ź¦Former Australian tennis champion Jelena Dokic iās 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 fš¤Ŗamily moved to Australia when she was 11 years old.
Making a name for herself as a talentāed junior tennis player, Dokic won the 1998 US Open girls title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters.
She won the Hopman Cuš 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.
In 2000 she reached the Wimbledon semifinals, her best resušlt 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 šøthree years to produce, with the official trailer released by movie studio, Vš¶illage Roadshow, this week.
The film was written by Ivan OāØāMahoney and journalist Jessica Halloran, and features plenty of big names from the tennis world.
In the trailer, Dokic is heard reflecting on her fatherās abuse, and breaks dšown in tears at one stage.
āIām 16 years old. Iām 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 wasnāt bruised. Iām 17 and through his actions, (I) became the most hated person.ā
Featured is Doškicās 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.
āSome other players had notišced bruisingš,ā said Davenport, who played Dokic several times.
American doubles legend Pam Shriveš¬r added: āWhen š·you look back and see what she did accomplish, wow.ā
Australian jouršnalist Richard Hinds š says in the documentary: āFrom 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: āCould 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 trailerās release has been overwhelmingly positive andš Dokic has been inundated with support.
Tennis account ChrišÆstianās Court wrote on X: āThe trailer for Jelena DšÆokicās āUnbreakableā is so chilling.ā
Dokic, now one of Australiaās 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 criticią¹sed her weight.
Earlier this year the 41-year-old revealedš 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 šabout her family history of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.
āThis is about health and not size. So many questions about me getting healthier, which has seen me lose weight,ā she said. āWeight loss š °was not a priority. Itās just a by-product of looking after my health.ā
Dokic said it was smaāll changes over ą“time that helped her sustain her health goals.
āI stopped eating late at night especially things like burgers, pizza, fries and dessšerts š§øbecause they made me feel so sluggish when I would wake up especially for early morning work and flights,ā she said.
āSo I donāt eat heavy meals at night anymore and I donāt eat after 7pm. Itās small changes over time and while I āstill have my cheeseburger and fries days itās just a lot less and I definitely donāt eat junk fšÆood when I am working and traveling.
āJust consistency and small changes overtime. I have also exercised mošre. Little changes for a healthier lifestyle. RememberšÆ itās not one size fits all and do what is best for you. Everyone is different.ā