Sports: Brandi lets Dokic get better of her

Brandi lets Dokic get better of her

In twist to Camp Dokic soap opera, Kristina Brandi of Tampa loses.

By HUBERT MIZELL

WIMBLEDON, England -- Kristina Brandi made the final 16 at Wimbledon, matching her tennis career Grand Slam best, but she wasn't overjoyed.

Brandi, of Tampa, lost 6-1, 6-3 to Jelena Dokic on Monday. "A couple of weeks ago, just before Wimbledon, I really handled her (6-0, 6-1) at Hertogenbosch (Netherlands)," Brandi said. "So this one hurts a lot."

Dokic, a 17-year-old native of Yugoslavia, has become a Wimbledon headliner, in part because of her controversial father, Damir. Police removed him from All England Club grounds last week, saying he verbally abused a reporter and slammed the journalist's mobile phone to the pavement.

"Win or lose, she's the news," Brandi said with a hint of disgust. "I guess me beating Jelena last month caused the Dokics to fire her coach." Tony Roche, a player/coach with long pedigree, was replaced as coach by Damir Dokic, a former Belgrade truck driver.

"It's getting very interesting," said Brandi, who knows a lot about the coaching business, "but that's not my problem. I'm really happy with my own coach, Ola Malmqvist, and back home in Florida, I've got a whole family of coaches to love."

Brandi's uncle, Andy, is women's tennis coach at Florida. Andy's brother -- Kristina's father, Joe -- coached Pete Sampras from 1989-91, including for his first Slams win, at the '90 U.S. Open. Joe Brandi now operates a tennis school in Clearwater. "Pete used to be at our house all the time," Kristina Brandi said. "Dad was working with him at Nick Bollettieri's academy in Bradenton. I've been so blessed to be around some great tennis people for a long time."

Harry Hopman, who developed Australia's great players in the 1950s, moved to the Tampa Bay area by the '70s and started a tennis academy at Bardmoor in Largo. Joe Brandi worked with Hopman. After Hopman died, his school was moved to Saddlebrook resort in Tampa. "My first racket," Kristina Brandi said, "was a gift from that wonderful Mr. Hopman, an old-style wooden number. I was 3, and he said I was going to be a great player."

Brandi is trying hard.

"I've made lots of progress this year," said Brandi, a resident of Tampa Palms. "I made my first round of 16 at the Australian Open, beating Amanda Coetzer along the way. Now it's the final 16 at Wimbledon. But I leave more hungry than satisfied, feeling I could've gone a step or two deeper into the tournament."