‘I will take 100 years of abuse’: Jelena Dokic in tears over Australian tennis defection

Jelena Dokic has declared she would accept “100 years of abuse” to take back one decision she regrets most from her tennis career.

Jelena Dokic says she would take “100 years of abuse if I could take back not playing for Australia” during her tennis career.

The 41-year-old is releasing a documentary about her life called Unbreakable, detailing the physical and emotional abuse she received at the hands of her father, Damir Dokic.

She was born in Croatia in the former Yugoslavia and her family moved to Australia when she was 11 years old.

Making a name for herself as a talented junior tennis player, Dokic won the 1998 US Open girls title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters.

As a 15-year-old, she won the Hopman Cup in 1999 for Australia with Mark Philippoussis.

Her breakthrough moment came that same year when as a 16-year-old qualifier, she upset Martina Hingis in the first round at Wimbledon and made a run to the quarterfinals.

In 2000 she reached the Wimbledon semifinals, her best result at a grand slam.

Dokic was booed off Rod Laver Arena at the 2001 Australian Open after losing to Lindsay Davenport, after announcing plans to turn her back on Australia and represent Yugoslavia.

By that point of her career, her father was banned from attending her matches. Dokic claims he was behind the decision for her to turn her back on competing for Australia.

“I would take 100 years of abuse if I could take back not playing for Australia for a few years,” an emotional Dokic told the Carrie & Tommy Show.

“He took away from me, something that I loved so much.

“He took that away from me in that moment. He’s sitting in a hotel room watching this while I’m getting booed by 15,000 people. I just wanted to kind of drop into the ground and disappear and never come back.

“I would take any abuse, anything in this world to not even just go through that personally, but that it didn’t take my people, Australians and my fans and everyone that always cheered for me, that it didn’t take 10 or 15 years until my book came out for them to know the truth and just how much I really love Australia.”

Jelena Dokic won the 1999 Hopman Cup with Mark Philippoussis.

Dokic represented Australia at the 2000 Olympics, losing the bronze medal match to Monica Seles.

In 2004, she played in the 2004 Fed Cup for the Serbia and Montenegro team.

After a turbulent period in the mid 2000s, the former World No. 4 made a comeback to tennis and made a fairytale run to the quarterfinals at the 2009 Australian Open.

She switched allegiances back to Australia in 2005 and went on to represent Australia in the 2009 Fed Cup, winning several matches.

Dokic had a 14-3 win loss record in Fed Cup matches, including victories over Kim Clijsters and Anna Kournikova.

Dokic said getting booed by the Australian crowd was a low point of her career, given there was nothing she loved more than representing Australia.

“I came to this country as an 11-year-old and I really accepted it and loved Australia,” she said,

“I loved representing Australia. I loved team events. Everything that had to do with team events, I always won. I had like a 99 per cent win rate. There’s a reason for that.

“Fed Cup, Hopman Cup that I won with Mark Philippoussis. I loved it and I thrived playing in Australia and at the Australian Open.

Jelena Dokic and father Damir in 2000 following her return from the US Open. Pic Glenn Hampson.

“He (Damir Dokic) took that away from me for those few years. I wanted to come back earlier but I was worried about people’s reaction, even though I did come back three, four years later.

“Everyone did embrace me when I did come back but people still had doubts. They didn’t look at me as someone who was this patriotic Australian, and it hurt me because I was.

“I really accepted this country. I always say, I was born in a different country but I am Australian. I always looked at myself that way. I love Australia. I love my fans so much.

“It doesn’t matter what match it was, every time you would hear from the crowd,’ Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi’ when I was playing, I would literally get goosebumps.”

Dokic says she doesn’t harbour any hate towards her father.

“I don’t blame anyone. I don’t resent anyone. I definitely don’t hate anyone, never would”, she told the Daily Telegraph.

“I’m not bitter about it. Even to my father, which people find surprising. But I don’t hate him. I don’t necessarily forgive him, but I don’t hate him.”

In the new documentary, previously unseen footage and candid interviews with Jelena paint a heartbreaking portrait of the young star’s home life, as well as telling the story of her inspiring triumph over adversity.

In one especially disturbing part of the film, Dokic describes an attack from her drunken father after losing a match.

“I remember she was so mad that he goes into the bathroom with me, locks the door, and he beat the crap out of me,” she said.

“He slammed my head against the wall multiple times. He was kicking me. My shins were so bruised, I couldn’t walk. He actually punches me in the head. And then I went unconscious for a little bit. He also stepped on my head as well.”

Jelena Dokic at the world premiere of UNBREAKABLE: THE JELENA DOKIC STORY. Photo: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Dokic published her autobiography, ‘Unbreakable’, in 2017, opening up about the abuse for the first time, and has since become an inspiration for young women who have suffered similar treatment in sport.

“I’m very grateful (my story) has been received the way that it has and I’m very proud of it,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

“It gave me a voice. It gave me the power to reclaim my life … I’m proudly standing up for everyone else that doesn’t feel like they can do it and have a voice. I can tell you there are many stories in tennis and other sports that are like this and they have been very afraid to speak up for that exact reason”.

- Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story will hit cinemas on the 7th of November.

Originally published as ‘I will take 100 years of abuse’: Jelena Dokic in tears over Australian tennis defection