When Jelena Dokic was defeated in the first round of the 2000 Australian Open by Hungarian, Rita Kuti Kis, she suggested she had been beaten by someone who "was not a player". In light of this suggestion, every issue Cameron Bennett will compare the form of the two players to find out once and for all, who is the PLAYER and who is the PAUPER.
As the Sydney Olympics disappear into the sunset, so apparently do the chances of seeing the player in Australian colours again…
THE PLAYER
Image Courtesy: The
Women of Tennis
Dokic had a fairly successful Olympics, missing out on the bronze medal by losing to Monica Seles 1-6,4-6
In making the semi-finals, Dokic defeated 14th seed Ai Sugiyama 6-0,7-6; Rita Grande 5-7,6-3,6-3; Rossana De Los Rios 7-6,7-5; and 7th seed Amanda Coetzer 6- 1,1-6,6-1.
Dokic then lost in the semi-final to Russian Elena Dementieva 6-2,4-6,4-6 before losing to Seles in the bronze medal play-off.
As per usual, the player's biggest news came off the court this month when the WTA banned her father and coach Damir from attending WTA Tour events from 2 October 2000 through 31 March 2001 as a credentialed participant or as a spectator. More recently, the player has mentioned to Federation Cup Captain Lesley Bowrey that she does not want to play for Australia again, in response to constant media criticism of her father. It has been reported that Damir is considering heading back to Yugoslavia while his wife and daughter continue their way around the tennis circuit.
Thus far, no journalists have been concerned by Dokic's threat.
Dokic is currently ranked 34th in the world with 865 ranking points.
As she didn't win any matches this month, Dokic stayed fairly stable in the rankings - she still has 783 ranking points, but has dropped two places to number 39 in the World.
the pauper
The Pauper did not have quite as mich success in Sydney as the Player…losing in the first round to Amada Coetzer 1-6, 1-6.
Her ranking remained stable, at 56, and she has 611 ranking points.
