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The Championships, Wimbledon 2001: Official Site by IBM - Players


            Interviews

            Jelena Dokic Interview - Day 6
            Saturday, June 30, 2001


            J. DOKIC / B. Schett 6-3, 7-5


            THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Questions for Jelena, please. 

            Q. I'd like to know how much relief you feel now that you've gone 
            through to the second week. 

            JELENA DOKIC: I'm so relieved to get through that match, you know. I 
            had a great day so far. I didn't even have time to warm up this 
            morning. The transport didn't arrive and I just had enough time to 
            change and go out on the court. So I'm so proud of myself, you know, 
            just on focusing and, you know, playing as well as I did.
            I just -- I'm glad to get through. You know, it was a good match for 
            me to get through. She's quite highly ranked, too. So it was a good 
            match for me. 

            Q. How difficult was it when the transport wasn't there? Were you 
            getting flustered?

            JELENA DOKIC: No, I wasn't, you know, we just got a taxi this 
            morning to come because I just needed to get here. I was very 
            disappointed with the transport. I just tried to call and no one did 
            anything. So I just wanted to get here as soon as I can. 
            I tried to call the tournament director, the transport. I'm very 
            disappointed in them. They're really -- really feel like they did a 
            very bad job. If you can't organize something like that, you can't 
            run a tournament. So...
            I wasn't too happy this morning about that. I think it wasn't a very 
            nice thing, what happened this morning. It was very hard to go out 
            there and play under that, you know. 

            Q. What kind of transport were you waiting for? A bus or a car?

            JELENA DOKIC: Just a car that comes and picks you up every morning. 
            I feel like, you know, the transport and the tournament director 
            didn't do a very good job there. I tried to call them. I was saying 
            half an hour later there was nothing there still. Really 
            disappointed me this morning. 

            Q. What time did you get here then? How long did you have?

            JELENA DOKIC: Just before the match.

            Q. Literally just before? 

            JELENA DOKIC: (Nodding.)

            Q. Where do you live?

            JELENA DOKIC: About ten minutes away. 

            Q. Has that happened to you before? 

            JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, a couple years ago. At the Australian Open, 
            actually. Maybe it's just me, it happens everywhere, God.
            Yeah, but they've been coming every day, half an hour before, so I 
            was really surprised this morning when it happened. And I was really 
            frustrated. 

            Q. Has the tournament director apologized or spoken to you?

            JELENA DOKIC: Nope. 

            Q. Have you registered a complaint? 

            JELENA DOKIC: No. Like I said, I just got here before my match. I 
            couldn't do anything. There was just nothing I could do at that 
            stage. You know, I was just trying to focus on my match.

            Q. Did it put you off? You won, but did it put you off your match?

            JELENA DOKIC: No, I think I was all right in the match actually. I 
            tried not to worry about that. There was other things on my mind, 
            too. 
            There was an article in The Mirror this morning that also sort of 
            stood me up a little bit. It was a really nasty article about my 
            dad. And I think, you know, again, I think it's really not funny 
            anymore. I think it was as bad as it could get. So...

            Q. To what extent did your frustration begin to happen on the court 
            when it got to 4-4 in the second set?

            JELENA DOKIC: It didn't. I don't think that was the -- I think she 
            played a good game to break me. It was only one break and she 
            started to serve a lot better. So I think next thing, you know, she 
            was at 4-all. Had chances again on my serve at 4-all and 5-all. And 
            I was really -- mentally, I was really good there because I held my 
            serve and made her stay in the match. So I think that was the key. 

            Q. You're beginning to sound as though you think yourself and your 
            dad are being vilified over here. Is that actually the case? 

            JELENA DOKIC: I have nothing against anybody. I just think when an 
            article is written like that, like it was this morning, it really 
            isn't doing any good to anybody. It really isn't interesting to read 
            anymore. If they have nothing else to write about, that's really sad 
            then. 
            I was really disappointed with what they wrote, too, like that my 
            dad was gonna try and psych Barbara out on the side of the court. I 
            mean, it's crazy. I think, you know, I think my dad doesn't deserve 
            that. Especially, you know, since he's gotten back on the Tour. 
            You know, I also don't think it was also the news -- I mean, the 
            newspapers that Barbara was advertising. To come on the day of the 
            match wasn't really good. 
            I think also the management company, Octagon, Ivan Brixi, the guy I 
            work with, did a very poor job. We're both from the same management 
            company, playing on the day of the match, it didn't need to be 
            there. 

            Q. Do you usually read the newspapers when you're playing Grand 
            Slams?

            JELENA DOKIC: No, not really. 

            Q. Why did you happen to pick it up?

            JELENA DOKIC: I just saw it in the hotel. Everyone was reading it. 
            It was a bit hard not to. It was a very big one, too.

            Q. Did you read it to your dad? 

            JELENA DOKIC: I read it myself. He read it himself, too.

            Q. Was he real upset about it? 

            JELENA DOKIC: Yeah. I mean, I think it's -- you know, again, like I 
            said, to come on the day of the match, to write something like that, 
            it was just horrendous. Like I said, didn't need to be there. 
            Especially us two playing against each other on the day. 

            Q. What is your state of mind for next week?

            JELENA DOKIC: I'm just happy to get through this week. It was a good 
            week for me so far. I've gotten through to the fourth round. It's 
            anyone's tournament right now. You know, I'm just focusing on the 
            next match. I have a day off now and I'll just focus on that.

            Q. Can you put this other stuff behind you though when you walk on 
            court Monday?

            JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, if it didn't affect 
            me today, it's not gonna affect me at all. I think, you know, it was 
            a really good mental test for me. I think I did well. 

            Q. You think you're going to have to step it up a little more 
            against Lindsay?

            JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, for sure. It's a different type of ball game. 
            It's a different player to play, and, you know, she hits will ball a 
            lot bigger, a lot better. We had a very tough match in Australia, 
            also on a fast surface. So it will be interesting, I think. 
            She's just been coming off an injury. I don't know how well she's 
            playing, but probably not as well as, you know, when she's had 
            months and months of matches, which she hasn't.
            So I'm just gonna focus on my game. I know that, you know, I've 
            played a tough match with her last time and it's gonna help me.

            Q. Sorry to go back to this topic, but did you live in the same 
            hotel like last year?

            JELENA DOKIC: Yes. 

            Q. Do you feel that you are treated with due respect on the Tour as 
            a whole, that people and the media and some of the other players --?

            JELENA DOKIC: I have no problem with the people, you know. I think 
            I'm treated very well on the Tour. It's just a few outsiders that 
            you get. I mean, I did nothing to stir this up, you know. I did 
            nothing; neither did my dad. It's really not -- I don't think that's 
            acceptable. 

            (End of Interview Article)



The Statement from AELTC is as follows. 
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The Championships, Wimbledon 2001: Official Site by IBM - News


       Saturday, June 30, 2001

            The Championships' Transport System
            AELTC


            Statement from Christopher Gorringe, Chief Executive of the All 
            England Club, concerning the comments made by Jelena Dokic on The 
            Championships Transport Service:

            "We are obviously concerned when someone has a complaint about the 
            quality of The Championships Transport Service. We are looking into 
            the details, but so far we have had nothing but praise for the 
            efficient and friendly way the Transport Service has worked this 
            year." 


                  New for The Championships, 2001

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The article in "The Mirror" is as follows. (for your reference)
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The Mirror - sport - Main news stories

            Saturday 30th June 2001 

                  
               BABSI V THE BEAST 

               It's our Wimbledon girl against the might of Jelena Dokic 
               (and her dad) 

                  IT IS billed as the battle between Beauty and the Beast. 

                  Mirror girl Barbara Schett, 25, faces Jelena Dokic on one of 
                  Wimbledon's show courts today. 

                  But the "beast" she will be facing comes in the shape of 
                  Jelena's overbearing dad Damir. 

                  There are fears that the bearded "father from hell" will try 
                  to psyche Babsi out from the sidelines. 

                  He has already been reprimanded by Wimbledon security staff 
                  this week for smoking a foul-smelling pipe during his 
                  18-year-old daughter's first round match against Paraguay's 
                  Rosana de los Rios. 

                  Last year Damir was arrested and held in a cell below the 
                  Centre Court for drunkenly abusing a journalist. The former 
                  boxer smashed reporter Mark Saggers's mobile phone and 
                  launched into a boozy rant against the British monarchy before 
                  being escorted from the ground. 

                  He has only just returned to watching major tournaments after 
                  tennis chiefs banned him from the women's circuit for six 
                  months following a bust-up in a canteen during the U.S. Open. 
                  In January last year, Damir snatched a microphone from a TV 
                  reporter at the Australian Open. He was later kicked out of a 
                  tournament in Birmingham for calling the organisers Nazis. 

                  He halted traffic around the venue at Edgbaston by lying in 
                  the road in a drunken stupor. 

                  Jelena has also done her bit to unsettle Austrian tennis star 
                  Babsi, who is backed by The Mirror and has vowed to do her 
                  best for our readers. After Babsi was voted the sexiest tennis 
                  babe in the world by Ace magazine, Jelena hit back: "The image 
                  thing has gone a little bit more beyond tennis." 

                  Jelena added that some players were more concerned with 
                  "looking good" than winning. 


                  Tale of the tape 

                  BABSI 

                  Age: 25 
                  Rivals: Russian girls Anna Kournikova, 
                  Lina Krasnoroutskaya and Elena Dementieva 
                  Wimbledon seed: 21 
                  Serve: 90mph 
                  Build: Willowy 5ft 9in 
                  Lifestyle: Clean living, lots of fresh air 
                  Most likely to say: Hi, pleased to meet you 
                  Least likely to say: You cannot be serious 
                  Temperament: Sweet natured 
                  Best Moment: Beating Wimbledon champ Venus Williams last month

                  BEAST 

                  Age: 42 
                  Rivals: Serena and Venus Williams' equally overbearing dad Richard 
                  Wimbledon seeding: Unseeded 
                  Serve: 100mph volley of verbal abuse 
                  Build: Stocky 
                  Lifestyle: Smokes a pipe and likes a drink 
                  Most likely to say: You're all a bunch of Nazis 
                  Least likely to say: Sorry old chap, my fault entirely 
                  Temperament: Bolshy 
                  Best Moment: None 

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