Jelena Dokic’s surprising claim about abusive father ahead of documentary release

Tennis great Jelena Dokic has made a shock claim about her relationship with her abusive father ahead of the release of her documentary.

Jelena Dokic has opened up on her relationship with her father, Damir, with the beloved commentator and former tennis star saying she “does not hate him” despite the abuse she suffered at his hands during her playing career.

The 41-year-old was interviewed ahead of the release of ‘Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story’, a chilling new documentary covering her rise to stardom as well as the dark story that was unfolding behind the scenes.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph this week, Dokic talked about her surprisingly open and understanding feelings towards her abusive father.

“I don’t blame anyone. I don’t resent anyone. I definitely don’t hate anyone, never would”, she said.

“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.”

Jelena Dokic’s documentary will hit cinemas on November 7. Photo: Julian Kingma.

Born in Croatia, Jelena emigrated with her family to Australia in 1994 at the age of 11, fleeing from an unstable and violent region, and settled in the Western suburbs of Sydney.

She soon became one of Australian tennis’ brightest stars, exploding onto the scene when she defeated world No. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets at Wimbledon in 1999, aged just 16.

She reached the semi finals of the famed grass court tournament the following year in what would end up being her best grand slam result, but the prodigious talent remained a popular figure in the sport and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in 2002.

Behind the scenes though, it was a very different story, as Dokic was put through cruel abuse by her controlling father throughout her rise in tennis.

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.

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

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.”

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”.

Dokic hopes to change the culture around abuse in sport, especially women’s sport, with her openness.

“Even though I was very proud of what I went through and survived, even as far back as 10 years ago in tennis and sport in society, if you spoke about domestic violence or abuse, you would be victim-blamed.” she said.

“And all that shame and stigma was put at the victims and survivors and not abusers. If you talked about mental health, everyone would call you crazy and so on and so on. And especially in sport, you always kind of felt like you had to be perfect …so this takes courage”

“I’m not a victim, I’m a survivor. But even more than that, I’m a thriver. I want people to look at me as a success story because I stood in the face of adversity and hardship when it wasn’t normal to speak up about this.”

Jelena Dokic with her father Damir after he got into a dispute with officials during the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York. Picture: Charles Fowler.

Despite the sickening facts of his behaviour, Jelena revealed to the Sydney Morning Herald in January that she has tried to reconnect with Damir since her last contact with him 10 years ago.

“Yeah, I even tried to reconcile with him once or twice,” she said.

“I think no matter what happens, you kind of hope that maybe you can kind of salvage a relationship when it comes to family”.

Dokic has also earned plenty of praise for her quality broadcasting and analysis for Channel 9, and she’ll be returning to commentate on next year’s Australian Open.

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

Originally published as Jelena Dokic’s surprising claim about abusive father ahead of documentary release