So the fairytale continues.
The new queen of Rod Laver Arena – Australia’s Jelena Dokic – continued her amazing comeback with an epic 7-5 5-7 8-6 fourth-round victory over Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova on Sunday night.
Riding a wave of emotion and adrenaline, the world No. 187 fought through to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2002 French Open – capturing the imagination of a nation along the way.
As has been the case all week, Dokic said after the match that she continued to surprise even herself.
“I honestly didn't expect to win today, even though she hasn't been in this situation that many times.
“When I got on the court, at the beginning, I knew it would be tough because I wasn't feeling great,
“I think I was really, really tough mentally today, and that's why I won.”
Every now and then, tennis matches can carry within them fitting symbolism; the first game of this match was to prove no different.
Dokic opened with a double fault to lose the first point, then powered through a baseline exchange to win the next.
For the rest of the night, it appeared the key to the match would be on the Australian’s racquet – or perhaps in her head.
Whilst not being able to out-hit the powerful Russian, Dokic’s tenacity and experience would prove to be trump cards.
The first of 13 combined breaks for the match came when Dokic was serving at 2-2.
Floating a defensive backhand long, the Australian handed Kleybanova a 3-2 lead.
Her advantage was short-lived, however; a backhand error from the Russian leveling the set.
Again, the players exchanged breaks, keeping the crowd enthralled with powerful groundstrokes and evenly-matched rallies.
Dokic’s next chance came up 6-5, when she took advantage of an opening and brought up two set points.
She dumped a forehand into the net on the first, but forced a Kleybanova error on the second – claiming the set in nearly an hour and bringing the crowd to their feet.
Not to be denied, the No. 29 seed came out firing in the second set.
She quickly broke the Dokic serve, claiming five of the first six points and racing to a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the Australian’s footwork began to slow, and she rushed a number of groundstrokes.
Playing catch-up tennis, Dokic fought hard twice to regain level pegging, but faltered again when serving at 5-5.
Kleybanova pounced on the Australian’s mistake, eventually sealing the set with an ace and a emitting a cry to her player’s box.
As had happened in Dokic’s three previous matches, a third set would be required to seal the deal.
Three winners off the Australian’s racquet in the first game ignited a previously-subdued crowd; however it was Kleybanova who again obtained the first break for a 2-1 lead.
Sensing her chance, the Russian forged ahead to a 3-1 lead and had 0-30 on Dokic’s serve.
But the former Wimbledon semifinalist held tough, breaking back and squaring the set.
Her next chance was to come in the last game of the match, when ahead 7-6.
After twisting her ankle in the previous game, Dokic motored through the last game; her 46th winner was a backhand slapped down the line to break Kleybanova’s serve - and seal the match.
Dokic now plays Russian Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals. Earlier on Sunday, the women’s third seed outlasted Alize Cornet of France 6-2 2-6 7-5, a match where she survived two match points.
Quick facts
The match lasted three hours and two minutes
Dokic won 125 points for the match; Kleybanova won 120
The Australian had 46 winners to Kleybanova’s 29
Kleybanova had 38 unforced errors to Dokic’s 58
Dokic served 11 double faults, while Kleybanova had three
Dokic converted seven of her 17 break point chances (41 per cent), while Kleybanova capitalised on six of her eight break point opportunities (75 per cent)
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