Australia and for the
second year in a row Jelena Dokic would be the official opener.
On the Saturday night a nightclub/disco was held along with a "zabava"
for parents. Our group got there early at about 7pm and about 10 minutes
later we saw a very familiar face walk through the door - it was Jelena
Dokic, and with her were her parents, brother and grandmother. She was
sitting at the table right across from us.
She was talking to a friend of hers, and our group, being such fans of
Jelena wanted to do something, so we got up and walked over to her table to
ask for a picture and an autograph. We didn't really know how she would
react, would she be a snob like all the other famous people that I have met
over the past few years??
NO! She looked at us and smiled and we all stepped outside with her! We
told her how nervous we felt about asking her and she laughed saying that
she "is a normal Serb teen like the rest of us".
We talked about all sorts of stuff - tennis, John Howard, being a Serb and
even Mark Philippoussis :-)
I couldn't believe my luck - I have her a huuuuge hug and my support, but
also yelled a little for loosing sleep during Wimbledon :-)))
That same night at the nightclub/disco she spent a lot of the night with us.
We danced and talked and got LOTS of pictures, I could swear that at least
75% of the 2,000 people got a picture with her and to everyone's disgust
alot of the guys were acting immaturely ever pinching her behind a couple of
time. But that's the price you pay for being Jelena.
On the Sunday, the day of the actual festival we were there again early in
the morning as was she! To my surprise Jelena recognized me from the night
before and said hello! I felt special :-))))))) Listening to her speak
Serbian made my heart melt as I saw how much she actually cares about us
all. In the past we all did so much for her and now she is paying us back
with interest.
It is an experience that I will NEVER forget and I look forward to seeing
her there again as she promised us all that she would be there!
Here is a pic with Milli and Jelena!