After losing to Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-2, 6-4, in the Australian Open wildcard playoff, former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic looks for silver linings. Dokic spent much of the past season-and-a-half dealing with a wrist injury. The Sydney Morning Herald reported Dokic was “well short of full fitness and wore tracksuit pants throughout the first-round encounter.”
"I thought I would be a lot more nervous,'' Dokic told the Australian media. ''I'm just happy to get the first one out of the way—it's the worst one. And nearly two years out is a very long time, even for a top player. A top five player, after two years, they're saying, 'Well, I'll just be happy to get a win or two.' So where does that leave me with two years out?
"Of course, I have to be happy with today; the second set was close, I got a break and couldn't capitalize on it. Obviously, just disappointed with the fact that I lost, but not too disappointed with everything today.''
It is still undetermined whether Tennis Australia will offer the 2009 Australian Open quarterfinalist a wild card into the main draw, but Dokic is at least expected to get one into the qualifying tournament.