Former tennis world number four Jelena Dokic has announced the death of her father and former coach, Damir Dokic, on May 16.
The news, shared on social media, has stirred a complex mix of emotions for Jelena, who reflected on a difficult relationship with her late father.
Damir, a controversial figure in the world of tennis, was known for his overbearing presence during his daughter’s rise to prominence.
His often harsh and domineering behavior was widely criticized, and Jelena later revealed that he had subjected her to both physical and emotional abuse throughout her childhood and early tennis career.
In her emotional tribute, Jelena acknowledged the complicated grief she felt following his death, despite years of estrangement.
“My relationship with my father has been difficult and painful with a lot of history,” Jelena wrote. “Despite everything… it is never easy losing a parent, even one you are estranged from. The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief.”
Jelena, who has not spoken to her father in many years, shared her desire to focus on the positive memories, reflecting on the impact of those good moments.
“For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good memory like this picture,” she added, referencing a nostalgic image.
She also emphasized the importance of values like respect, grace, kindness, dignity, and empathy, choosing to embody those principles in this painful time.
In a final, heartfelt message, Jelena requested privacy for herself and her family, signing off with a simple, “RIP.”
Years of Abuse and Strained Relationship
Damir Dokic’s notoriety reached its peak during Jelena’s rise from a promising junior to a top-ranked player, including a memorable Wimbledon semi-final.
However, behind the scenes, the father-daughter relationship was marked by abusive behavior that shocked the tennis world.
In 2009, Jelena revealed the full extent of the abuse she endured at the hands of her father, detailing physical violence and verbal cruelty in interviews and her autobiography, Unbreakable.
She described incidents of her father whipping her with a leather belt, kicking her with pointed shoes, and even spitting in her face. Jelena recalled one particularly traumatic moment when she was beaten so badly that she lost consciousness.
Damir’s behavior spiraled in 2009, when he was arrested for threatening to blow up the car of Australia’s ambassador to Serbia and was found to have a stash of illegal weapons at his home.
He later claimed that the threats were a “joke” and that the weapons were merely war souvenirs.
Jelena has since turned her painful past into a platform for advocacy, speaking out about the abuse in multiple books and a documentary.
Following her retirement from professional tennis in 2014, she has become a respected tennis pundit and commentator.
Damir’s death, while marking the end of a difficult chapter in Jelena’s life, has also sparked reflection on the complexities of family relationships, loss, and healing.
