Not Out Yet

Jelena Dokic first made her tennis debut in 1999 at Wimbledon's first round against Martina Hingis. Because of her rank of No. 129 at the time, she caused headlines as the lowest ranked player to defeat a top ranked player at the Wimbledon.
Fast forward a few years and Dokic had quickly risen to world rank of No. 4. Throughout her career as a professional, her father, Damir had always been a major presence. He built a bad reputation for himself as notorious for losing his cool and badgering tennis officials at games and events. Despite all of the negative publicity her father was drawing towards himself, Dokic was still able to cope and win her matches due to her remarkable skill. This, however, was not meant to last as she is only human and could only handle so much pressure before breaking. When she finally cut ties to her father, her ranked dropped dangerously low and she was no longer in the Top 100.
The events described in this article conjured up thoughts of the reading in the textbook about "All My Hopes And Dreams". The way I see it, is that even though despite his notoriety as just being a general thorn in her side at the games, Dokic's father was still in his own way supporting her. His methods were questionable to be sure, but the results were there for all to witness as shortly after her debut, she placed No. 4 in the world rankings. That also goes without saying that she must have had his support or the support of her family prior to appearing at Wimbledon in 1999. Her decline after cutting ties to her father may have been a result of a lack of support and/or loss of monetary funds as she admitted to be dealing with depression and having her father manage her monetary gains.
In more recent news, Dokic seems to have dealt with her past woes of physical pain and is on the rise again as she made a (rather clichéd) epic comeback in Malaysia this past Sunday. After all, the talent and skill is there, and there's no denying that part of Jelena Dokic.

Arick L.
KIN 3381 (#5681)
Spring 2011