It was the hottest match on day 3 of the Australian Open and the outcome was even hotter. Home favorite Jelena Dokic, who “went through hell and back” while absent from the tennis world, erased 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze from center court 6-4 6-7 (4) 6-3 and made way into the third round of the Australian Open.
Dokic fought hard, despite having a right foot injury, and claimed the momentous victory over the world No.18 Chakvetadze on her third match point.
The last time Dokic played on Rod Laver Arena was eight years ago. Estranged from her father Damir, in Dokic’s player’s box sat only boyfriend Tim Bikic and her new coach Borna Bikic. After the emotional win, Dokic bowed to the crowd and to her boyfriend.
The Serbian-born Australian, who was once the fourth ranked player in the world, will play 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.
Women’s Tennis Blog has been following Dokic’s comeback closely, so browse through our Jelena Dokic category to read how she has been reviving her tennis career.
Some other notable day 3 results we haven’t already mentioned:
Top seed Jelena Jankovic battled past Kirsten Flipkens 6-4 7-5, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva demolished Edina Gallovits 6-0 6-0, while seed No.19 Daniela Hantuchova beat Mathilde Johansson in three sets.
Chakvetadze was the only seed that lost on the third day, so No.9 seed Agnieszka Radwanska remained the highest fallen seed at the Australian Open so far.
I am very happy for her! Dokic is a terific tennis player!
Me too. I would like to see her advance even more, but I don’t know how realistic that is.