AUCKLAND, 3 January 2003 — Jelena Dokic’s return from Australasian tennis exile appears to have been temporarily derailed after the world No. 15 pulled out from next week’s Australian Open tuneup event in New Zealand.
Dokic, who once played for Australia before turning her back on the gold-and-green and returning with her family to their native Serbia and Montenegro, is set to return to the country for the first time since the 2001 Open.
But her scheduled appearance at the ASB Classic has been canceled due to what organizers term “personal reasons”. Dokic, 20, represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but quit the country a year later after a feud with Tennis Australia, sparked mainly by her father-coach, with whom she has since split.
Dokic is due to play the Open, which she and her father accused of “rigging” the draw in 2001. The first Grand Slam of the season starts Jan. 19. “Her coach has stated that she would love to come to New Zealand again at some stage but now is not the right time,” said tournament director Richard Palmer, adding: “I’m extremely disappointed at this decision especially at such late notice.”
Hewitt and Clijsters Fly Into Perth for Hopman
Meanwhile, the newly engaged couple of Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt flew into Perth yesterday with their love-match duel on Wednesday at the $750,000 Hopman Cup likely to set the tone for the eight-nation teams competition.
The pair of former world No. 1 players, who announced their engagement prior to Christmas, will lead their respective teams when eight days of competition kick off today under the inflatable roof of the Burswood Dome.
Tournament boss Paul McNamee couldn’t be more delighted with the looming scenario, which has assured a sellout.
Newcomers Canada and Hungary will open with a qualifying match, with the winner assuming the final place in the field, one of the strongest in the 16-year-history of the International Tennis Federation-sanctioned tournament.
Before Hewitt and Alica Molik of Australia face the Belgium team of Clijsters and Xavier Malisse, the host nation will first take on the playoff winner in the start of serious action tomorrow.
The round-robin format features men’s and women’s singles with a concluding mixed doubles. Winners from the two groups meet in the final a week from today. Australia, with the same team, lost last year’s title match against the Americans, Serena Williams and James Blake.
But Williams pulled out a week ago citing lack of preparation and was replaced by injury comeback Californian Lindsay Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam champion. The holders, Americans, have been given nominal top seeding on the Rebound Ace used at the Jan. 19-Feb. 1 Australian Open. The Hopman, with its group format, is considered an efficient tuneup, with top-notch matches guaranteed a field that also includes Russia’s former US Open winner Marat Safin — also a 2003 injury victim — and France’s 1999 Aussie Open finalist Amelie Mauresmo.
Hewitt will be keen for competition after limiting his autumn court time to a pair of Davis Cup appearances. The 22-year-old stayed clear of the ATP circuit, offering the excuse that he wanted to devote all of his efforts to winning the Davis Cup, which Australia achieved over Spain a month ago in Melbourne.
Davis Cup Schedule Gets a Shakeup on 2005 Calendar
The ATP, meanwhile, Thursday released a partial draft of the tournament calendar for the 2005 Davis Cup season. The Davis Cup, a constant sticking point with the diverse bodies who try each year to strike a scheduling balance between men, women and the Grand Slams, is in for a major shakeup.
With no Olympic Games to crowd the calendar as will be the case this summer, the Davis dates in 2005 get a shift, with first-round play moving from the first week of February to a date late in the month.
The now-traditional April quarterfinals have been slipped back to July after Wimbledon. The schedule from the September end of the US Open is due out by March, according to the ATP.
