Tennis abuse: Nadal, Djokovic and Federer should be ashamed for staying quiet

The biggest names in the sport should be ashamed for going to ground over a shocking alleged tennis court assault, leaving Jelena Dokic to lead the way writes David Riccio.

Jelena Dokic's truth is truly heartbreaking. Photo: Instagram

Why on earth is Jelena Dokic the loudest voice on this?

Why has it been left to the brave Australian to wake up the rest of the world?

The modern-day greats of the sport? Too busy pumping fists and plugging sponsors on Instagram, it seems.

Where’s Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or even the retired Roger Federer using every microphone, camera or phone within their reach this week to obliterate this issue?

Still, not one post on Insta about the most damaging piece of video that the sport of tennis has encountered in years.

Just car ads and victory salutes.

The biggest names in the sport should be ashamed.

Meanwhile, Dokic has hardly taken a breath since the sickening video emerged last week of an abusive Chinese tennis coach allegedly reprimanding his young pupil. The girl was booted several times, punched, clipped around the head and thrown to the ground.

“I’m going to try and drive this change, I’m going to push for this, that’s what I’ve done all along, I’m going to continue to do it,” Dokic said on Friday’s Today Show.

Jelena Dokic has been the loudest voice in tennis regarding the abuse of young tennis players.

“I’m going to use my platform, my social media, I hope that the rest of the tennis community does as well, players, ex-players, coaches...

“Tennis is a global sport, we need action on a global scale, there’s not enough coverage (from the media) on this, as ugly as it is, this is the reality, and no one will help these young kids, and we need more visibility, we need more campaigns, we need more awareness.

“I’m certainly going to drive that change, I can’t do it alone, but I’m going to do the best that I can to help anyone I can, because we need a change.”

The horrific video, which is believed to have been filmed at an undisclosed tennis court in Serbia, shows a man using the female tennis player as his personal punching bag.

The powerless woman is hit first with a swinging left punch across the head, hit again, kicked repeatedly, shoved to the ground and then kicked again and again.

There are few words to describe the insane and vile nature of the video.

It’s disgusting, to the point that thousands have asked for the video to be taken off social media.

A still image taken from the video showing a horrific assault on a young tennis player.

The video has been viewed 2.1 million times on the original Twitter feed that it was posted.

It has since been picked up and redistributed across the world to 10 million more.

The Today Show contemplated not running the video at 7.30am on Friday morning during their Dokic interview.

Dokic, too, thought twice about sharing the video with her 101,000 followers on Instagram.

But as Dokic knows better than any, what does hiding these crimes, or failing to thrust the harshest of spotlights on to abusive parents and coaches do for change?

Yet right now, she is just one lone voice among a sprinkling of past and present players, including former doubles world No. 1 Pam Shriver, former Belarusian world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and Romanian star Simona Halep’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou to speak out.

Dokic endured at the hand of her father’s vile abuse during her own career, which included six WTA career titles and a highest ranking of four in August, 2002.

“As someone who’s been through it, I know what that feels like, I know what that looks like after an assault like this,” she told Karl Stefanovic.

“I was actually kicked until I was unconscious a week before the US Open when I was 16 — and it wasn’t the only time.

“Unfortunately, what also happens behind closed doors is even worse, there’s no doubt about that.

“Unfortunately, you had to get to this — and to be filmed for this long — for us to be able to see what that actually looks like.

“Now we actually need to do something about this.

“This is what I was talking about all along when I came out with my story, that this happens and I’m not the first or the last.

“It is about how we deal with it and are we doing enough?”

Dokic may not have won a grand slam.

But the 39-year-old is having a greater impact on the world of tennis and the safe passage of the sport’s future stars than those who have.

Originally published as Tennis abuse: Nadal, Djokovic and Federer should be ashamed for staying quiet