Dokic fined for turning up late to press conference
^{By AAP - Jan 18 2000 (Thanks to Alain for showing this to me)}

Tennis officialdom came down hard on Australian teenager Jelena Dokic today, imposing a $US2,500 ($A3,770) fine on her for turning up late for a mandatory post-match interview.

Dokic, who yesterday performed poorly both on and off the court, said she had gone to church after her shock loss to Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis in the first round of the Australian Open, causing her to be more than three hours late for the interview.

Under grand slam rules, players are obliged to attend interviews within 30 minutes of the completion of their match.

If they fail to attend, they are liable for a fine of up to $US10,000 ($A15,083).

But for Dokic, the fine is unlikely to cause her as much damage as her behaviour when she finally arrived in the interview room.

The 16-year-old, reading from notes she prepared herself, labelled Kuti Kis a tennis nobody who was never likely to make it in the game.

"Basically, I lost to a player today that, you know, has never been a player and, I guess, probably never will be," Dokic said.

Dokic acknowledged that Kuti Kis had played well yesterday, but her charity ended there.

"She played well today, you know, but people have never known her," she said.

While she slammed her opponent, the 16-year-old from Melbourne who is yet to win a tournament, praised her own abilities.

Despite having lost to another lowly-ranked player Tamarin Tanasugarn of Thailand in the Hopman Cup earlier this month, Dokic claimed yesterday that there were only "three or four" players in the world capable of beating her on the practice court.

Pointing out the obvious, she conceded that there were a lot more who could do so when it counted.

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