Tennis news: Fans rally for Jelana Dokic after Aussie hero goes public with horrifying new details

Tennis fans and the wider community send messages of support to Jelena Dokic amid some horrifying new details about her father and upbringing that have been revealed in a new documentary. The Australian tennis herowho has become widely adored in recent years as a commentator and analyst, has released a new documentary called ‘Unbreakable’, adapted from her 2017 memoir of the same name.

The doco depicts her life and some of the horrible treatment she received from his estranged father Damirincluding physical and psychological abuse. Dokic has gone public with some horrific details about her life and upbringing in recent years, and ‘Unbreakable’ puts a new spotlight on it.

One of the most shocking stories she tells is about being attacked by Damir after she lost a match. “I remember he was so mad that he goes into the bathroom with me, locks the door and he beat the crap out of me,” Jelena said. “He hit my head against the wall several times. He kicked me. My shins were so bruised I couldn’t walk. He actually hit me in the head. And then I went unconscious for a bit. He also stepped on my head.”

How dad forced Jelena Dokic to return to Australia

Dokic was born in Croatia when it was still part of Yugoslavia and moved to Australia with her family at the age of 11. Representing Australia, she won the US Open junior girls’ title in 1998 and teamed with Mark Philippoussis to win the Hopman The cup in 1999 as a 15-year-old.

She then shocked Martina Hingis in the first round of the main draw at Wimbledon in 1999 as a qualifier, bursting onto the international scene. She reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2000 and rose to a career-high ranking of world No. 4, while also representing Australia at the Sydney Olympics that year.

But she did it all despite some terrible abuse from her father, too wounds and bruises clearly visible on her body during matches. And in 2001, she was booed at the Australian Open after announcing her plans to change affiliation with Yugoslavia. Dokic has revealed that it was Damir who forced her to turn her back on her adopted country, and she deeply regrets it.

“I would take 100 years of abuse if I could go back to not playing for Australia for a few years,” she said on 2DayFM radio this week. “He took away from me something that I loved so much.

“He took it from me in that moment. He’s sitting in a hotel room watching this while I’m being booed by 15,000 people (because he was banned from participating). I just, like, wanted to fall to the ground and disappear and never come back. I would take any abuse, anything in this world to not even just go through it personally, but that it didn’t take my people, Australians and my fans and everybody that was always cheering me on, that it didn’t take 10 or 15 years, until my book came out so they could know the truth and how much I really love Australia.”

Fans rally around Jelena Dokic amid horrifying new details

Dokic played Fed Cup for Serbia and Montenegro in 2004, but switched his allegiance back to Australia the following year. She had a 14-3 record in the Fed Cup and produced many famous victories for Australia.

“I loved representing Australia. I loved team events. Anything to do with team events I always won. I had a 99 per cent win rate. There’s a reason for that,” she said. “Fed Cup, Hopman Cup, which I won with Mark Philippoussis. I loved it and I enjoyed playing in Australia and at the Australian Open.

“He (Damir) took it away from me for those few years. I wanted to come back earlier, but I was worried about people’s reaction, even though I came back three, four years later. Everyone embraced me when I came back, but people still had doubts. They didn’t see me as someone who was this patriotic Australian, and it hurt me because I was.”

Amidst the release of her new documentary, fans have been sending greetings to Dokic on social media after learning some of the details surrounding her relationship with her father. Tennis fans and the wider community have praised her incredible strength and resilience to overcome it and become the person she is today.

“It’s heartbreaking and I think people will find it hard to watch, there’s no way around it,” she said last week. “They will find it horrible and very difficult and disturbing, but that’s what it’s about. We must tell the hard stories. The day we stop doing that, our life and what we are trying to achieve to change the world stops.”

Readers seeking support can contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (13 11 14)