Tennis

Chilling abuse reveal in new tennis doc: ‘the most hated person’

ź¦Former Australian tennis champion Jelena Dokic iā™Žs set to tell her life story in a new documentary to be released next month.

This week a trailer was released for the documentary titled “Unbreakable.”

The story of Dokź§™ic is well known. She was born in Yugoslavia and her fšŸ¤Ŗamily moved to Australia when she was 11 years old.

Making a name for herself as a talentā™‘ed junior tennis player, Dokic won the 1998 US Open girls title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters.

She won the Hopman CušŸ…˜p in 1999 for Australia with Mark Philippoussis.

Her breakthrough moment came that same year when as a 16-year-old qualifier, she upset Martina Hingis in the first round at Wimā›¦bledon and made a run to the quarterfinals.

Jelena Dokic during the 2000 US Open AP

In 2000 she reached the Wimbledon semifinals, her best resuš’ƒlt at a grand slam.

After a turbulent period in the mid 2000s, she made a comeback to tennis and made a fairytale run to the quarterfinals at the 200ą± 9 Australian Open.

But behind the scenes her relationship with her father Damir Dokic became strained and in her 2017 memoir “Unbreakable” she detailed the horrific physical and mental abuse she suffered at the hands of her father.

The documentary has taken šŸŒøthree years to produce, with the official trailer released by movie studio, VšŸŽ¶illage Roadshow, this week.

The film was written by Ivan OāœØā€™Mahoney and journalist Jessica Halloran, and features plenty of big names from the tennis world.

In the trailer, Dokic is heard reflecting on her fatherā€™s abuse, and breaks dšŸ’ƒown in tears at one stage.

ā€œIā€™m 16 years old. Iā€™m playing the World No. 1 Martina Hingis,ā€ she said. “I knew that if I lost, the consequences would be catastrophic. One day after I lost, he was extremely angry. I knew what was going to happen.

“There was not an inch of skin that wasnā€™t bruised. Iā€™m 17 and through his actions, (I) became the most hated person.ā€

Featured is DošŸ‰kicā€™s contemporary Lindsay Davenport, the three-time grand slam champion who was the top female tennis player in the world at the turn of the century.

ā€œSome other players had notiš“†‰ced bruisingšŸƒ,ā€ said Davenport, who played Dokic several times.

Jelena and her father Damir Dokic Unbreakable/YouTube

American doubles legend Pam ShrivešŸ¬r added: ā€œWhen šŸ·you look back and see what she did accomplish, wow.ā€

Australian jourš“€nalist Richard Hinds šŸ€…says in the documentary: ā€œFrom fairly early times, there were rumors about what was happening. Questions were asked, but they hit a brick wall.ā€

Leading tennis reporter Christopher Clarey added: ā€œCould I have had dug deeper to uncover what was really going on? I think a lot of us coļæ½ź¦¬ļæ½uld have.ā€

The reaction to the trailerā€™s release has been overwhelmingly positive andšŸŒ Dokic has been inundated with support.

Jelena Dokic has openly discussed her struggles. Unbreakable/YouTube

Tennis account ChrišŸ’Æstianā€™s Court wrote on X: ā€œThe trailer for Jelena DšŸ”Æokicā€™s ā€œUnbreakableā€ is so chilling.ā€

Dokic, now one of Australiaā€™s leading tennis commentators and a fierce advocate for mental health, has been very open about her battles with body image, hitting back at social media trolls who have criticią¹„sed her weight.

Earlier this year the 41-year-old revealedš’ƒ she had lost 45 pounds as part of a bid to look after her health.

The former tennis star said between turning 40 and her own creeping health issues, she started to really think šŸ“about her family history of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.

ā€œThis is about health and not size. So many questions about me getting healthier, which has seen me lose weight,ā€ she said. ā€œWeight loss šŸ…°was not a priority. Itā€™s just a by-product of looking after my health.ā€

Dokic said it was smaā™‘ll changes over ą“œtime that helped her sustain her health goals.

ā€œI stopped eating late at night especially things like burgers, pizza, fries and dessšŸŽerts šŸ§øbecause they made me feel so sluggish when I would wake up especially for early morning work and flights,ā€ she said.

ā€œSo I donā€™t eat heavy meals at night anymore and I donā€™t eat after 7pm. Itā€™s small changes over time and while I ā˜‚still have my cheeseburger and fries days itā€™s just a lot less and I definitely donā€™t eat junk fšŸ’Æood when I am working and traveling.

ā€œJust consistency and small changes overtime. I have also exercised mošŸŽƒre. Little changes for a healthier lifestyle. RememberšŸ”Æ itā€™s not one size fits all and do what is best for you. Everyone is different.ā€