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Jelena Dokic angry for not getting the Australian Open wildcard

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Marija

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Former world number four Jelena Dokic failed to qualify for the 2008 Australian Open, and now she’s angry at Tennis Australia (TA) for not giving her a wildcard.

Besides criticizing them for not supporting her in times of crisis, she also questioned the wildcard selection policy.

“The issue is who they (TA) gave it to. They didn’t even wait to see how I would play in Hobart. The wildcards were announced after the first day of qualifying in Hobart, so I was disappointed they didn’t even take me into consideration,” said the 24-year-old Dokic, who was hoping to revive her career through the Australian Open.

“I definitely think I deserved a wildcard into the main draw, I think I’ve done more in one week and had more big wins in one week than some of those girls have in their whole careers.”

Dokic also said that some selectors were bias and unfair because they gave the wildcards to their trainees. (source: DNA)

Comments

3 responses to “Jelena Dokic angry for not getting the Australian Open wildcard”

  1. Diane Avatar
    Diane

    I’m with Dokic on this one. The AO calls slots given following a competition “wild cards,” even though they are not, by any rational understanding of the term “wild card.” Then, to confuse things more, the AO says “Well, we DO have a few “discretionary” (i.e., real) wild cards. And yes, one of those should have gone to Dokic, in my opinion. But I think the whole AO system is off-kilter.

  2. debbie Avatar
    debbie

    I do not agree with Dokic – first of all she turned her back on Australia when she thought that playing for Serbia would give her more options – once she realised that was not so she suddenly expects TA to support her again! TA has invested a lot of money in Dokic and has, in the past, given her many chances. I agree with their point of view that young up and coming Australians should be given a chance – Dokic was given a chance to play in qualifying – I believe via a wild card – it is not TA’s fault if she could not capitalise on this – they cannot play tennis for her.

  3. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    I’m so glad to be able to comment on this situation. Jelena Dokic is without question
    the player with the most potential to do well
    for TA. If they can’t realize that then there
    is an entirely different problem at hand. You
    can not blame Jelena for leaving TA. She was
    then under the control of her lunatic father,
    and he was the one who made that decision for
    her. She has been very brave to come through
    what can only be described as an abusive and
    possibly dangerous relationship at best. She
    should have been given a wildcard into the main
    draw at the AO, as well as any other tournaments
    she wished to play in the Aussie summer series!
    Additionally, when a player who was once ranked
    4th in the world returns to competition, the WTA should have given her a protected ranking for a
    certain amount of time like they’ve done for so
    many others. While we are on this subject they
    should have given Lindsay Davenport the same!
    These are stars, drawing cards to the fans that
    love the game. The more of them we have around
    the healthier the sport of tennis is period.

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