Almanac Film: Jelena Dokic’s Incredible Survival

 

 

 

Try to imagine for one second a man (and I use that term loosely) who is a combination of Adolf Hitler and the Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil. That is Demir Dokic, father of former Australian tennis star Jelena.

Demir’s brutal control over his daughter for just over twenty years would be excessive for any child to handle but when that child is a tennis prodigy playing in such a high profile professional sport, it had to take its toll eventually.

All was revealed in Jelena’s 2019 biography Unbreakable, where Demir’s evil was finally exposed. Now a documentary of the same name has been released and it’s a ripper.

Simply, Jelena was Demir and her mum’s meal ticket and when an opportunity to escape war torn Croatia in the mid 90s and flee to Australia, they took full advantage.

Jelena took all before her winning just about everything worldwide as a child including the Wimbledon Junior title alongside Roger Federer who took out the boys.

She was playing majors as a seventeen and eighteen year old and making finals. Her coaches speak of her insatiable work ethic and love for the game, however it was off the court where her controlling and mostly drunk father was waiting for her.

Without giving too much away because believe me there is lots to absorb in this excellent film, but there were two moments that reduced me to some salty discharge.

Firstly, when Jelena was seventeen she loses a tight quarter final at Wimbledon and her father refuses to pick her up and take her back to the hotel. She is found six hours later in a changeroom by a cleaner. The WTA organise somewhere for her to stay for the night before she is handed back to the spineless lunatic she stays blindly loyal to.

Secondly, in 2001 Demir claimed irregularities in the Australian Open draw and decided that Jelena was now playing for Yugoslavia. He sent her out in round one against Lindsay Davenport and a hostile Melbourne crowd now turning on Jelena because of this so called defection.

Davenport’s level of sportsmanship, which has been echoed many times over the years, comes to the fore as she wraps her arms around a distraught Jelena back in the changerooms after having been at her own press conference. How on earth could this poor girl be expected to perform under these constant pressures?

Jelena somehow chisels out a successful career up to her early twenties before Demir demands that she sign over all her money, literally millions in prize-money and endorsements to this lecherous buffoon.

The last twenty minutes or so focuses on Jelena’s redemption at the 2009 Australian Open and most importantly her recovery from depression and PTSD.

She is now a sought after public speaker, superb tennis commentator and advocate for zero tolerance when it comes to domestic violence.

Jelena’s parents refused to cooperate in the documentary which is no surprise. The treatment of their daughter was shameful and should have been picked up much earlier.

Interviews with world tennis officials didn’t really satisfy the question of ‘how could this happen?‘ for me, but it mostly came down to Jelena’s refusal to tell the truth. She was terrified and utterly brainwashed by this cruel and callous individual.

The boss of Australian Tennis, Craig Tiley reckons more steps are now in place to identify issues such as the Dokic’s so this won’t occur again.

A bit late for Jelena. Thankfully the documentary highlights the enormous talent that Jelena possessed. Both Pam Shriver and Lindsay Davenport agree that she could have been number 1 in the world.

You get the feeling from this film that Jelena is just happy to be alive. We look forward to seeing her on TV over the summer. Here is the trailer.

 

 

 

More from Ian Wilson can be read Here.

 

 

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