Jelena Dokic has overcome obstacles that some can only imagine. Facing the pressures of being a professional tennis player since her teen years in addition to surviving physical abuse at the hands of her father, and former coach, and in 2021, the breakdown of a 19-year relationship. The sports commentator battled anxiety, depression, PTSD and an eating disorder and has come out the other side.
But her journey hasn’t been an easy one, with Dokic being very open about her lowest points.
In an Instagram post from August 24 2024, she posted a side by side transformation picture – showing herself now and how she was seven years ago. While she physically looks different in each picture (a positive glow surrounding her in the second) she insists that it is her mental health that has changed the most.
“Even though I have a bit less weight now on the right, this is not about weight. Because even if I was half the size on the left, I would still feel the same. And how is that? Not worthy enough to even live!!,” she wrote in the lengthy caption.
“…The person on the left was broken, shattered, battling anxiety, depression, PTSD, BPD and an eating disorder. At times I hoped I wouldn’t wake up so that I don’t have to feel like this anymore,” she added.
The transformation of Jelena Dokic
Dokic had touched on this topic in a June 2024 Instagram post following comments about her weight loss.
“This is about health and not size. So many questions about me getting healthier, which has seen me lose weight,” she wrote next to another side by side picture.
“Weight loss was not a priority. It’s just a by-product of looking after my health,” she added.
Dokic has also leaned on therapy to help her with her mental health, learning to turn her pain into something positive and helped to transform every aspect of her life.
Major players in this transformation, were her books Unbreakable (2019) and Fearless: Finding the power to thrive (2023).
“If I didn’t write these two books and especially my first book ‘unbreakable’ I would not be here today. Without a doubt,100 percent I would have taken my own life,” she vulnerably shared in an August 2023 Instagram post celebrating her books.
Thankfully sharing her story has given her the boost she needed and the drive to inspire others to keep going in difficult times.
Sharing advice for other survivors in her August 24 Instagram post she said, “Courage and resilience,” helped her get there.
“Fight hard. Every single day, don’t give up and no matter how scary it is get outside of your comfort zone. It will get easier and more comfortable to do so. Keep going after it even when it’s scary. Be brave and never give up,” she continued.
“I have a lot of joy in my life now, I’m thriving,” she told The Guardian in an April 2024 interview.
Looking and feeling amazing, Dokic now continues to reassure people that there can be a light after such a dark time.
Having retired from professional tennis in 2014, Dokic is a sports commentator, author and speaker, sharing her story with schools and more and inspiring generations.
Want to know more about the Aussie tennis star? Keep scrolling
What happened to Jelena Dokic?
Jelena Dokic is former champion tennis player and survivor of abuse. While she has overcome many hurdles in her life, her father’s abusive behaviour was a large topic in her 2017 autobiography Unbreakable. Dokic revealed that her father Damir Dokic would whip her with a belt, sometimes so severely that she lost consciousness, if she failed on the court – but it wasn’t exclusive to her losses.
“Even if I won, I would still at times be beaten and be abused,” she told The Age in a sit down interview published January 2024.
Does Jelena Dokic still talk to her father?
After she aired her experience, Dokic attempted to reconcile with her father. Despite her efforts, he refused to apologise for his behaviour, leading the star to cut him out of her life completely.
In 2019 she told Now To Love, “I haven’t done anything wrong. You can’t change things that happen. It is what it is. You can’t choose your parents and your family and that’s fine.
“As I’ve gotten older and I’m getting closer to having my own family, I realise that you have to let go of the bad things in your life.”
Is Jelena Dokic married?
No, Dokic is not married. In 2021, Dokic split from her boyfriend of 19 years Tin Bikic. In her book Fearless: Finding the power to thrive, she revealed that Bikic broke up with her over facetime in a tearful goodbye.
“As I held the phone I was plunged into a state of disbelief. We were over? It was quite incomprehensible. I was in shock. We had hopes of having children. But then, over the phone, two days before Christmas, he was telling me we were done. My mind went into freefall. It all felt so surreal. Weird. Wrong,” she wrote.
Does she have kids?
No, the former tennis champion does not have kids.
Speaking to Woman’s Day in September 2023, “My ex-boyfriend Tin and I were going to have kids. Maybe that situation will not happen for me and that’s okay, I’ve made peace with that.”
Adding, “But if I do have kids – and I do want kids because I love them – I’m going to go the adoption route. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au
