Tennis: Dokic wins her way into Australian Open

MELBOURNE - Jelena Dokic has guaranteed her place in next month's Australian Open tennis tournament by winning the wildcard playoff mini tournament at Melbourne Park today.

Dokic started slowly before recovering to beat Monique Adamczak 4-6 6-3 6-2.

The opening set of today's match was the only one that Dokic had dropped in four matches as she seeks to rebuild her career from its current lowly ranking of 349.

Dokic said she was nervous at the start of today's final but is pleased she no longer has to rely on tournament organisers giving her a wildcard.

Dokic arrives in Auckland  for the ASB Classic at the end of next week and will also play a Canberra tournament before returning to the Australian Open for the first time since 2001.

- AAP