The Jelena Dokic survivor story: How the Australian Open mainstay went from enduring domestic abuse to becoming a voice for victims

Jelena Dokic is a former top 5 tennis player who has now become a familiar figure at the Australian Open where she works as a commentator. She is also known as someone who has become a voice for abuse victims, having endured the same herself.

Dokic had a pretty successful junior career during which she won the girls' singles title at the 1998 US Open and the girls' doubles title with Kim Clijsters at that year's French Open.

The following year, she reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, notably thrashing then-World No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-0 in the first round. She went one round further in the 2000 edition of the grass-court Major. That year, she also reached the semifinals of the Olympics and finished fourth.

Apart from her impressive performances in tournaments, Dokic also gained prominence through her life off the court, which included her switching allegiance back to Yugoslavia from Australia and her relationship with her father and coach Damir.

Dokic went on to reach the top 5 of the WTA rankings and won six singles titles throughout her career, which ended in 2014. By this time, she also changed her allegiance to Australia.

Following her retirement, Jelena Dokic took to coaching and worked with Tennis Australia before becoming a commentator for Fox Sports. In 2017, the Aussie published her autobiography "Unbreakable", where she wrote about the abuse she was subjected to by her father.

Dokic has continued to be vocal about receiving abuse, often taking to social media to talk about her experiences. This included narrating an instance when she contemplated suicide.

On another instance, Jelena Dokic claimed that she was kicked and beaten for losing a match while being only 17 years old and that the effects of the same were felt as the years passed.

"Swollen,bruised and bleeding shins from being beaten and kicked all night with sharp shoes right into my shins for losing a match. These images were taken more than 2 weeks later and I was still heavily bruised. I was 17 years old. To this day I still have sensitive and bumpy shins from this beating. From every wound there is a scar and these are mine," the Aussie said.

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Jelena Dokic and Aryna Sabalenka combine at Australian Open 2024 to aid domestic abuse victims

Jelena Dokic at the 2024 United Cup

Jelena Dokic and Aryna Sabalenka produced a moment of class after the latter booked her place in the Australian Open final for the second straight year.

The Aussie interviewed the World No. 2 following her win over Coco Gauff and asked her to sign a towel which would be auctioned to help victims of domestic violence and abuse. Sabalenka obliged, much to the crowd's delight.

Earlier in 2023, Dokic also published her second book titled "Fearless".