Dokic makes short work of Sugiyama

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Sydney: Australian teenager Jelena Dokic opened her Olympic campaign on Wednesday without her controversial father cum coach watching from the stands.

Dokic, 17, said none of her family, including father Damir who has been banned for six months from the WTA tour, was at Homebush Bay to see her beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama in straight sets in the first round of the women's singles.

"They just need a break, I think," Dokic said. "They can hopefully see it on TV." Asked whether they were likely to attend future games, she said, "Maybe later, I doubt it. I don't know."

Dokic's brief but promising career has been plagued by controversy around her father, who was barred from the National Tennis Centre in New York during the recent US Open after verbally abusing staff in the players' dining room.

Earlier, at Wimbledon, Dokic had shouted at spectators and smashed a journalist's cell phone. At a tournament in Birmingham, England, last year he was tossed out for verbally abusive behaviour in the stands.

Australian Olympics officials refused to issue Damir an official coach's accreditation for Sydney 2000, although they said he could attend the Games privately.

Despite his absence, Dokic did not lack a cheer squad as she began her Olympics campaign with a convincing 6-0, 7-6 (7-1) win over Sugiyama. She is on her way to a likely showdown with defending Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport.

"The whole team and the whole of Australia (supported me) today, I think. It was great," the Wimbledon semi-finalist said. While she is still spending the nights at home in Sydney rather than with the rest of the Australian team in the athletes' village, she is revelling in the Olympics atmosphere and said winning a medal would be "unbelievable".

"It would be better than Grand Slam probably," Dokic said. "I get goose bumps every time I walk out there, especially today. I like the big crowds and the big occasions."



(c) Reuters Limited.