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Aussie chief: Dokic hiding from past Posted: Tuesday November 19, 2002 5:53 PM
GOLD COAST, Australia (Reuters) -- Jelena Dokic is hiding from her past by not playing in next year's Australian Open, Tennis Australia (TA) president Geoff Pollard said on Wednesday. The world No. 9 confirmed earlier this month she would not play in January's Open, the season's first grand slam tournament, because she did not feel welcome in the country where she lived for six years. "A lot of her concerns with Australia were the media treatment that she got at the Open where she got hounded and her father didn't help," Pollard told reporters. "It is not a happy hunting ground to have to face so at the moment she's hiding. "It's disappointing because it is a grand slam and she has the potential to win a grand slam. "If you asked me which one she has the best chance of winning, it probably is the Australian. "I think she's pretty adept at handling whatever media or emotion will come again here and she is better to face them rather than fight them." Australia's top-ranked women's player until a bitter row with the Australia media drove her back to her native Yugoslavia last year, Dokic said it would be an unnecessary risk to play in the Melbourne tournament. "I don't think it's a very good idea to go back there, it would be very complicated. Mentally I don't think I would feel great to play there," said Dokic, 19. Her father Damir had repeated run-ins with Australian media and tennis officials, including Damir's claim in 2001 that the draw was rigged against her daughter. "I had a lot of problems with the media and in the end I felt the people started to feel the same way too," the player said. "Either way, I wouldn't have too many people supporting me. "It's a risk to go there, you never know what can happen. If something went wrong mentally I would not feel good after that."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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