Former Australian tennis star Jelena Dokic has confirmed her controversial father, Damir, has died.
In a post to Instagram on Wednesday night, Dokic confirmed her father died on Friday. He was in his late 60s.
Damir Dokic watches on at Wimbledon two decades ago. Credit: Reuters
“Despite everything and no matter how hard, difficult and in the last 10 years even non-existent our relationship and communication was, it is never easy losing a parent and a father even one you are estranged from,” she wrote.
“The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief.”
Dokic has been open about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, which began when she took up tennis at the age of six and continued even as she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals as a teenager.
Damir Dokic became a figure of ridicule after behaviour such as losing his temper at the cafeteria at the US Open over the price of fish, and angrily approaching a female reporter at Wimbledon and breaking her phone.
In 2009, he was jailed for 15 months for threatening to blow up the Australian ambassador to Serbia and possessing illegal weapons.
“It’s an end of a chapter and life as I know it,” Jelena Dokic said on social media
“There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me. For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good memory like this picture [above].
“And as always and especially important to who I am as a person and what I want to stand for, which is respect, grace, kindness, dignity and empathy, I will and want to be that person in this situation too.
“And my final words. RIP.”
Following Dokic’s heartfelt words, several famous figures replied with messages of support.
“Thinking of you. We love you,” wrote former Australian of the year Grace Tame.
“Always classy, always dignified. So much respect for you. Sending love,” added Nine News presenter Jo Hall.
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