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The Unheralded Number 1 - Page 5

© Michael Cecilio

What was upsetting was the fact that the press were constantly hounding these two players, day-in, day-out. Of course, they know that it comes with the territory of being a professional athlete and that with more success on the court, the more the press will "dig". And that is just what they did. The British press could not get enough of Jelena's father Damir Dokic who has been named "The Father From Hell", after his loutish exploits at Birmingham. While his unruly behaviour was definitely uncalled for, it slightly dampened Jelena's joy at reaching her first Grand Slam quarter final, and defeating the world #1 player along the way. Adding more to the controversy, a news journalist reported that the family were staying in a "bordello", when in fact they were staying in an inexpensive, yet respectable motel. The real controversy of the fortnight was to come from Alexandra Stevenson. Entering the tournament as an amateur, upon her Wimbledon success, she turned professional midway through the tournament which caused discussions as to whether she should be allowed to claim prize money. Samantha Stevenson, Alexandra's mother, threatened to sue had payment not been granted. But that was just the entrée. Samantha riled the WTA tour by declaring that unwanted lesbian advances had been made to her daughter by some tour players, and that there was subtle racism existing on the tour. Plus, there was always the question of the identity of Alexandra's father who was confirmed to be the basketball great Julius Erving II. While I do believe that much of the controversy which arose from the press was unneeded and only served to take away the glory from the players, I do have to admire the way the teens handled their repsective situations, as they tackled the press with poise and maturity belying their years.

Mirjana Lucic has had her fair share of headlines in the past twelve months as she joined Alexandra in the semi finals. She was actually the lowest ranked player to ever reach a Wimbledon semi final at #134. However, anyone who has followed the rise and fall of this Croatian star knows that her ranking belies her ability. Personal problems and some nagging injuries caused her ranking to fall from a high of #32 in May 1998 to #156 the same time this year. It is great to say that it looks like Mirjana is back and is improving and is happy to once again be on a tennis court. To put it bluntly, the last year has been absolute hell for Mirjana and she has had more problems to know what to deal with. Wimbledon has certainly kick started her season, a season which looked to end just as depressingly as it started had Wimbledon not come about. She narrowly beat two seeds en route to the semis, outslugging 4th seed Monica Seles in the third round and rallying against 8th seed and last year's finalist Nathalie Tauziat in the quarter finals. Steffi Graf proved too consistent in the end for Mirjana in the semis. Mirjana came out to a good start, breaking serve early for a 3-1 lead, and winning the first set in a tiebreak. However, the class of Steffi showed in the end as Mirjana could not maintain her level throughout the match and was frequently overhitting her groundstrokes, making some uncanny errors. Nevertheless, it is a good sign for the 17 year old, who is looking more and more like the top 10 player she deserves to be.

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