokic said in a press conference that she had ambitions to play in the Fed Cup for Australia in 2009. Subsequently, she was awarded a main draw wildcard entry into the inaugural, 2009 Brisbane International event.

2009: Comeback

At 2009 Australian Open

Dokic was knocked out of the Brisbane International by Amélie Mauresmo in straight sets in the first round. Dokic was up 5–3 in the first set before Mauresmo came back to win the tiebreak 11–9. In the second set, Dokic was down 3–5 but rallied to lead 6–5 before Mauresmo won the set in a tiebreak, 7–5. Dokic then received a qualification wildcard into the Moorilla Hobart International tournament but withdrew before her first match because of an Achilles tendon injury.

Dokic won her first round match at the Australian Open against Tamira Paszek of Austria. It was her first Grand Slam match win since 2003. She then defeated world No. 17 Anna Chakvetadze in the second round, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3 and 11th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. This was the first time she had reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. Dokic then advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2002 after defeating 29th-seeded Alisa Kleybanova. Dokic's run ended when she was defeated by Dinara Safina in a three-sets quarterfinal. Because of this tournament, her ranking improved to world No. 91.

In an interview after her first-round win at the Australian Open, Dokic said that she still has no contact with her father, but is building relationships again with her mother and younger brother, and that she has been dating her boyfriend, Tin Bikić, for five years.[16]

In Fed Cup, Australia was in the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I. Dokic defeated all three of her opponents in straight sets, Lee Jin-A of Korea, Suchanun Viratprasert of Thailand, and Diane Hollands of New Zealand. Australia advanced into the World Group II Playoffs in April. At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, she won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw, where she lost in the first round to top-seeded Wozniacki 1–6, 2–6 in 48 minutes.

Her next tournament was the BNP Paribas Open, a Premier Mandatory event in Indian Wells where she lost to American Jill Craybas in the first round. Dokic received a wildcard for the main draw of another Premier Mandatory event, the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida.[17] She defeated Romanian Edina Gallovits in the first round before losing to 13th-seeded Wozniacki in the second round. Dokic withdrew from the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida[18] and the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, citing fatigue. Dokic then won the second singles rubber of Australia's World Group II Fed Cup quarterfinal tie against Switzerland in Mildura, Australia.

Dokic at the 2009 French Open

Originally scheduled to play in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in early May, she instead appeared as the No. 1 seed in the $100,000 event at Bucharest[19] but lost in the semifinals to Andrea Petkovic. She then participated on the 2009 Warsaw Open,[20] which was the last WTA Premier event before the French Open but lost in the first round to qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru. She then played the 2009 French Open. In the first round, she beat Karolina Šprem, her first win in the French Open since 2003. In the second round she played world No. 4 Elena Dementieva. She led by 6–2, 4–3 before retiring due to a lower back injury. She also played doubles, partnering with Alisa Kleybanova, they defeated Petra Cetkovská and Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round. They were scheduled to play world no.1s in doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber, in the second round but withdrew because of the injury.

Her injury forced her to miss Wimbledon warming up tournaments, but Dokic still appeared at Wimbledon. She lost against qualifier Tatjana Malek in the first round 6–3, 5–7, 2–6, after serving 16 double faults. Dokic was then diagnosed as suffering from glandular fever and had to withdraw from Swedish Open in Båstad. She was ordered to rest for another fortnight and planned to get back on court on hard-court tournaments leading up to US Open. However, she did not make any appearance at the 2009 US Open Series.

She competed at the US Open[21] but lost to Kirsten Flipkens in the first round. The week later, she played at the $100,000 event at Biella where she is seeded fourth, but lost to Petra Martić in the second round. She then played at another $100,000 tournament at Sofia but again lost in the second round to Andrea Hlaváčková in straight sets. Two weeks later she played at another $100,000+H tournament at Athens, Greece. She won the tournament by beating Eleni Daniilidou 6–2, 6–1 in the final. This was her first title in 2009 and her most significant title since 2002.

Dokic then travelled to France to play ITF level tournaments, started with Joué-lès-Tours, a $50,000 event where she was the top seed. She advanced to her second final of the year but lost to Sofia Arvidsson by 2–6, 6–7. She then played at Poitiers, a $100,000 ITF event, as the fourth seed. She made it to her third consecutive final and faced Sofia Arvidsson again. This time, she won the title 6–4, 6–4, clinching her second title in 2009. Dokic finished 2009 ranked world No. 56, her best showing since 2004.

2010: Out of the top 100

Prior to the first Grandslam Event, Dokic participated in two Australian Open warm-up tournaments. She opened the season at the Brisbane International, where she lost to former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic by three sets, in the first round. She then travelled to Hobart to play the Hobart International where she defeated Elena Baltacha in the first round but lost to second seed, Shahar Pe'er, in a disappointing second round match 2–6, 2–6 with Dokic making over 40 unforced errors. She was seen breaking down on court as well as crying after this match. As well as the singles, Dokic also participated in the doubles event at this tournament, trying to start a new combination with compatriot Alicia Molik. However, the pair lost in the first round to Chan Yung-Jan and Monica Niculescu.

She then travelled to Melbourne to compete at the Australian Open. Dokic was defeated there in the first round by 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova. The loss caused Dokic's rank to drop to world No. 96. She also played doubles, partnering with Petra Kvitová, but the pair lost in the first round. In a recent article, Dokic decided to withdraw from Australia Fed Cup after dealing with emotions on and off court; however in the aftermath she said, "I have had a lot to deal with in my career but I am not done yet" and "I will be back."

Dokic withdrew from the Pattaya Open in Thailand and Malaysian Open due to a mysterious illness. She lost in the qualifying rounds of Monterrey Open and the first round of BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. She was then offered a wildcard into 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami but declined it due to another injury. Jelena then continued to withdraw from WTA events in Marbella and Barcelona, Spain, and Fes, Morocco, still troubled by injuries.

Her clay season started in May, where she played at an 50,000 tournament at Prague where she was seeded third. She lost in the quarterfinals to Corinna Dentoni. Her next tournament was the French Open, but she lost in the first round to 24th seed Lucie Šafářová. She then travelled to Rome to participate at an 50,000 tournament but lost to Anna Tatishvili in the first round. The following week, she participated at an 100,000 tournament at Marseille, France. She reached the quarterfinals but lost to eventual champion Klára Zakopalová.

She then played the qualification for Wimbledon but lost in the second round to Julie Ditty in three sets, after committing 24 double faults, including five in the fifth game of the final set. Dokic then withdrew from a 100,000 tournament in Cuneo, Italy, with a wrist injury. The following week she withdrew from another one in Biarritz, France. She competed at a 50,000 tournament in Contrexéville, France winning the singles over Olivia Sanchez, thus claiming her first title in 2010. Partnering with Sharon Fichman, she lost in the doubles finals. She then won her second straight title, in Bucharest at the 75,000 Ruxandra Dragomir Open defeating Zuzana Ondrášková in the final. With this win, Dokic was back in the top 100, ranked 96. The next week, she participated at a 75,000 tournament in Vancouver, where she won her third straight title after defeating Virginie Razzano in a two-sets final, capping a 15-match winning streak. Dokic has the most $50,000 or more titles in the ITF Women's Circuit.

Though she returned to the top 100 after winning three tournaments and 15 matches in a row, Dokic lost in the first round qualifying draw of the US Open to Laura Robson. Jelena then travelled to Asia to participate at two ITF tournaments but had disappointing result as she both lost in the first round of the 100K+H tournament in Ningbo, China and 100K+H tournament in Tokyo, Japan. She then travelled back to Europe and participated at a 50K tournament in Joué-lès-Tours. She double-bageled Eirini Georgatou in the first round and she beat Karolína Plíšková in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Jelena beat Elitsa Kostova. Dokic was beaten in the semifinal by Vesna Manasieva.

Jelena won her first-round match in the 50K tournament in Saint-Raphael, France by beating Eva Birnerová. Jelena retired in her second-round match against Urszula Radwańska leading 7–5, 0–2, with a suspected thigh injury. Dokic revealed that she had an elbow injury in the beginning of the year (possibly the reason she withdrew in tournaments such as Miami). Also, she explained that she did not take part in a lot of tournaments in the second half of the year to recover from injury and to deal with her coaching situations.

In December, Dokic participated in the Australian Open Wild Card playoff tournament. In her round robin, Dokic won all three of her matches and a spot in the semifinal round where she defeated Alicia Molik. However, Dokic lost to Olivia Rogowska in the final. Despite missing out on a wildcard spot, the organisers awarded her a wildcard for the Australian Open main draw. Dokic finished 2010 ranked world No. 138.

2011: First WTA trophy after eight years

Jelena Dokic at 2011 US Open

Dokic started her 2011 campaign by receiving three main draw wildcards during the Australian summer, in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. She comfortably won her first match in Brisbane against qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova but then lost to in-form, eventual finalist, Andrea Petkovic. After the match Dokic cited a stomach virus as the reason to the loss. In Sydney, she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova by in the first round.

In the Australian Open, Dokic easily dispatched Czech Zuzana Ondrášková in the first round, but fell to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in the second round. She also received wildcard to participate in doubles, partnering with Sally Peers where they faced sixteenth seed, Timea Bacsinszky and Tathiana Garbin, in the first round. The pair lost in two sets.

At the Open GDF Suez in Paris, Dokic won all three qualifying matches for a spot in the main draw. Dokic then upset the 30th ranked Lucie Šafářová, a 2010 finalist, for a spot in the second round. This victory was Dokic's first victory over a top-30 player since the 2009 Australian Open. She backed up her strong performance by defeating fifth seed and former doubles partner, Nadia Petrova in straight sets in the second round to advance to her first WTA quarterfinals appearance since the 2009 Australian Open. However, her run ended after Kim Clijsters beat her despite leading 3–0 in the first set, in a victory that brought Clijsters back to world No. 1. Nevertheless, Dokic's strong performance in the Premier event brought Dokic back to the top 100, at No. 91, and a main-draw wildcard of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships.

In the first round of Dubai, Dokic, hindered by illness, committed 41 unforced errors and 11 double faults to give victory to an in-form Flavia Pennetta losing. Following the loss, Dokic travelled to Doha to participate at the qualifying draw of 2011 Qatar Ladies Open. She comfortably won her first match but lost in the second match to fellow Australian, Jarmila Groth.

Dokic traveled to Kuala Lumpur where she scored her biggest win of the year by upsetting world No. 5, 2010 French Open champion, and top seed Francesca Schiavone in the first round, despite serving 15 double faults. This is her first win against a top-5 player since 2003, where she defeated then world number one player Kim Clijsters in Zurich. She then defeated Japan's Kurumi Nara in the second round, to advance to her second WTA quarterfinal this year. She reinforced this win by upsetting an in-form Bojana Jovanovski, the eighth seed, in straight sets. This victory saw Dokic advance to her first WTA semifinals since Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan in February 2004. Dokic faced a resurgent Michaëlla Krajicek of the Netherlands, who had defeated defending champion Alisa Kleybanova in the second round and prevailed to advance to her first WTA singles final since the Zürich Open in October 2003. She concluded the tournament by beating Lucie Šafářová in the final after saving two championships points in the second set tiebreak and being down 1–3 in the final set. This was Dokic's first WTA title under Australian flag and first since June 2002 where she won the DFS Classic, in Birmingham. Her strong performance rose her ranking to world No. 61.[22]

Originally electing to strategically skip the qualifying stage of Indian Wells to compete in a $100,000 tournament in the Bahamas,<ref"After Title Win, Dokic to Skip Indian Wells Qualies". Tennis-stars.net. 7 March 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.</ref> Dokic then withdrew from the $100,000 tournament. Dokic's next tournament was Miami where she had to play the qualifying round. Dokic won both of her matches against Tatjana Malek and Christina McHale to advance to the main draw, where she fell to a resurgent former world No. 1, Dinara Safina in two sets.

Dokic then started her clay season campaign by participating at Charleston, where she was upset in the first round by qualifier Anna Tatishvili, in three close sets. She then participated at Fes as the sixth seed but was forced to withdraw due to a viral illness. This also subsequently forced Dokic to withdraw from Estoril and missed both Madrid and Rome. She finalised her preparation for the French Open by playing at Strasbourg. She defeated Fes finalist Simona Halep in the first round in just 48 minutes, dropping only one point on serve in the second set. Dokic then fell to resurgent former child prodigy Mirjana Lučić. Despite this, Dokic's victory over Halep will ensure that she will reach the top 60 for the first time since 2009, with a year high ranking of #59. In Roland Garros, Dokic lost to Vera Dushevina in the first round. She also participated in doubles partnering with Melanie Oudin but the pair lost in the first round to Alexandra Dulgheru and Magdaléna Rybáriková. In spite of an early exit from the clay Grand Slam, Dokic's ranking rose to No. 57.

After Roland Garros, Dokic participated at Copenhagen as the seventh seed but lost to a qualifier, Galina Voskoboeva, in the first round. Dokic then rebounded with a victory over Alla Kudryavtseva at 's-Hertogenbosch in two sets. She then upset fourth seed Flavia Pennetta in the second round to avenge her loss in Dubai, ensuring her third quarterfinal appearance of the year. In the quarterfinals, Dokic faced Swede Johanna Larsson whom she dispatched, setting up a semifinal berth against Romina Oprandi, who had upset world No. 2 Kim Clijsters in the second round. She won the match 6–4, 2–0 (ret.) to ensure her second final appearance of the year against Roberta Vinci. Dokic was edged out in three close sets. Despite the loss, Dokic's run to the final ensured that for the first time since October 2004, she will be ranked in the top 50 – at world no. 45.[23]

Dokic's next tournament was Wimbledon where she lost to sixth seed Francesca Schiavone in the first round.[24] despite being a favourite to upset.[25] She also participated in doubles, partnering with Bojana Jovanovski but fell to third seed Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the first round.

Dokic's next scheduled tournament was Budapest, but she decided to withdraw to recover from a hamstring injury. The same injury forced her to withdraw from the tournament in Bad Gastein and Baku as well. Dokic then participated in Washington as the fourth seed, but her lack of match play saw her fall in the first round to China's Zhang Shuai. She played in San Diego, but was defeated in three tight sets to Ayumi Morita with her 15 double faults being highlighted as the main concern for the match. Since then, Dokic did not play any further matches due to a shoulder injury. Despite this setback, Dokic took part in the main draw of the US Open. She reached the second round but lost to Jelena Janković in straight sets.

On 27 September, Dokic went back to Belgrade, Serbia, and reconciled with her father.[26] Dokic then participated in the qualifying round of Linz in October but retired after losing the first set 3–6 in the first qualifying match to Evgeniya Rodina due to the shoulder injury that had been bothering her since July. This turned out to be Dokic last match in 2011.

2012–2014: Struggles with form, injury

Dokic began her 2012 season in Auckland where she lost in the first round to Mona Barthel. Then, she received a wildcard to compete in Sydney. In the first round, she defeated fellow Australian Isabella Holland to set up a clash against eight seeded Marion Bartoli in the second round where she lost in two sets. She also played doubles with Sofia Arvidsson where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. One week later, Dokic took part in the Australian Open. She began her campaign by defeating Anna Chakvetadze in the first round. In the second round, she met Bartoli for the second time in two weeks. Dokic's nine double faults (some at crucial points) cost her and she lost in straight sets. Despite that loss, Dokic stated she had played much better than in Sydney. She also participated in doubles and mixed doubles competitions, partnering with Kateryna Bondarenko and Paul Hanley respectively, but lost in the first rounds of both.

Dokic travelled to Bogotá where she was the fourth seed, but lost to Paula Ormaechea. In Monterrey, she lost to eventual runner up Alexandra Cadantu. As the defending champion and 7th seed at the BMW Malaysian open in Kuala Lumpur, Dokic started her campaign successfully, defeating Kristina Mladenovic and started well against fellow Australian Olivia Rogowska, leading 6–3, 4–2, but eventually losing 6–3, 4–6, 6–7. Since she failed to defend her points, she dropped out of the top 100.

She then suffered three consecutive first round losses at Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, losing to Gisela Dulko, Ekaterina Makarova and Galina Voskoboeva. It was later revealed, Dokic had suffered from a continuing right wrist injury since the beginning of the year, explaining her poor results and retirements. Dokic was set to return to tournament play at the ITF Challenger tour in September, but was forced to cancel all commitments due to continuing problems with her wrist. In November 2012, it was announced Dokic had undergone wrist surgery and would miss the Australian summer of events.

In May 2013, Dokic said in an interview that she was training for a comeback attempt at smaller tournaments using an injury protected ranking.[27] Again, in October 2013, she said that after a wrist operation she was training with Todd Woodbridge to try for a wildcard entry into the 2014 Australian Open.[28] Dokic entered the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff in December 2013 but lost in the first round to Jarmila Gajdošová.[29] She received a wildcard to play alongside Storm Sanders at the doubles competition; in the first round, the team lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková/Stefanie Vögele in what was Dokic's final appearance in a rating event.

Post-retirement

Dokic kept a low profile after her playing career. She was engaged by Tennis Australia as a coach immediately following her retirement, and was pictured coaching rising Australian star Daria Gavrilova at a training camp in Italy in June 2014.[30] She also wrote for Australian Tennis Magazine in 2014.[31]

In January 2017, she was a commentator for Fox Sports at the Australian Open.[32] Later that year, she published her autobiography, Unbreakable (ISBN 9780143784227), in which she discussed her life, career and the years of physical and mental abuse by her father.[33] The book was released on 13 November 2017 and topped the Australian book charts within the first day of release. It was released in Europe in January 2018.

Major finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2001	French Open	Clay	Conchita Martínez	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	2–6, 1–6

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
4th place	2000	Sydney	Hard	Monica Seles	1–6, 4–6

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	2001	Italian Open	Clay	Amélie Mauresmo	7–6^(7–3), 6–1
Win	2001	Kremlin Cup	Carpet (i)	Elena Dementieva	6–3, 6–3
Loss	2001	Zurich Open	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	3–6, 1–6
Loss	2003	Zurich Open	Carpet (i)	Justine Henin	0–6, 4–6

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2002	Kremlin Cup	Carpet (i)	Nadia Petrova	Elena Dementieva Janette Husárová	6–2, 3–6, 6–7^(7–9)
Loss	2002	Zurich Open	Carpet (i)	Nadia Petrova	Elena Bovina Justine Henin	2–6, 6–7^(2–7)
Loss	2003	Italian Open	Clay	Nadia Petrova	Svetlana Kuznetsova Martina Navratilova	4–6, 7–5, 2–6

WTA career finals

Singles: 14 (6 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Legend (pre/post 2010) Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I / Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (2–2) Tier II / Premier (1–4) Tier III, IV & V / International (3–2)

Finals by surface Hard (2–3) Grass (1–1) Clay (2–1) Carpet (1–3)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	May 2001	Rome, Italy	Clay	Amélie Mauresmo	7–6^(7–3), 6–1
Loss	1–1	Sep 2001	Salvador, Brazil	Hard	Monica Seles	3–6, 3–6
Win	2–1	Sep 2001	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 6–2
Win	3–1	Oct 2001	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Elena Dementieva	6–3, 6–3
Loss	3–2	Oct 2001	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	3–6, 1–6
Loss	3–3	Oct 2001	Linz, Austria	Hard (i)	Lindsay Davenport	4–6, 1–6
Loss	3–4	Feb 2002	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Venus Williams	w/o
Win	4–4	Apr 2002	Sarasota, United States	Clay	Tatiana Panova	6–2, 6–2
Loss	4–5	May 2002	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Silvia Farina Elia	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	5–5	Jun 2002	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Anastasia Myskina	6–2, 6–3
Loss	5–6	Jul 2002	San Diego, United States	Hard	Venus Williams	2–6, 2–6
Loss	5–7	Oct 2003	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Justine Henin	0–6, 4–6
Win	6–7	Mar 2011	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard	Lucie Šafářová	2–6, 7–6^(11–9), 6–4
Loss	6–8	Jun 2011	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Roberta Vinci	7–6^(9–7), 3–6, 5–7

Doubles: 10 (4–6)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–1) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I (0–3) Tier II (3–2) Tier III, IV & V (1–0)

Finals by surface Hard (2–3) Grass (0–0) Clay (1–2) Carpet (1–1)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Sep 1999	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Amanda Coetzer	Conchita Martínez Patricia Tarabini	7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 2–6
Loss	2.	May 2001	Paris, France	Clay	Conchita Martínez	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	2–6, 1–6
Loss	3.	Aug 2001	New Haven, United States	Hard	Nadia Petrova	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	0–6, 6–3, 2–6
Win	1.	Oct 2001	Linz, Austria	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	Els Callens Chanda Rubin	6–1, 6–4
Win	2.	Apr 2002	Sarasota, United States	Clay	Elena Likhovtseva	Els Callens Conchita Martínez	6–7^(5–7), 6–3, 6–3
Win	3.	Aug 2002	Los Angeles, United States	Hard	Kim Clijsters	Daniela Hantuchová Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–3
Loss	4.	Sep 2002	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Nadia Petrova	Elena Dementieva Janette Husárová	6–2, 3–6, 6–7^(7–9)
Loss	5.	Oct 2002	Zürich, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	Elena Bovina Justine Henin	2–6, 6–7^(2–7)
Win	4.	Oct 2002	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Nadia Petrova	Rika Fujiwara Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–2
Loss	6.	May 2003	Rome, Italy	Clay	Nadia Petrova	Svetlana Kuznetsova Martina Navratilova	4–6, 7–5, 2–6

ITF circuit finals

Singles: 10 (8–2)

$100,000 tournaments (2–0) $75,000 tournaments (2–0) $50,000 tournaments (1–1) $25,000 tournaments (3–1) $10,000 tournaments (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (3–1) Clay (5–0) Grass (0–1) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	#	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	11 October 1998	Saga, Japan	Grass	Alicia Molik	4–6, 3–6
Win	1.	5 May 2008	Florence, Italy	Clay	Lucie Hradecká	6–1, 6–3
Win	2.	12 May 2008	Caserta, Italy	Clay	Patricia Mayr	6–3, 6–1
Win	3.	14 July 2008	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Michelle Gerards	6–0, 6–0
Win	4.	4 October 2009	Athens, Greece	Hard	Eleni Daniilidou	6–2, 6–1
Loss	2.	18 October 2009	Joué-lès-Tours, France	Hard	Sofia Arvidsson	2–6, 6–7^(7–9)
Win	5.	1 November 2009	Poitiers, France	Hard	Sofia Arvidsson	6–4, 6–4
Win	6.	18 July 2010	Contrexéville, France	Clay	Olivia Sanchez	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win	7.	1 August 2010	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Zuzana Ondrášková	3–6, 6–1, 7–6^(7–3)
Win	8.	8 August 2010	Vancouver, Canada	Hard	Virginie Razzano	6–1, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	18 July 2010	Contrexéville, France	Clay	Sharon Fichman	Nina Bratchikova Ekaterina Ivanova	6–4, 4–6, [3–10]

Hopman Cup final: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Team competition	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	2 January 1999	Hopman Cup, Perth, Western Australia	Hard	Mark Philippoussis	Åsa Carlsson Jonas Björkman	2–1

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	6 January 2001	Hong Kong Tennis Classic	Hard	Anna Kournikova	7–6^(7–3), 6–3

Singles performance timeline

	Australia				FR Yugoslavia					Australia
Tournament	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	3R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	1R	A	Q2	QF	1R	2R	2R	0 / 8	8–8
French Open	A	A	1R	2R	3R	QF	2R	1R	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	1R	A	0 / 9	9–9
Wimbledon	A	A	QF	SF	4R	4R	3R	1R	A	Q1	A	A	1R	Q2	1R	A	0 / 8	17–8
US Open	A	A	1R	4R	4R	2R	2R	1R	A	A	A	A	1R	Q1	2R	A	0 / 8	9–8
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	6–4	9–4	8–4	8–3	4–3	0–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	5–4	0–2	2–4	1-1	0 / 33	43–33
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held			4th	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	0 / 1	4–2
Year-end championships
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 2	2–2
Grand Slam Cup	NH	A	A	Not Held													0 / 0	0–0
Tournament of Champions	Not Held												A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
WTA Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	3R	A	3R	2R	2R	Q2	A	A	A	1R	1R	A	1R	0 / 8	3–8
Miami	A	A	A	2R	QF	3R	QF	4R	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	1R	0 / 8	10–8
Madrid	Not Held												A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Beijing	Not Held							Not Tier I					A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
WTA Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai	Not Held				Not Tier I								A	A	1R	NP5	0 / 1	0–1
Rome	A	A	A	QF	W	3R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1 / 5	10–4
Cincinnati	Not Held							Not Tier I					A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Toronto / Montreal	A	A	2R	1R	3R	SF	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0 / 6	7–6
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	2R	QF	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	4–3
Career statistics
Tournaments played	3	2	16	21	26	29	30	16	10	8	1	13	15	18	19			221
Runner-up	0	(1)	0	0	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	(1)	0	1			8(2)
Tournaments won	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	(3)	(2)	(3)	1			6(8)
Hardcourt Win–Loss	8–3	3–1	4–6	15–13	26–11	19–10	15–14	2–6	2–3	0–2	0–0	5–2	15–6	10–9	16–13			140–99
Clay Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	7–6	9–4	16–8	20–7	8–9	1–5	10–7	7–4	0–1	29–7	0–0	15–5	1–3			123–66
Grass Win–Loss	0–0	7–1	9–2	6–2	6–3	8–2	2–2	0–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	4–2			43–19
Carpet Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	1–2	5–2	5–1	6–7	3–5	3–2	0–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0			27–21
Overall Win–Loss	8–3	10–2	21–16	35–21	53–23	53–26	28–30	6–16	12–10	10–8	0–1	35–10	27–13	26–15	21–18			345–212
Year-end ranking	None	341	43	26	8	9	15	125	349	617	None	179	56	137	66	259

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

	Australia		FR Yugoslavia		Australia
Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2003	2009	2010	2011	2012	2014	SR	W–L
Australian Open	3R	3R	2R	A	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	0 / 7	5–7
French Open		3R	F	3R	2R		1R			0 / 5	10–5
Wimbledon	3R	3R	3R	2R			1R			0 / 5	7–5
US Open	1R	2R	2R	1R			1R			0 / 5	2–5
Win–Loss	4–3	7–4	9–4	3–3	1–1	0–1	0–4	0–1	0–1	0 / 22	24–22

Top 10 wins

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
1999
1.	Martina Hingis	1	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	1R	6–2, 6–0
2000
2.	Venus Williams	4	Rome, Italy	Clay	2R	6–1, 6–2
2001
3.	Amélie Mauresmo	9	Rome, Italy	Clay	F	7–6^(7–3), 6–1

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Grand Slam singles titles	WTA singles titles	Total singles titles	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1998	0	0	0	3,125	564
1999	0	0	0	160,424	54
2000	0	0	0	429,880	22
2001	0	3	3	1,169,716	7
2002	0	2	2	918,633	10
2003	0	0	0	824,798	13
2004	0	0	0	225,850	53
2005–08	0	0	0	58,008	n/a
2009	0	0	0	271,939	73
2010	0	0	0	101,126	139
2011	0	1	1	232,177	76
Career	0	6	6	4,395,676	59

Awards

1998

• ITF World Junior Champions

2001

• Sportswoman of The Year by Olympic Committee of Yugoslavia

References

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2. "Damir and Jelena: reconciliation impossible". Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
3. "AM – Now Dokic's father considers comeback". Retrieved 30 March 2009.
4. Đorđević, S. (28 January 2009). "Jelena je i dalje tužna" (in Serbian). Press. Retrieved 15 September 2014. Ako bih nešto mogla da promenim, to bi bio odlazak iz Australije. To je bila greška, možda najveća koju smo ikada napravili! Drago mi je što je cela država sada stala uz nju – jasna je Podnarova, inače Hrvatica iz Slavonije.
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6. "Roll of honour - AIS Roll of Honour for the Olympics". Olympic Games : Australian Institute of Sport : Australian Sports Commission. 9 January 2008. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012 – via Ausport.gov.au.
7. "Changing sides". Sports Illustrated. Melbourne. Reuters. 14 January 2001. Archived from the original on 24 January 2001 – via sportsillustrated.cnn.com.
8. 2001 French Open – Women's draws and results at the International Tennis Federation
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13. "Exclusive: Jelena's first interview". tennis.com.au. Melbourne. 17 October 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
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15. Dokic wins Open wildcard The Age, 21 December 2008.
16. "Dokic Overcomes Trials from the Past to Win Again". SI.com. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009.
17. "Sony Ericsson Open Announces Qualifying Wildcards". Archived from the original on 21 March 2009.
18. Petrova Top Seed, Dokic Pulls at WTA Ponte Vedra Beach. Tennis-x.com (5 April 2009).
19. "ITF Tennis - Womens Circuit - Drawsheet By Round $100,000 Bucharest 2009". International Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009 – via www.itftennis.com.
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21. Dokic hopes experiences helps at US Open. Theage.com.au (19 August 2009).
22. Back From The Brink, Dokic Crowned In KL. Wtatennis.com.
23. WTA ´S-HERTOGENBOSCH – Vinci denies Dokic to win title. Tennisworldusa.org (19 June 2011).
24. Wald, Tom (21 June 2011). "Dokic loses enthralling Wimbledon contest". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
25. Cambers, Simon (20 June 2011). "Wimbledon 2011: Francesca Schiavone turns tide against Jelena Dokic". The Guardian. London.
26. Jelena Dokić: Moja najbolja odluka u životu | Mondo. Mondo.rs (10 June 2010).
27. Battling Jelena Dokic counts the years wasted by abusive father The Australian, 11 May 2013
28. "Healthy Jelena Dokic to restart career", The Australian, 31 October 2013
29. ″Jelena Dokic's comeback meets hurdle losing in Australian Open qualifying″, foxsports.com.au, 10 December 2013, retrieved 14 December 2013
30. www.federtennis.it, Federazione Italiana Tennis -. "NEWS DA TIRRENIA Jelena Dokic, esordio da coach". Federazione Italiana Tennis. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
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32. Rolfe, Peter (8 January 2017). "Former Aussie tennis star Jelena Dokic overcomes illness to return for a new life in Melbourne". Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
33. Spits, Scott (13 November 2017). "Jelena Dokic book: Years of harrowing abuse ultimately a story of survival". Retrieved 13 November 2017 – via The Sydney Morning Herald.

External links

• Jelena Dokic at the Women's Tennis Association
• Jelena Dokic at the International Tennis Federation
• Jelena Dokic at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Jelena Dokic at Tennis Australia
• Official website