Former Australian tennis champion Jelena Dokic says she would have to endure ‘100 years of abuse’ at the hands of her father if it meant she could turn her back on her decision to play for Australia.
The 41-year-old former world number 4 was born in what was then Yugoslavia and her family moved to Australia when she was 11 years old.
Her tennis career peaked when she reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 1999 and the semi-finals in 2000, followed by the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2002.
Dokic represented Australia early in her career, but announced in 2001 that she was turning her back on her new home and would represent Yugoslavia instead.
She says her father was behind the controversial decision and she wishes it had never happened.
“I would accept a hundred years of abuse if I could take it back and not play for Australia for a few years,” she told the BBC. Carrie & Tommy radio show.
‘He took away something I loved so much.
‘He took that away from me at that moment. He’s sitting in a hotel room watching this while 15,000 people boo me. I just wanted to fall into the ground and disappear and never come back.
Jelena Dokic says she would have to endure ‘100 years of abuse’ by her father (pictured with her mother Ljiljana) to reverse her decision to play for Yugoslavia instead of Australia
Dokic, who left Australia in 2001, blamed her father for her lost dream of playing for her country
“I would accept any abuse, anything in the world, to not even have to experience it personally, but that my people, Australians and my fans and everyone who always cheered for me, were not needed, that there were not ten or more took fifteen years for my book to come out so they could know the truth and how much I really love Australia.”
While the tell-all feature Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story hits theaters this month, Jelena also admitted that while she doesn’t forgive her father, she doesn’t “hate” him either.
‘I don’t blame anyone. I don’t hate anyone. “I don’t hate anyone at all, and I would never do that,” Jelena told the BBC 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 a trailer for Unbreakable, Jelena recalls how she felt pressure to win because her father Damir regularly abused him.
‘I’m 16 years old here. I played #1 Martina Hingis and I knew if I lost the consequences would be catastrophic,” she says in the trailer as she watches footage of herself playing.
The teenage prodigy’s tennis career peaked when she reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 1999 and the semi-finals in 2000, followed by the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2002
Dokic claims her father physically and emotionally abused her from the age of six
‘One day after I lost, I knew what was going to happen… I started to feel really broken inside.
‘There wasn’t an inch of skin that wasn’t bruised. I’m 17 and because of his actions, [I] became the most hated person.’
Her autobiography of the same name was released in 2017 and Jelena describes the harrowing physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her father Damir during her playing career.
Jelena told the Telegraaf that she feels an ‘incredible freedom’ after telling her story in the book and now in the feature film.
‘It gave me a voice. It gave me the strength to reclaim my life. “I have never been happier,” she said.
‘For the first time in my life I was not silenced. And that comes with incredible freedom.’
During her appearance on Jess Rowe’s Big Talk Show in May, Jelena spoke about her book and reiterated that she doesn’t hate her abusive father.
“After reading your story, I hate your dad,” Jess told Jelena, expressing surprise that the former athlete doesn’t share the same sentiments.
Dokic says she does not blame her father Demir for the abuse she suffered as a young player
‘No. I don’t want to leave that place. I don’t hate anyone. Hate is a very powerful word, but I can understand you and the people who use it,” Jelena responded.
“For whatever reason, the universe gave me that as my childhood and my life, and I have to accept the circumstances… I don’t have to hate him, but I don’t forgive him.”
Despite years of abuse, Jelena revealed earlier this year why she once tried to reconcile with her father when they last connected a decade ago.
‘I last had contact with him about ten years ago. And yes, I even tried to reconcile with him once or twice,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald in January.
“I think no matter what happens, you hope that maybe you can save a relationship when it comes to family.”