WATCH: Jelena Dokic discloses how she was forced to spend the night in Wimbledon’s lounge after her abusive father didn’t let her into the room due to semis loss

Dokic reflects on her challenging past and how she suffered trauma from her abusive father.

WATCH: Jelena Dokic discloses how she was forced to spend the night in Wimbledon’s lounge after her abusive father didn’t let her into the room due to semis loss

Jelena Dokic and Damir Dokic (Credits: ABC)

Former World No. 4 Jelena Dokic recently recalled a horrific and heartbreaking story of how she was forced to spend a night in Wimbledon’s lounge because of her abusive father. This happened against the backdrop of the Australian losing the semi-finals of the 2000 Wimbledon. 

Her father added to her woes as he warned her about not returning to their hotel that day, as she had embarrassed him by losing out in the semi-finals. The retired tennis professional was then forced to sleep in the Wimbledon lounges. The Serbian tennis player lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals of the championships.

YouTube video

She talked about how she was all upset and crying with tears flowing in her eyes, speaking to her father over the phone. Her father used a harsh and abusive tone as he called her an embarrassment for losing. He also threatened her not to return to their hotel. She even recalled him saying, 

FS Video
You are  a disgrace,...an embarrassment to me and the family. You are not allowed to come back to the hotel, find your own way do whatever you want, I am not coming back.

Talking about the incident on ‘Head Game’ podcast, Jelena Dokic stated: 

So I stayed at Wimbledon, waited for everyone to leave and I hid in the corner of the player's lounge to be able to stay there for the night and sleep.

That’s not all; the former World No. 4 also opened up about how she was found by the cleaners in the middle of the night. Describing this situation, she further added:

They found me in the middle of the night, because the cleaners were cleaning the place late at night. I don't want anyone to pity me. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. It's now okay how do I rebuild and become this person that I know I can be. Victim to survior to thriver

Jelena Dokic revealed that her dad used to beat her

The former tennis player turned analyst and commentator has written an autobiography on her life’s story of how she survived all the tough challenges in her life as a woman and as a tennis professional. In the book ‘Unbreakable,’ she mentioned incidents involving her father’s abusive behavior.

Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokic ( Credits: IOL)

Sharing her childhood experiences, the Serbian added, 

When I started playing tennis and hit that first very ball, my father beat me. Things were unraveling and getting worse behind closed doors.

The former World No. 4 urged her fans and tennis followers to not show pity or sympathy towards her. The Australian also spoke about how she is past all this, which has shaped her into a much better and tougher human being.

In case you missed it: