Upbeat Dokic targets return to the top
Wed 15 October, 2003 18:39 BST
By Will Gray
ZURICH, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Jelena Dokic believes she is on track to return to the forefront of women's tennis after claiming her first consecutive victories in 11 events at the Swisscom Challenge.
Dokic, 20, was ranked fourth in the world before a dramatic fall to 25th after losing form during 2003.
But the Yugoslav said on Wednesday that victories over Americans Chanda Rubin and Alexandra Stevenson in the first and second rounds in Zurich could be the turning point.
"In the last 15 or 16 matches I would not have won matches like the last two," said Dokic after fighting back from one set down against Stevenson to secure her first three-set victory of the year.
"My opponents in these last two matches have both been playing well this year and I think it could play a big part for me to come back.
"I am happy that it is coming together a little bit and I am playing much better and fighting much better. I am concentrating much better."
Dokic, who beat world number one Martina Hingis as a qualifier at Wimbledon in 1999, said she had felt exhausted this year after three years of heavy schedules.
She started the season as a second seed in Tokyo after skipping the Australian Open and reached the quarter-finals before losing to American Lisa Raymond.
She made six quarter-final appearances in the first half of the year as well as a semi-final loss to eventual champion Amelie Mauresmo in Warsaw.
But fatigue set in and she made quick exits in the mid-season Grand Slams in France, falling to Slovenian Tina Pisnik in round two, and Wimbledon, with her earliest exit in five years to Maria Sharapova in round three.
She started working with new coach Borna Bikic in June and said her mental preparation had improved.
"I think I got physically and mentally tired," added Dokic, who has won five tournaments in her career.
"I have lost all my three-set matches this year, a lot of 7-5s in the third, things like this and that gets you down. But I am more hungry now than I was for the last year... I am much better in my head.
"I have worked hard all year but results don't come about straight away. Now things are getting better and I have to work now for next year."
Dokic's next match in Zurich will be a true test as she will meet either third-seed Amelie Mauresmo or reigning champion and local favourite Patty Schnyder.
Dokic, though, a beaten finalist here in 2001, added: "You come out of winning a three-set match and your confidence goes up.
"They will both be tough but I have beaten both of them before."
Dokic is also considering a return to Australia, where she has not played for two years after her controversial decision to switch nationality.
"I will make my mind up in the next few weeks," she said. "I would love to go back and play. At the moment it is 50-50."
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