New kids on the block lack X factor held by Big Four
● With two big names absent in London, Tour Finals offers glimpse into the future ● Jamie Murray says more must be done to create a legacy after he and Andy retire
0 Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares lost their opening round robin match yesterday to the Bryan brothers, going down 7-5, 6-7, 10-8. in the necessary positions are going to have a vision of what is a way to kind of grow – or at least make the most of – the interest that we’ve brought to tennis in this country and that can make the most of it.
“I think we just wait and see how that money’s spent and hopefully that there are a lot more covered [sports venues]. That’s not just a problem in tennis, but in all sports in Scotland with the climate that we have.”
It is not the first time Jamie, who together with Bruno Soares lost his opening round robin match yesterday to the Bryan brothers 7-5, 6-7, 10-8, has made this depressing claim, while his mother, Judy, has been campaigning for someone to build on her sons’ successes for years.
After all, there were 77 years between Fred Perry and Andy winning Wimbledon; grand slam champions do not come around very often round these parts. Now is the time to move before it is too late.
The O2 should play host to around 250,000 fans over the course of this week but, then again, Federer and Nadal always sell tickets. The final weekend of the tournament is sold out and the opening day was a sell-out, but the first Sunday was a Federer day and with London knee-deep in Swiss bankers, they came in their thousands with their cow bells and Swiss flags. They came with the expectation of seeing their man win – he duly obliged – and they will be back next weekend in the hope of seeing him win the title.
But Federer is 36; Nadal is 31. What they have achieved this year, coming on the back of injury-ravaged seasons in 2016, is remarkable but they cannot go on forever. And once they are gone, the future looks bleak.
World No3 Alexander Zverev, who plays Federer tonight, is a rising star and, at 20, a grand slam champion in waiting. But compared to the relentless brilliance of the Big Four, the sort of success that turned tennis into a global entertainment rather than the specialist fans’ niche market, it is pretty slim pickings.
Those sages were right: be careful what you wish for. Former Wimbledon semifinalist Jelena Dokic says her father physically, verbally and emotionally abused her from a young age when she started playing tennis.
In an autobiography to be released this week, the 34-year-old says that Damir Dokic, who also was her coach, regularly beat her, pulled her hair and ears, kicked her and even spat in her face. She said her father also frequently directed vile insults toward her.
“He beat me really badly,” Dokic was quoted as saying in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. “It basically started day one of me playing tennis. It continued on from there. It spiralled out of control.”
After losing to Lindsay Davenport at the 2000 Wimbledon semi-finals, at the age of 17, Dokic said her father refused to acknowledge her after the match and when she finally reached him on the telephone, he told her not to return to the hotel where the family was staying.
She said she was distressed and attempted to sleep in the player area at Wimbledon, before officials contacted her agents and arranged for her stay with them.
Tennis Australia released a statement praising Dokic’s courage in exposing the abuse, and responded to questions about why it didn’t intervene.
“There were many in tennis at the time who were concerned for Jelena’s welfare, and many who tried to assist with what was a difficult family situation,” Tennis Australia’s statement said. “Some officials even went as far as lodging police complaints, which without cooperation from those directly involved, unfortunately could not be fully investigated.”
Tennis Australia said over the past ten years the sport had improved and updated its police to increase protection for children. Damir Dokic is living in Serbia and had no comment to make about the book.
He was banned indefinitely from all WTA Tour events after a series of public indiscretions, including accusing Australian Open organisers of fixing the 2001 tournament draw. He also spent time in jail for threatening the life of the Australian ambassador to Belgrade and illegally possessing weapons.
He was suspended at times from other tournaments including the US Open in 2000 for abusing staff over the price of a salmon lunch, and at Wimbledon, where he smashed a journalist’s phone.
Jelena Dokic started playing tennis at age eight. Her family migrated in 1994 from Europe to Australia, where Jelena trained in Sydney under her father’s coaching. In 1998, she won the US Open junior title and played Fed Cup for Australia, and in 1989 she beat Martina Hingis in the opening round of Wimbledon, becoming the lowest-ranked player in the Open era to beat a top seed at a grand slam.
She switched allegiances at her father’s insistence to representserbiain2001. But she returned to represent Australia from 2006.
After reaching world No4 in 2002, Dokic’s ranking slipped into the 600s as she struggled with injuries and depression. In 2009, she made a surprising run to the Australian Open quarterfinals and said she’d been estranged from her father for several years. She retired in 2012 with five titles.
Dokic has been quoted as saying the physical violence was regular from her father but she struggled most with the emotional element of the relationship.
“Not just the physical pain but the emotional ... that was the one what hurt me the most,” she said. “When you are 11, 12 years old and hear all those nasty things ... that was more difficult for me.”