Dokic Provides a Dash of Spice

Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter won in straight sets Saturday. Jelena Dokic provided some long overdue theatrics from tennis’ most dysfunctional family. Now there’s a disputed title. All in all, it was a fitting end to Wimbledon’s first week.

It didn’t exactly go out like the lion it seemed at the start Monday, when top-seeded Martina Hingis lost to No. 84 Virginia Ruano Pascual. About the closest it came was with the mildly surprising losses of No. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and No. 9 Sebastien Grosjean among the men and No. 6 Amelie Mauresmo among the women. But that’s the way it has been going in a tournament that is following pretty close to form.

Among the presumed title contenders, only No. 5 Lleyton Hewitt was extended. He needed four sets to defeat Younes El Aynaoui, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

No. 2 Williams beat Elena Likhovtseva, 6-2, 6-2, in 57 minutes. No. 3 Davenport beat Patty Schnyder, 6-2, 6-3, in 54 minutes. No. 2 Agassi beat Nicolas Massu, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, in 70 minutes. They all played as though they had something to do Saturday night in London. No. 3 Rafter at least broke a sweat before beating Hicham Arazi, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5, in 2 hours 1 minute.

The only uncertainty was whether the No. 14 Dokic would show for her match on Court One against No. 21 Barbara Schett. Dokic, a Serbian who used to represent Australia and now represents Yugoslavia but lives in Florida, doesn’t seem to be happy unless she is surrounded by turmoil. Fortunately for her, she has a father, Damir, who often creates it. This time, though, he wasn’t to blame. Neither was she, really.

The car and driver that tournament organizers were supposed to provide to make sure she got to the court on time didn’t arrive. She made it, but had to take a taxi.

“I feel like the transport and the tournament director didn’t do a very good job there,” she said after rallying for a 6-3, 7-5 victory. “I tried to call them. I was saying half an hour later there was nothing there still. It really disappointed me.

“If you can’t organize something like that, you can’t run a tournament.”

Tournament officials released a statement saying they were looking into it.

But Dokic, 18, saved her best salvos for a London tabloid, the Mirror, which reported Saturday that Damir, “the bearded father from hell,” would try to psych out Babsi from the sidelines.

Babsi is Schett, a 25-year-old Austrian who reportedly was paid about $50,000 by the Mirror to wear the newspaper’s logo on her blouse during her matches.

Last Tuesday, the paper featured her on the front page with a lead story that read: “World’s sexiest tennis star Babsi Schett--who plays her first-round match at Wimbledon today--vowed last night: I’ll win for Mirror readers.”

She did, in three sets, after which the Mirror headline said: “Babsi Makes Us Schwett.”

On Saturday, the headline proclaimed Schett’s upcoming match as “Babsi vs. The Beast.” Photographs of Schett and Damir Dokic ran under the headline, with a tale of the tape that included a category titled, “Most likely to say.”

Schett: Hi, pleased to meet you.

Dokic: You’re all a bunch of Nazis.

Damir, of course, did say that after he was kicked out of a tournament once in Birmingham, England. That was one of his lesser incidents. He recently returned from a six-month suspension after a provocation at the U.S. Open. But he has been tame at Wimbledon this year, drawing a reprimand during his daughter’s first-round match for smoking a pipe in the stands but otherwise drawing as little attention to himself as possible.

Dokic said after her victory over Schett that the article “stood me up a little bit.

“It was really a nasty article about my dad, and I think it’s really not funny anymore. I think it was as bad as it could get. If they have nothing else to write, that’s really sad then.

“Like my dad was going to try to psych Barbara out on the side of the court. I mean, it’s crazy. I think my dad doesn’t deserve that. Especially, you know, since he’s gotten back on the tour.”

Her problems are just beginning. After everyone still in the tournament takes a day off today, they return Monday for the fourth round. Dokic’s opponent on Center Court will be Davenport. She beat Dokic in the semifinals last year, is playing up to her No. 3 seeding after being sidelined for three months this spring because of a knee injury and appears headed for a semifinal match against Williams. They met in the final last year, with Williams winning.

As well as Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams are playing, Venus still looks invincible. She had five double-faults Saturday, probably because of boredom. She was never threatened.

“I’m definitely getting better and better,” she said, news that will not comfort the remaining players.