THE SCOOP: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

Dokic keeps Florida digs
Evert charity event hit by economic woes

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

When Jelena Dokic and family left their adopted homeland of Australia a couple of years ago, they chose Florida's well-known Saddlebrook Resort as their new destination. But not long after moving into the neighborhood where other top draws such as Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis reside, Dokic's father, Damir, announced he was moving the family – Jelena, mother Liliana and brother, Savo, back to their native Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Along with the elder Dokic's proclamation, it was said the family would sell their four-bedroom Florida home.

But in recent months, Dokic seems to have broken out on her own, going as far as requesting that WTA officials not credential her parents to player areas at a number of tournaments this fall. Now word comes that Dokic has decided not to let go of her Saddlebrook home and when she does heads to Florida for sun, fun and practice, she will do so solo, presumably leaving her family back in Belgrade. Of course, it is entirely possible that Dokic's boyfriend, Brazilian race car driver Enrique Bernoldi, will be a frequent visitor.

Dokic has always been considered a major talent, but from her first arrival on tour experienced problems because her often volatile father caused unfortunate scenes at tournaments; there was the time he drunkenly ran into traffic at a Birmingham, England event, smashed a reporters' cell phone to smithereens and was led away from Wimbledon by the police, and threw a plate of salmon at a restaurant employee at the US Open.

The move for independence from her family has long been awaited and is universally considered to be a good choice by the 19-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2000. Hopefully, from this move, the ninth-ranked Dokic will also discover that it is safe for her to return to her former home of Australia to play at the Australian Open. The past two years, Dokic has refused to return to Melbourne Park after experiencing hard times with the media who dogged her and the family. The truth is that most of the bad times that Dokic has experience, especially with the media in Australia, stem from incidences related to her father.

Dokic, herself, is intelligent and if she is willing to face the sometimes acerbic Australian media head-on, it would seem likely that after the initial grilling, the media will back off and leave her alone. But the longer she waits to make the move, the harder it will be to do so. Skipping an important Grand Slam – a Grand Slam that she is capable of winning since the Rebound Ace surface suits her game – seems a big price to pay for what she could be imagining will be way worse than the actuality.

Henin-Hardenne Moving Into the Neighborhood
The recently married No. 5 Justine Henin, now Justine Henin-Hardenne, will go straight from her honeymoon to moving into the Saddlebrook Resort on Dec. 18.

The Belgian's move to the Tampa community means that the resort is now at least the part-time home to four of the Top 10 players on the women's circuit – No. 3 Jennifer Capriati, No. 9 Jelena Dokic and No. 10 Martina Hingis spend much of their time of the tour training at the resort.

And while James Blake, Mardy Fish and Jeff Morrison don't reside at Saddlebrook, they have homes in the neighboring area and train at the resort.

Evert charity event hit by economic woes
The economic woes that are prevalent these days in the US have also hit the 13th Annual Chris Evert Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic that took place in Delray Beach last weekend.

According to the local Boca Raton News – the community where Evert, husband Andy Mill, and their three sons resides – the event only raised $700,000 during its two-days that featured oncourt giggles with celebrities such as Jon Lovitz and Dr. Phil McGraw and from a black tie gala and silent auction that was headlined by The Four Tops. The paper indicated that the event raised $200,000 more last year and had attained the $1 million mark in 1999. The Evert event raises money for the Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida, a nonprofit organization that focuses on family support programs and helping children at risk. The Evert event is scheduled to air on ESPN2 on Jan. 8, 2003 and fans can check their local listing for the airtime.