Disqualified Dokic weeps
Jelena Dokic burst into tears after being disqualified from the Wimbledon Championship following her embarrassing 5-7 7-5 6-2 defeat to American Julie Ditty.
Dokic has been as highly ranked as number four in the world, but played a haphazard and unfocused game against Ditty, serving 24 double faults. Having now been ousted from the Championship altogether, her emotionally charged reaction is understandable, as she gave up the chance to bring her career up to the high level of sportsmanship that it displayed in the past.
Down from her ranking as number four, Dokic has now plummeted to 129th in the world. Overwhelmed and saddened at having to leave the coveted place at the grass court tournament, it is no wonder that following her loss to Ditty, Dokic sat on the green lawn all alone and let out her tears.
Following the end of the match, Dokic’s boyfriend, Tin Bikic, came to meet her, the couple beginning to quarrel while speaking Croatian.
After the disqualification, speculations abounded regarding Dokic’s retirement and the vision she has for her future, to which the replied: "Nothing. I've got nothing."
This was a year of difficulties for Dokic, which included personal, as well as professional troubles. In an extreme incident, her father Damir was locked away in jail for producing threats to bomb the Australian embassy, located in Belgrade.
Dokic incurred a terrible humiliation which almost resulted in severing the $1 million sponsorship deal she had signed with Jetstar. The embarrassment involved her boyfriend Bikic and his brother, who erupted into an intense argument with a passenger aboard a flight last January, which was headed from Hobart to Melbourne.
Dokic has won only $66,264 this season from playing nine tournaments, as a result of having to stay off the court for close to two months due to leg and elbow injuries. To date, Dokic has received$4.1 million in total career earnings, without including her sponsorship deals.
"I've still got a lot of work to do to get my fitness back," said Dokic, who has gained several pounds since being ousted from play due to injuries, and is playing at far from her ideal weight. "It is tough, but I'm prepared to do the hard work. Clay is the best surface for me to work on my game."
Due to her current low ranking, Dokic is unable to secure automatic entry into a grand slam or top level WTA Tour event. Dokic indicated on Tuesday that she would instead focus on lower tier clay court events around Europe, so that she can work on improving her game.
Dokic does the Ditty
Ditty served in order to stay in the match at 4-5 and Ditty managed to hold the match point in the 10th game of the second set earlier today, but she ultimately missed the opportunity to advance, serving four glaring double faults in the following game, and giving Ditty an advantage.
It seemed that Dokic finally gained control early on in the third set, leading 2-0 at one point, but her lacklustre serve gave way, and she never recovered.
Troubled past for Dokic
Dokic stormed into the Australian Open quarterfinals last year, which seem like long forgotten glory days when compared to the current difficulties she is facing. Having advanced to the semi-finals at Wimbledon ten years ago, Dokic is no doubt finding it tough to be bombarded by loss after loss, especially since she was just defeated at Roehampton.
Her demise came as fellow Australians Matt Ebden, Bernard Tomic, and Carsten Ball advanced to the final round of the qualifiers at Wimbledon.
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