Former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic will attempt another comeback, the Australian press reports.
The 30-year-old has not played a match since April 2012 but has started to train at Tennis Australia’s new National Tennis Center in Melbourne. Dokic is said to be seeking a wild card into the Australian Open wildcard play-off in December. The former Wimbledon semifinalist currently has no WTA ranking.
In 2009 Dokic made a much-celebrated run to the Australian Open quarterfinals, where she upset world No. 18 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 12 Caroline Wozniacki, and No. 31 Alisa Kleybanova before losing to No. 3 Dinara Safina in a long three-setter. However, in 10 Grand Slam appearances since then, Dokic was unable to get past the second round.
“She wants to get back into the game,” Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told the *Age*. “She’s training every day, she’s training for the [Australian] summer, with a focus on next year, and I’m sure she, like all the athletes, would like to play the wildcard play-offs, but a decision on that will happen at a later stage. Our team -- Alicia Molik, the Fed Cup captain, and Todd [Woodbridge, head of professional tennis] -- will make that assessment closer to the time … Her focus is training, and getting back after being injured, and getting back into hitting more tennis balls, getting comfortable on the court. It’s great to have her back in Australia.”