Jelena Dokic mourns estranged father Damir, who ruined her career

Tennis champion Jelena Dokic’s notorious father Damir has died – and she says it signals the ‘end of a chapter’ marred by heartbreak and trauma.

Jelena Dokic and father Damir in Melbourne in 2001. Picture: David Caird

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Tennis champion Jelena Dokic’s notorious father Damir has died – and she says it signals the “end of a chapter” marred by heartbreak and trauma.

It’s understood Dokic snr had been battling cancer.

Damir had been known as the “tennis dad from hell” and had wreaked violent, abusive havoc on and off the court for Jelena, a prodigious talent once heralded as Australia’s greatest tennis hope since Evonne Goolagong.

In an emotional post to ­Instagram on Wednesday night, Jelena spoke about the “difficult and complicated” grief associated with losing her father, who she had not spoken to for over a decade.

“As you know my relationship with my father has been difficult and painful with a lot of history,” the 42-year-old wrote.

“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.

“The loss of an estranged ­parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief.”

An Instagram post by Jelena Dokic, sharing the news that her father and ex-coach Damir Dokic dies. Picture: Instagram

In her best-selling book and ­recent documentary Unbreakable, Jelena told in raw detail how her father’s brutality scarred her brilliant career which saw her ­become the world No.4.

From the moment she struck a tennis ball at the age of six, Damir’s beatings became a regular ­occurrence and intensified as her career wound on, once knocking her unconscious after a tournament in Canada. But the psychological scars ran deep.

“What happened has left an everlasting bruise on my life,” she wrote in her book Unbreakable.

“I played my family out of ­poverty, but it wasn’t enough for him. I couldn’t draw a single word of praise from him, even when I reached world No.4.

“Nothing was ever good enough in his eyes.”

Jelena Dokic aged 15 at home with her family.

Jelena has often said his ways nearly destroyed her and left her suicidal.

“As much as he helped propel me to tremendous tennis heights, his destructive ways eventually crushed my spirit and almost ­destroyed me.”

Some tennis experts believed she could have won a grand slam but was denied her long and glorious tennis career.

“Did his mad, public drunken rantings – over the price of fish, WTA draw riggings, the Queen, the US president, Vladimir Putin, me being kidnapped, a whole host of conspiracies – cost me my career? Definitely,” Jelena has ­declared.

But since the release of her books, Jelena says she wants to be known not just as a survivor of abuse, but a “thriver”.

Her motivational talks have seen her become one of the most in demand speakers in the country. She has also become a respected commentator and TV host.

In her Instagram post she said she felt conflicting emotions around his passing.

“It’s an end of a chapter and life as I know it,” Jelena wrote.

“There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me.”

She posted a caption with a photograph of herself and her ­father – one of her favourites from a rare calm moment in her ­childhood.

Jelena Dokic with her great aunt and her father and mother

“For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good memory like this picture,” she said.

“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.

“For now, I will leave it there.

“Please respect mine and the rest of my family’s privacy at this time.

“Thank you to so many of you for checking in on me over the last few days and for being here for me while I navigate this difficult and complicated situation.

“And my final words.

“RIP”.