Anyone who watched Jelena Dokic’s Logie-winning documentary Unbreakable would have seen the strain on her face as a teenager, as she battled to reach the top in world tennis while being controlled by her abusive father.
But there’s a different look on Jelena’s face these days: happiness.
“I can, hands down, say that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, no doubt – personally, professionally,” Jelena, 42, tells TV WEEK.
“I’m very, very happy with where I am with everything, the age I’m at, with the healing, with who I am and what I stand for and everything that I do today.”
It’s been 25 years since teenage Jelena walked onto court at the Australian Open and was booed by the crowd because she’d just announced – as her father Damir had ordered her to do – that she’d be playing for her birth country, Yugoslavia, and not Australia.
Now, when Jelena walks out in front of a crowd, whether at the Logies or in her position as a commentator at the tennis, she can feel the love.
“I have always loved Australia,” she says.
“This is my home, from when I came here as an 11-year-old. The first thing I did when I got estranged from my father, I came back to Australia because I am Australian.”
She says since opening up about her life, through her book, Unbreakable, as well as her documentary, she feels like she’s connected with the Australian public on a whole new level.
“It feels like we are in it together. It’s something that I could only have dreamed of.“I have so many people come up to me all the time and they have so much kindness and they have such incredible words to me.”
While she was still playing tennis, Jelena had thoughts of one day becoming a commentator. She would watch other players’ matches live or on YouTube, and would “dissect” their game.
“I always feel like I had a passion for it, for media and for TV and for tennis.”
But when she retired in 2014, she didn’t believe that she was capable of stepping into a commentary role.
“When I retired from tennis I did it because of injuries but also mental health struggles,” she explains.
“I was in the depths of depression and anxiety and PTSD and an eating disorder, so I really was a person that had no self-worth.
“I was so lost and beat down as a person, which is a massive consequence of child abuse and domestic violence.”
As Jelena revealed in her Logies acceptance speech, this was when player-turned-commentator Todd Woodbridge changed everything for her by telling her that she could be a commentator too.
“I’m a massive believer that we can do so much on our own, but if you’ve just got that one person to believe in you in some way, whether it’s professionally or personally, that can literally save a life,” she says.
“And Todd did that for me professionally.”
Jelena says winning the Best Factual Or Documentary Program Logie for Unbreakable was “incredible”.
“I still look at that as not just the highlight of the year but I would even say pretty much the last 10 years,” she says.
“I feel like it’s a massive win, not for me but for victims and survivors of anything from child abuse to domestic violence, mental health, bullying, even trolling and body shaming – everything that I talk about, everything I stand for. I feel like it’s giving people a voice.”
Jelena believes in using her profile to raise awareness, including of health issues.
When she was taken to hospital during the US Open due to pain from a fibroid in her uterus, she posted on social media about it, and she did the same thing when she had surgery to remove the fibroid in December.
“I’m glad I was able to do it now and be able to take this time to recover and look after myself,” she says. “But also, it’s been really important for me to speak up about that.”
Now, Jelena is gearing up for the Australian Open.
“It’s such an exciting time, especially for us Australians and for me as a Melburnian. It’s such a special time. It always was for me as a player but it continues to be even now when I’m on the other side.”
There are so many players to keep an eye on, from up-and-coming young Aussie women like Maya Joint and Emerson Jones to the world’s top two men’s players, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
“This is the only Grand Slam where they haven’t played in the final yet,” Jelena says. “And Alex de Minaur is in the top 10. Can he make it through to his first Grand Slam semi-final? That would be amazing to do at home in Melbourne.”
Once again, Jelena will be commentating alongside Todd Woodbridge.
“It’s great to be able to work alongside a great friend and mentor. I look at him like a bit of a father figure as well.”
As for the future, Jelena has already started branching out beyond tennis commentary, appearing as a guest presenter on Postcards.
She’d like to work more in fashion, beauty and travel.
“I do have ultimate dreams to maybe host a travel show or something like that,” she says.
“Fashion, I love very much. It’s actually a little bit of who I am today and my identity. It’s fun to experiment with it.”
Jelena says she’s “so happy” to find herself in fields she didn’t think she would be in, working with “amazing people”.
“That’s also a big part of my self-worth,” she says.
“I want to show that to people as well, that you can go through different challenges with your confidence, with your self-worth, but you can come out the other side and find those other passions.”
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