Wimbledon 1999 Report
^{by Alain Desmier}

Never before has Wimbledon witnessed such a talented and determined young lady as was seen on the courts of SW19 over Wimbledon fortnight. Jelena Dokic came to Wimbledon, thankful to have qualified, not even she could have imagined what laid ahead for her over the next two weeks. Her first opponent was only two years her senior but was ranked 127 places above her at the ultimate position, World number one. The critics passed Jelena off as a "no hope qualifier", but she was to be so much more. Jelena Dokic had played Martina Hingis in January where the impressive Martina and beaten Jelena in straight sets. The crowd at Wimbledon’s No 1 court expected a replay, instead they got a reverse. At a press conference after Martina’s victory over Jelena in January, Jelena said "I mean she's, I think, the best player in the world, and it was tough to play against her. But if I played her again, I would probably do a bit better, and I know what to do."

Jelena coasted to the victory 6-2 6-0. In the press conference that followed the 1st round win, Jelena was unbelievably calm and just kept referring about she had to do prepare for her next game, the maturity she showed beyond her age of 16 was quite amazing.

The next day Jelena went from being a nobody to over night stardom. The BBC commentary crew, dubbed Jelena’s win as the biggest shock in Wimbledon tennis history. Every aspect of Jelena’s private life came under scrutiny as the press scrambled to find out more about the new golden girl of tennis. However her father, Damir, was no stranger to the press. He had been involved in an incident at Edgbaston, where Jelena was playing. He had called the staff Nazi’s and was then thrown out. The incident got national coverage, which prompted Damir to say that he would not be challenging any of the umpire’s decisions at Wimbledon.

Jelena’s next opponent was Katrina Studenikova. There was a lot of hype surrounding this match because of Jelena’s previous win. Her opponent Studenikova was to prove no walk over and signs of tiredness from Dokic appeared in the second set. The first set however, was reminiscent of Jelena’s last set against Hingis, 6-0. I was present at court 13 for Jelena’s 2nd round match and in 5 years of going to Wimbledon I have never seen it so packed, as it was that day. Every seat had gone in the stands and people who hadn’t been lucky enough to get a seat watched the match in the isle, which was completely full. In the second set 26-year-old Studenikova fought back taking the set 4-6. Jelena drew on the massive support she got from the crowd and came out for the third set looking for victory. Her Father Damir and her mother Liliana urged her on. Jelena took the third set in dramatic fashion 8-6. The Dokic bandwagon was still on track!

As the tournament progressed so did the publics knowledge of Jelena. We soon learnt that she had migrated to Australia from Serbia in 1994 and was now living in Sydney. Jelena, who was born on the 12 April 1983 in Belgrade, was handling the pressure well and was now a real favourite with the Wimbledon crowd.

In the third round Jelena was to meet Anne Kremer. Another un-seeded player but yet the match was given Centre court coverage. Both girls understandably showed nerves, and Jelena fans began to wonder if this would be Jelena’s last match at Wimbledon. Jelena found herself a set down and struggling to compete in the second set. When all of a sudden something clicked and Jelena reproduced the kind of tennis that had seen off number one seed Hingis. After losing the first set on a tie break Jelena took the match 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 6-4. Her performance here showed her ability to turn games round and her win set up and exciting game with number nine seed Mary Pierce.

More press space was allocated to Jelena after this victory and the following day the British public learned about an incident that happened at the Bogota Hotel in Columbia. Jelena was in Bogota to play one of three tournaments on the WTA tour. She went out to practice with Lesley Bowery, only to come back and find that her room had been raided of all valuables. Items including passports, money, jewellery and credit cards were stolen. An understandably upset Jelena rang her parents in tears to tell them what had happened. The Australian embassy was then contacted and Jelena was allowed to return to Australia via the USA and Dubai where she would play another two tournaments.

The match against Mary Pierce was expected to be the last singles match Jelena would play at Wimbledon. The press said that this was the match where it was all going to end for Jelena. Jelena however remained confident and approached the match like she had approached the last three. The one thing that Jelena knew she could rely on was the crowd. Chants of Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie, filled court number two as Jelena arrived. What was going to be Jelena’s biggest problem was Mary’s strength. Three games into the first set and the match seemed to be going the way of the muscular French seed. But just like what happened against Kremer, Jelena put on a fight and eventually took the set 6-4. The second set had the enthusiastic British crowd jumping for joy as Jelena took the set and the match 6-4 6-3. The Australian qualifier had done it again. Jelena mania hit Wimbledon, and everyone now wanted to catch a glimpse of the sensation of the tournament. Jelena was also enjoying success with her doubles partner, Tina Pisnik. The pair had won their first two matches and were looking good to cause an upset in the ladies doubles.

Jelena’s opponent for the quarterfinal was fellow qualifier Alex Stevenson. Stevenson’s mother had also caused a storm in the week, by claiming that fellow players on the WTA tour had racially taunted her daughter. Alex later denied this and said that the incident in question had not happened on the tour.

Stevenson was two years older than Jelena, which in the end was to prove decisive. The young bubbly American was full of confidence and always said that she was going to beat Jelena. Jelena was as confident as she had been for all of Wimbledon and said she was going to do her best. In the end that wasn’t enough and a rain interrupted match finished in favour of Stevenson, 3-6 6-1 3-6. Jelena did her self and her fans proud. Look at the difference of player between Martina Hingis at 16 and at 18, those two years made a huge bit of difference to her tennis. In the same way Alex Stevenson may not have had any extra experience but she had two more years on this earth which counts for a lot when your only 16. All through the quarter final, Jelena never lost composure and even when it became clear that Stevenson had the upper hand, she battled on like a true great.

Dokic and Pisnik’s defeat in the doubles, at the hand of Fernandez and Seles completed a double defeat for Jelena, but later in a press conference she said that she was grateful for the experience that she had gained.

Jelena leaves Britain having made a huge impact on the British fans and the world of tennis. Jelena Dokic is one of the most promising youngsters in women’s tennis. Jelena’s run at Wimbledon will never be forgotten, by her or the many millions of fans that supported her around the world.

Every competition she enters she will gain more experience, every place she goes she will gain new fans and I have no doubt that one day she will be the best player in the world.

I wish her luck for all her tournaments and I look forward to when she makes her Wimbledon return, as does the rest of Britain.

ALAIN DESMIER (adesmier@hotmail.com)

This report was written by Alain Desmier for Pierre Cantin for "jelena-dokic.com".

Used under permission by 'jelenadokic.org'.

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