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Father expelled from daughter's tennis match

Another father is causing problems for women's tennis.

The father of 17-year-old Australian player Jelena Dokic was ejected from a Wimbledon warm-up tournament for shouting abuse at officials during his daughter's match. He was later arrested for lying down in traffic and jumping on the hood of a car.

Damir Dokic, 40, was removed from the grounds by security guards at the DFS Classic at Edgbaston on Tuesday and banned from the rest of the tournament. If he causes any further trouble, he risks a long ban from all women's events.

''Mr Dokic's conduct will be closely monitored and further incidents at any time could result in an extension of the ban or the revocation of any or all privileges at future WTA tour events,'' the Tour said in a statement.

Jelena Dokic, who was born in Belgrade, won the U S Open junior tournament last year and finished last season ranked No. 1 among juniors. She turned professional in January and is one of the game's most highly-regarded young players.

Her next tournament is Wimbledon, which begins on June 21.

Dokic's father ''has been put on notice,'' WTA tour spokesman Joe Favorito said. ''We take this very seriously and one more incident we could do to him what we did to Jm Pierce.''

Jim Pierce, the father of French player Mary Pierce, was banned from WTA tour events from 1993-98 for abusive behaviour. He has been readmitted ''but with severe restrictions".

''Security is as good at Wimbledon as any place and we have already spoken to them about what's happened,'' Favorito said.

AP