{"id":13193,"date":"2017-11-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/uncategorized\/jelena-dokic-recounts-horrific-abuse-she-endured-hands-her-father\/"},"modified":"2017-11-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T00:00:00","slug":"jelena-dokic-recounts-horrific-abuse-she-endured-hands-her-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/news\/jelena-dokic-recounts-horrific-abuse-she-endured-hands-her-father\/","title":{"rendered":"Jelena Dokic recounts the horrific abuse she endured at the hands of her father"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Aussie tennis champion Jelena Dokic has spoken out about the years of harrowing abuse she lived through in an intimate interview with Carrie Bickmore on The Project<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The 34-year-old sporting star, who is now a tennis coach and columnist, spoke about the disturbing reality of her teenage years with her father where abuse and insult were commonplace:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to a stage after that happening for a couple of years where it\u2019s just your everyday life and you accept it as being, let\u2019s say, <\/em>normal.<\/em>\u201d Dokic told Bickmore.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what my life was about, that\u2019s what I had to deal with literally on a day-to-day basis.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was always something even if it at times wasn\u2019t physical, which was very rare, it was emotional. There was always something that I didn\u2019t do right.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"jelena<\/p>\n

In her book Unbreakable<\/em><\/a>, Dokic recounts being kicked in the head until rendered unconscious, being told she wasn\u2019t allowed to come home after losing the Wimbledon semi-final at just 17 years old and constantly being called a \u201cwh*re\u201d, \u201chopeless cow\u201d and \u201cdirty bi*ch\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough because I was growing up, I was 17 or 18 and it wasn\u2019t stopping and I knew that he was motivated by money and I constantly tried to play well and earn more which I was doing well, but it wasn\u2019t enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI was really breaking down inside and it was so tough for me to play a professional sport that is very brutal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"jelena<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until her father forced her to abandon Australia to play for Yugoslavia that Dokic decided to make the brave decision to leave, however. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis was something that really, I was very angry about and I still am to this day. It was just so disrespectful and ungrateful because my career was funded by Australia and everything that was funded he turned his back to that and made me do the same.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI left with just my racquet bag and my suitcase and that was it. I had no money, no credit card. I signed everything over to him a couple of months earlier, I think he thought that I was too scared probably to do it and that I would always stay no matter what,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While her story has, at times, been a heart-breaking one, Dokic says she doesn\u2019t want anyone to feel sorry for her. In her book she shares:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am luckier than most. Healthy. No longer a victim. I am a survivor. And I will always find a way.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Few could imagine the abuse Jelena Dokic endured but now she has found her voice and her harrowing tale is being heard. #TheProjectTV<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mYgqqXc0wG<\/a><\/p>— The Project (@theprojecttv) November 13, 2017<\/a><\/blockquote> \n