Jelena's Time

It's horrible. No matter where Jelena Dokic goes or what she does, she cannot escape the shadow of her father.

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Damir Dokic is the horror-father of tennis. It takes a lot for Australia to turn against its sporting heroes - sport is basically our national religion - but the nation sure as hell turned against Jelena when Damir was holding the reins. Jelena was only sixteen when her career on the circuit really began - she was only a little girl, really - and he totally controlled her career. All kinds of horror stories filtered through, all kinds of bombs were dropped, but everything came to a head when Damir forced Jelena to play for a different country. Then Australia really turned its back on Jelena Dokic.

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She was gone for years from the tour. Actually, 'forgotten' is probably a better word, because Jelena wasn't gone. She is one of the great fairy tale stories of sport. It is rare that a daughter estranging herself from her father is a fairy tale, but in Jelena's case it sure was. She broke with Damir and under the guidance of the Bikic brothes - coach Borna and boyfriend Tin - she brought herself back. I was there at her first match on Rod Laver Arena this year: her second round match, where she upset Anna Chakvetadze. It sounds trite and cliche to say this of a sporting event, but no one who was there will ever forget it.

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And now Damir does this. Jelena did an interview for a magazine where she said that Damir physically abused her - which I don't think anyone doubted, tyrant that he was. And in - vengeance? I don't know what - he threatened to blow up in the Australian embassy in Serbia with a rocket launcher. Understandably, he got arrested and is now facing prison time.

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Thing is, even now, when Jelena is 'ours' again, Damir can't quite get that it's not about him any more. I remember him saying that if Jelena made the final of the Open, he'd come to the final. But this is Jelena's time. If he really loved his daughter, he'd step aside now.

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Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Maybe in prison he'll actually shut up for a while. And Jelena - upset that she will be about her estranged father's actions - can get on with the rest of her life. Because it's going to be great.

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Today's Results

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Estoril Open (Estoril)

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Men's Draw

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Gilles Simon def. Fabio Fognini, 6-0 7-5

James Blake def. Marc Gicquel, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2

Albert Montanes def. Simon Greul, 6-2 6-2

Florent Serra def. Juan Monaco, 6-3 1-6 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Ekaterina Makarova def. Maria Kirilenko, 5-7 6-2 6-2

Yanina Wickmayer def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 1-6 6-4

Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 retired

Shahar Peer def. Jarmila Groth, 6-2 0-6 6-3

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BMW Open (Munich)

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Tomas Berdych def. Andreas Beck, 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Potito Starace def. Simone Bolelli, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Daniel Brands def. Julien Benneteau, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6)

Lleyton Hewitt def. Thiemo de Bakker, 6-3 6-4

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Serbia Open (Belgrade)

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Ivo Karlovic def. Brian Dabul, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Andreas Seppi def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4 6-1

Marcos Daniel def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 6-3

Flavio Cipolla def. Arnaud Clement, 1-6 6-4 6-2

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Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)

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Dinara Safina def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 4-6 6-3 6-0

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-1 7-6 (7-3)

Venus Williams def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-1 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Kaia Kanepi, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3