Dokic not primed for British switch
Ossian Shine
Jelena Dokic will not be pulling on a British tracksuit even if her father moves his Yugoslav family to the UK, the world number five said at the U.S. Open on Monday.
"I think I've made up my mind who I'm playing for," said the blonde baseliner from Belgrade when asked if a move was still on the cards. "I never said I was going to play for anyone else."
Her father Damir told Reuters earlier this month that he would move Jelena, 19, to Britain if the Serbian government failed to give him permission to construct a tennis centre in Belgrade.
"I have already prepared all necessary papers for Jelena to move out from Belgrade," he said from his home.
But when asked if there was any news on the proposed move, Jelena said: "No, I don't think so. Definitely not now and not any time soon. I'm in the middle of a season -- I'm definitely not going to think about that now.
"It's not a priority. I'm not even thinking or talking about that."
Were Dokic to move, it would be a second switch in as many years.
After playing in the Australian Fed Cup and Olympic teams for three years, she reverted to her original Yugoslav nationality in 2001 when Damir fell out with Australian tennis officials and claimed the Australian Open draw had been rigged.
The teenager refused to play the opening grand slam of the year in Melbourne in January and says she has no plans to compete Down Under, dismissing it as "too far away".
On Monday, the fifth seed powered into the second round of the U.S. Open, pummelling Germany's Greta Arn 6-2 6-2 in just 51 minutes.
She showed no sign of the hamstring injury which caused her to retire from her semi-final against Jennifer Capriati in Montreal earlier this month and afterwards said she was happy in Belgrade.
"Yeah, it's fine. You know, I love going there. I'm not there that much, though. I'm not in any one place too much. I'm maybe there only in November and December, but every time I've been there it has been great."
