PARIS -- Maturity might have been forced on Jelena Dokic, but she's feeling more like a grown-up these days -- and a tougher tennis player, too.

	Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic said she's had to learn to rely on her own judgment when it comes to matches.

For much of her young career, the 18-year-old's tennis has been overshadowed by her father's disorderly conduct. Damir Dokic, her father and coach, was banned by the WTA Tour for six months and only recently was readmitted into tournaments so he could watch his daughter play.

Dokic says the space allowed her to come of age.

"It's made me more mature, a tougher person mentally," Dokic said Wednesday after eliminating American Marissa Irvin 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the French Open. "I think I've learned to play (by) myself."

For a while, she had to. Her father was barred from this year's Australian Open, where his daughter lost in the first round.

"It was a little hard for me, but I got over that," said Dokic, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year. She won her first tour title earlier this month at the Italian Open and is a top contender in the French, where she is seeded 15th.

On Wednesday, Dokic's father sat calmly in the front row, soaking in his first Grand Slam tournament since the WTA Tour ban expired in March. The young player, her head lowered, occasionally glanced over at her father when she flubbed a shot.

"It makes a difference when you have someone out there that works with you all the time, someone that you've had your whole tennis life," Dokic said.

On and off the court, the past two years have been highly publicized ones for the Dokic family.

The hard-hitting youngster caused a huge stink at this year's Australian Open by renouncing her Australian citizenship in favor of a Yugoslav passport.

Born in Belgrade, Dokic moved from Serbia to Australia with her family in 1994. She said she wanted to quit Australia due to negative media reports about her controversy-plagued father.

At Wimbledon last year he wrapped himself in a British flag, shouted at spectators and later smashed a journalist's cellular telephone.

At the U.S. Open, he was expelled after becoming abusive over the price and size of a salmon portion he was served in the players' lounge.

At the Australian Open, he has complained for two years in a row that the draw was rigged against his daughter.

His first documented bout with trouble was at a 1999 tournament in Birmingham, England, where he was tossed out for being drunk and calling officials "Nazis." He responded by sitting in the road, blocking traffic, and was arrested.

Understandably, perhaps, Jelena Dokic prefers not to discuss her father. A tour official warned a reporter Wednesday not to bring up sensitive subjects like her father or her nationality swap at a one-on-one session.

During a post-match news conference, the subjects were raised and quickly dismissed.

Asked if her choice of nationality was final, she replied: "I think I've made myself clear. I've made up my mind."

As for whether her father is still coaching her?

"Nothing's changed in that department," Dokic said tersely. "I'm just working with him at the moment."