| Dokic says she hasn't spoken to father for years(AP)
 Updated: 2006-01-20 11:03
 
 MELBOURNE, Australia - Jelena Dokic said Thursday that she has not spoken to 
her father in several years and is trying to distance herself from him. 
 Dokic, who lost her first-round match at the Australian Open, recently 
returned to Melbourne from her native Serbia-Montenegro, reversing a 2001 
decision to leave Australia.
 Damir Dokic, her father, was quoted in newspaper reports from Serbia that he 
planned to kidnap Jelena. He also threatened to kill an Australian who helped 
his daughter return to the country, and vowed revenge against the country by 
bombing it.
 He apparently later denied making those statements when contacted by an 
Australian radio station.
 On Thursday, Jelena Dokic, through her London-based management company, 
released a statement in Melbourne calling her father's comments "yet another 
unfortunate distraction around my return to Australia and competitive tennis."
 "I have spent my life recovering from events such as this," she said. "I will 
continue to work very hard on getting back to the top of my game and putting 
comments like these firmly behind me."
 The 22-year-old Dokic said she had not spoken to her father for several 
years, "and we do not agree on anything."
 "This is not the first time he has made threats publicly to my well-being so 
I am not going to allow this latest episode to disrupt my future happiness," she 
said. "I wish to distance myself totally from his reported views."
 Jelena Dokic said she has been encouraged by the reaction to her return. In 
her first-round loss, the Australian crowd at Melbourne Park was firmly behind 
her.
 "I have been overwhelmed by the support and friendship I have been shown by 
the Australian public since I returned in December which has proven to me that 
the decision to come back was the right one," said Dokic.
 A Wimbledon semifinalist in 2000, Dokic won a wild-card playoff for the 
Australian Open. She decided to play again for Australia after renouncing her 
former home in 2001 and taking up citizenship of her native Serbia-Montenegro.
 
 
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