Australian Open comeback surprise Jelena Dokic will try to maintain her good form at this week's Fed Cup, as the home nation looks to advance to the next phase of the women's team event. After reaching the quarter-finals of the season-opening Grand Slam in Melbourne, Dokic returns to the scene of one of her early triumphs to play for her adopted country for the first time since 2000.
The eight teams in the Asia/Oceania Group I competition are chasing elevation to World Group II - which would put them one step closer to the elite group. Australia's main rival could be India led by Sania Mirza, who became the first Indian woman to claim a Grand Slam title by winning the mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi in Melbourne.
The other teams in the tournament, which starts on Wednesday, are Indonesia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Uzbekistan. The draw for the four-day event will take place here on Tuesday, with the eight teams split into two divisions. After a round-robin series in each division over the first three days, with each tie featuring two singles matches and a doubles clash, the two top sides will meet in Saturday's final.
The winner will advance to the World Group II play-offs in April. Dokic, whose last Fed Cup appearance was for her native Serbia in 2004, will be looking to build on her remarkable Melbourne run, which revived memories of her lofty fourth ranking back in 2000, before off-court dramas almost ended her career. Dokic makes her Fed Cup comeback in the city where she combined with Mark Philippoussis as a 16-year-old to win the mixed-teams Hopman Cup in 1999.
She has a 9-2 record in Fed Cup singles for Australia and said here Monday she was keen to ensure her form didn't slip after the euphoria of Melbourne. "I am not as fresh as before the Australian Open, but I have had a few days off and think I will be ready to play," she said. "After the Australian Open, I could have a letdown, but I am going to work as hard as I can and I have got a lot of confidence from the last couple of weeks.
I am going to build on that and use that." Dokic also said the left ankle she rolled during the Australian Open was fine. With 43rd-ranked Samantha Stosur expected to join Dokic for the majority of singles ties here, the Australians will be expected to win. The home team can also call on local player Casey Dellacqua, who reached the fourth round of the 2008 Australian Open and was ranked as high as 39th last year.
Doubles specialist Rennae Stubbs, the only player to have teamed with Dokic previously in Fed Cup, completes the Australian quartet. India will be led by the big-hitting Mirza, who was ranked 27 in the world in 2007 but has slipped exactly 100 places after battling wrist problems in 2008.