Could Dokic Be Great for Britain?

It’s amazing that England, a country with a proud tennis tradition, can have no female players ranked in the top 100, then suddenly one day, there’s hope for potential glory.

If Greg Rusedski can do it for the Brits, why not Jelena Dokic?

The Canadian-born Rusedski had to make only one change, though, gaining British citizenship in 1995.

Dokic, 19, has already been something of a citizen of the world. She was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, emigrated to Australia in 1994, then moved back to Belgrade last year with a stop for training purposes in Florida.

What brought her wanderings into sharper focus Thursday were comments this week in Yugoslavia by her often-controversial father, Damir Dokic. He was apparently upset that Belgrade officials had not provided a suitable location for a family mansion and tennis club.

“I’ve had enough of everything,” Damir Dokic told Vecernje Novosti, a Belgrade newspaper.

“I am going to ... de-register Jelena. She will no longer be an inhabitant of Belgrade. I will register her in England, to pay taxes and everything else there.”

Jelena Dokic spent about as much time talking about that as she spent on the court Thursday at the JPMorgan Chase Open at the Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach. After 16 minutes, the fourth-seeded Dokic led Janette Husarova of Slovakia, 4-0, when Husarova retired because of a sprained lower right back. Today, Dokic will play Rita Grande of Italy in the quarterfinals.

In other third-round matches, No. 1 Serena Williams defeated No. 15 Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-2, 6-1, in 56 minutes; No. 3 Lindsay Davenport beat Tatiana Panova of Russia, 6-2, 6-4; No. 12 Chanda Rubin upset No. 8 Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1, and unseeded Eleni Daniilidou of Greece upset No. 10 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, 6-0, 7-5.

In the night match, No. 2 Jennifer Capriati defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2, in 2 hours 9 minutes. Capriati was pushed into the third set after losing the final four points of the second-set tiebreaker. In the third, Capriati was broken in the first game but broke right back.

Tanasugarn did not hold serve once in the third set. Capriati, who had laser eye surgery two years ago, had problems adjusting to the lights. In particular, on her serve.

“I was shanking even some balls on my groundstrokes,” she said. “I guess I had a little bit of a halo. I had my eyes done. They say sometimes after a while, at night, the lights start to become really bright. I feel like it’s wearing off a little bit.”

Dokic acknowledged that there had been discussions about a possible move to England.

“If it did happen, it would be a long thing,” she said. “He has some plans to do something. I don’t know what it is. But not right now.”

Would such a move be better for her?

“I don’t know,” Dokic said. “I’m hardly even at home wherever I am. I don’t think I have a home right now. Even if I was to be there, maybe it would only be a few weeks a year.”

Dokic and her father seem to have no trouble packing up and leaving when they perceive that matters aren’t going to their satisfaction. Jelena did not play the Australian Open this year after losing to Davenport in the first round last year, when the family said the draw was “fixed.”

Damir was taken off the grounds at Wimbledon in 2000 after smashing a journalist’s cell phone and was kicked out of the U.S. Open a few months later after an incident regarding the price of salmon in the players’ restaurant. The WTA banned him from tour events for six months in 2000-01.

Now, the family is considering another move.

“I’m sure [Damir] has good reasons. We’ve had a lot of problems there, a lot of trouble,” Jelena said, without offering additional details. “If he does something or if we do something, there’s always a good reason for that.... There’s a lot of things that happen over there, and a lot of not-so-good things for me.”

Dokic is ranked fifth in the world. The highest-ranking British woman is Julie Pullin, No. 143.

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About the only problem Williams had was leaving the tiara she had worn Wednesday in her hotel room. Dechy provided little opposition as Williams broke her serve at love to take the first set, 6-2, on the way to extending her winning streak to 21 matches.

Williams is an aspiring actress. She said she is serious about it but was laughing as she said it.

“Yeah, I’m a struggling actress. I’m trying to get some parts,” she said. “A lot of people want me but my schedule right now is conflicting with my acting. But I’ve been taking classes. I have a new acting coach. I’m doing really well.”

Williams said she would like to star with Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins or Morgan Freeman. What role would she like to play?

“It’s difficult to say with my time schedule,” she said. “I’d have to have a smaller role but I would like the movie to be all about me. So maybe I can get hurt in the beginning of the movie and be in a coma the whole time.”

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Featured Matches

Today at JPMorgan Chase Open, Manhattan Country Club:

STADIUM COURT, 11 A.M.

* Jelena Dokic, Yugoslavia, vs. Rita Grande, Italy

* Serena Williams vs. Chanda Rubin

* Ai Sugiyama, Japan, vs. Jennifer Capriati

* Cara Black, Zimbabwe/Elena Likhovtseva, Russia, vs. Kim Clijsters, Belgium/Dokic

STADIUM COURT, 7 P.M.

* Eleni Daniilidou, Greece, vs. Lindsay Davenport

* Liezel Huber, South Africa/Martina Navratilova vs. Elena Dementieva, Russia/Janette Husarova, Slovakia