Jelena Dokic’s confession about her abusive father: “You can’t choose your parents”

Former tennis star Jelena Dokic says she has stopped attempting to reconcile with her abusive father Damir and has completely cut him out of her life, despite currently holidaying in the same country where he now lives.

In 2017, the then 34-year-old revealed explosive claims about the years of horrendous abuse she was subjected to by her father and tennis coach, who would regularly beat and whip his daughter, sometimes so severely that she lost consciousness.

After airing the shocking revelations in her bestselling book Unbreakable, Jelena previously said that she attempted to mend her relationship with her father, but he refused to apologise for his behaviour.

But now Jelena says she’s officially cut him out of her life.

“I’m OK with that, I’ve made my peace with that,” Jelena told Now To Love.

“The book helped me get all of these things out that were bottled up and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I sleep very well at night,” she said.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. You can’t change things that happen. It is what it is. You can’t choose your parents and your family and that’s fine.

“As I’ve gotten older and I’m getting closer to having my own family, I realise that you have to let go of the bad things in your life.”

It’s no coincidence that since then, Jelena has chosen to overhaul both her physical and mental health, embarking on a much healthier lifestyle and has lost one third of her body weight.

The Jenny Craig ambassador frequently shows off her incredible weight loss results on Instagram – Jelena won’t reveal exactly how much she’s lost, but she started at 99kg and her goal weight is 66kg.

Aside from ditching the junk food and eating smaller portions, Jelena told Now To Love that intermittent fasting has also helped her maintain her weight.

“I’m fasting for 12 hours and eating within a 12 hour period. That’s something that I’ve really loved… using your body clock helps you lose weight a bit quicker.”

As well as sticking to a healthy diet, Jelena makes sure she moves her body everyday.

In particular, she’s enjoyed getting back into running after being forced to stop due to her weight.

“I couldn’t run for a very long time because of the shape I was in. I had to stop very often and I couldn’t do most exercise. I used to love running,” she said.

She combines that cardio workout with strength training and walks.

“I don’t really focus just arms or legs or abs. I do a bit of everything and the rest takes care of itself,” she said.

“I am doing strength training. I do leg and arm work and planks, stuff that I’ve done before. I don’t have a trainer, I just do it myself. And I do a bit of boxing.

“If I don’t feel like exercising in go out and have a walk. If I’m tried and want to have a few days off, that’s fine, but I go out and have a walk. I’ve had weeks where I just go around the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne for 4-5 days in a row.

“I’ve never done Pilates and that’s something I want to get into now. That’s my next thing.”

Does she miss playing tennis?

“I do a little bit, just because of the way I had to retire. [Jelena was forced to retire early due to an injury]. I didn’t know that was going to be it. I never got on court again and that was hard,” she revealed.

“I’m lucky I still get to be on court [Jelena is a tennis commentator] and I really like commentating, especially the Australian Open. We’re so busy and tired by the end of the month, but I’m doing what I love, which is talking about tennis.”