Jelena Dokic – The young sensation

Originally born in Yugoslavia to father Damir Dokic, a Serbian and mother Ljiljana, a Croatian Jelena Dokic is the elder one of the two children, the younger being her brother, Savo. The family lived in Osijek till the June of 1991 but then decided to leave due to the civil war. They moved to Sombor, Serbia where they lived for a short time and later in 1994 the family again shifted to Australia, where Jelena did her schooling. Born on 12 April 1983 she currently lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco and started playing tennis at the young age of eight. Like every teenager she enjoys relaxing at the beach, shopping and watching movies. She won her first US Open girls singles title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijisters in 1998 and ended the season with a world number one ranking in the International Tennis Federation junior singles rankings and world number seven in doubles ranking. In the Fed Cup she became the youngest player to represent Australia.

Jelena Dokic then the lowest ranked player qualified for the Wimbledon in 1999 and defeated Martina Hingis in the opening round and in the process scripted history. It was a boost to her career and it helped her gain recognition on the world stage. The following year she played against her idol Seles in the play-off during the Sydney Olympics and lost but it was a dream come true for the young star. She was also the second Australian to reach the semifinals at the Wimbledon.

Winning her first WTA Tour singles title in 2005, Jelena Dokic broke into the top ten for the first time in her career. She lost in her first round main draw match at the Australian Open but went on to win in the play-off. She went through family problems and suffered from injury in 2007 and had to miss many matches but she came back at the end of the year to participate in the Australian Open until she was forced to retire from the tournament owing to a thigh strain.

She won three titles in the following year and also climbed the ladders in the world ranking. Jelena Dokic won the December Showdown in 2008 and with lady luck favouring her she earned herself a wildcard entry into the main draw of the Australian Open in 2009. She played like a dream and and reached the quarterfinals before losing to Dinara Safina.

She won four-straight three-set matches at the Grand Slam and was the fourth wildcard entry in the Open era to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam. Jelena Dokic soon reached number ninety one in the rankings for the first time since 2003. She continued to climb the ladder of success and played in the main draw of all the four Grand Slams for the first time since 2001. At the age of 19 she had reached the pinnacle of her career after being ranked world number four in 2002.  She continues improving with every match she plays.