Australian teen tennis sensation Jelena Dokic is set to become a big winner with the corporate dollar following her exploits at Wimbledon.
The Sydney teenager has Australian and international companies clamouring to sign her up for sponsorship and endorsement deals, with her management group Advantage International already shifting through plenty of offers.
Her agent John McCurdy said yesterday that Dokic, who became Australia's first female Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 12 years, had enormous potential in the corporate marketplace, although he declined to put a dollar figure on his protege.
"Tennis is a very high-profile sport which receives a lot of publicity. Jelena is only 16 and she is already number one in the country so she is going to be in the public eye for a long time," he said.
As a 16-year-old, Dokic is limited by the Women's Tennis Association's age eligibility rules to just 10 tournaments a year plus the Grand Slams and although this will increase next year, she won't be free to play the full WTA tour until she is 18.
Despite this, her ranking rocketed from 129 to 37 as a result of her Wimbledon effort, where she was beaten by young American Alexandra Stevenson in the quarterfinals.
McCurdy said he was wary of underselling his young star. Already signed with Fila clothing and Head racquets, he said he was looking for a long-term commitment from a sponsor rather than someone trying to make a quick buck. "We're not going to let anyone get a cheap piece of her," he said. "We also want to get some protection for her because she's only just starting out."
Studying by correspondence, the high school student impressed many at Wimbledon with her ability to handle pressure both on the court and off - particularly after the attention her father, who is also her coach, attracted after he was thrown out of a warm-up tournament in Birmingham.
