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Jelena Dokic rocked Rod Laver Arena once more to power into the Australian Open quarter-finals with a courageous fourth-round triumph on Sunday night.
Australia’s comeback queen continued her astonishing revival with an epic 7-5 4-6 8-6 victory over talented Russian Alisa Kleybanova to qualify for the last eight at a grand slam for the first time since the 2002 French Open.
Hearts were in mouths around the country, though, when Dokic stumbled – and possibly considered retiring – with Kleybanova serving at 5-6 and 15-0.
The injury clearly distressed Dokic, who immediately called for the tournament trainer and required a medical timeout after she held serve for 7-6.
But the 25-year-old refused to surrender and, opting against having the ankle taped, returned to the court swinging and broke Kleybanova to love, smoking a backhand return winner down the line to send the capacity crowd into raptures.
Dokic will take on world No.3 Dinara Safina on Tuesday believing anything is possible after battling tenaciously for three hours and two minutes in claiming her third big scalp in five nights.
Ranked 187th after years in the tennis wilderness, Dokic had already dumped top-20 stars Anna Chakvetadze and Caroline Wozniacki from the tournament to raise hopes of the most unexpected and miraculous grand slam triumph in history.
The 25-year-old did little to ease the hype with an even more incredible display in a Sunday night showstopper.
Dokic took the court amid speculation she owed more than $60,000 to the family of a former Melbourne benefactor who supported the one-time world No.4 during her desperate years trying to make a successful return to professional tennis.
The Croatian-born Dokic is also dealing with the frightening prospect of her controversial father Damir flying from Belgrade to Melbourne seeking a reconciliation with his estranged daughter.
Once again, though, Dokic cast the external pressures aside to sweep to another spirited victory to close to within three wins of becoming the lowest-ranked grand slam champion ever.
Even if she loses to Safina, the born-again baseliner will return to the world’s top 100 for the first time since 2004 on Monday week.
Dokic made a nervous start against the tournament’s No.29 seed, overcooking a forehand, then dumping a backhand into the net and floating another long to drop serve in the fifth game to fall behind 3-2.
Kleybanova had Australia’s great hope scrambling from side to side but, dogged as ever, Dokic somehow broke straight back and then held to surge 4-3 ahead.
Not to be denied, Kleybanova – determined to back up her third-round upset win over Serbian fifth seed Ana Ivanovic – forced Dokic into further errors to grab a second break and a 5-4 advantage.
Again, though, Dokic struck back and celebrated with an almighty quadruple-double fist pump before sending the centre-court crowd wild when she snatched the first set after forcing her teenaged opponent into error.
The Australian wildcard entry also fell behind a break in the second set but drew level at 4-4 with some inspired tennis, only to sloppily drop serve the very next game.
Then it was Kleybanova’s turn to lose her nerve, the Russian failing to serve out the set, only to gain another reprieve when Dokic slipped up for the second straight service game.
Kleybanova made no mistake second time around, clinching the set with a wide-angled ace.
There was controversy early in the third set after Kleybanova snared another service break, with the Russian receiving a code violation from Portuguese chair umpire Mariana Almes for illegal courtside coaching.
But Dokic refused to lose focus and whipped the crowd into a frenzy after breaking back for 3-3.
It was the adrenaline shot Dokic required and there was no stopping her from there.
“I was really exhausted physically but I kept fighting and the crowd was amazing in that third set,” she said.
“It was hard to stay positive in that third set after I’d lost the second and I was a break down.
“I kept on fighting and it paid off.
“I wanted to put in a good performance in the first round and, once I got through that, I was really happy and I achieved my goal for the tournament.
“This is unbelievable to be in the quarter-finals of a grand slam. I was going to have the week off, then play Fed Cup.
“It’s great to have done so much in one tournament.”
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