{"id":56384,"date":"2025-08-09T22:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T22:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/56384\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T22:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T22:55:10","slug":"jelena-dokic-interview-jelena-dokic-still-processing-her-fathers-death-following-her-logies-win-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/56384\/","title":{"rendered":"Jelena Dokic Interview: Jelena Dokic still ‘processing’ her father’s death following her Logies win | Exclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jelena Dokic<\/a> never expected to win the Logie<\/a> for Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story.<\/p>\n

“I went into it being so honoured to be nominated, especially for my documentary, something that is so personal, something that’s my story being told on screen and something that we worked so hard for,” Jelena, 42, tells 9honey.<\/p>\n

The documentary followed two bestselling books, Unbreakable<\/a> and Fearless<\/a>, in which she chronicled the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her father Damir Dokic, her escape and healing journey.\ufeff<\/p>\n

READ MORE: The prospect of ending her second marriage was ‘devastating’ for Nicole<\/a><\/p>\n

\"jelenaJelena Dokic never expected to win the Logie for her documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story. (Getty Images for TV WEEK Logie A)<\/p>\n

“So it was a real shock, obviously, in a positive way … I still think I’m processing it. It’s such a big honour.<\/p>\n

“We went into [the documentary] wanting to tell the story and share the story of what I went through, in order to try and help someone else out there and try and make a change.<\/p>\n

“So for a project like this, that tells the hard stories like domestic violence and mental health and child abuse, for something like that to be recognised and win is massive.”<\/p>\n

As Jelena said in her Logies acceptance speech, “This is about a win for victims and survivors … for them to reclaim their life, to find their voice and not just survive but to thrive.”\ufeff<\/p>\n

READ MORE: ‘Am I too old for this?’ Liz Hurley photo ignites age-old debate<\/a><\/p>\n

\"jelena“For a project like this that tells the hard stories… to be recognised and win is massive.” (Instagram @jelenadokic)Sharing her story to help others\ufeff<\/p>\n

Jelena has always wanted to use her story to give a voice to “every single other person out there that potentially is going through something like this, to give them hope so that they don’t feel all alone”.<\/p>\n

She also hopes to give them “a little bit of that strength and inspiration and motivation”, and to bring the topics of domestic violence, mental health and child abuse “to the forefront”.<\/p>\n

\ufeff”I wanted to normalise the conversation around it in general. This wasn’t just about culture or one background,” she says.<\/p>\n

“I think it was having that conversation openly in general.<\/p>\n

“But at the same time, I come from a culture and a family where that was a bit more normalised, and if you did speak up about it, there would be extreme shame and judgement and stigma.<\/p>\n

“But also, do we have in sport and our society judgment, shame and stigma around it as well? Yes, we do.<\/p>\n

“It’s much better now than it was even, let’s say, five to 10 years ago, but I still think that we need more work to do.”<\/p>\n

\"jelenaJelena hopes to bring the topics of domestic violence, mental health and child abuse ‘to the forefront’. (Getty Images for TV WEEK Logie A)<\/p>\n

During the worst of the abuse Jelena faced, she was on a world stage, competing in the most prestigious tennis tournaments.<\/p>\n

Her father’s behaviour had been witnessed, and injuries were visible on the young athlete who was only 15 when she began her professional career.<\/p>\n

“I think any kind of violence and abuse in general and putting anyone down is not OK. That’s, I think, in general, the message that we need to try and spread.”<\/p>\n

For her that means spreading the message in schools, in sports and at a grassroots level: “It’s about workplaces also … it’s everywhere.”<\/p>\n

\"jelenaDuring the worst of the abuse Jelena faced, she was competing on a world stage. (Getty)Processing a ‘complicated grief’<\/p>\n

Just three months before her Logies win, Jelena’s father Damir died at the age of 67.<\/p>\n

In a post on Instagram, she described the moment as “the end of a chapter”.<\/p>\n

“The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief,” she wrote, adding that she was choosing to focus on “good memories”.<\/p>\n

Jelena tells 9honey she is still processing his death.<\/p>\n

\"jelenaThree months before her Logies win, Jelena’s father, Damir Dokic, died at the age of 67. (Instagram @jelenadokic)<\/p>\n

“I’ve been estranged from my father for 10 years, so for me it’s different,” she says.<\/p>\n

“I’ve gone forward, I’ve dealt with my past, I try not to be defined and defeated by it. That’s what I stand for today.<\/p>\n

“It’s about not just being a survivor but a thriver, so I look forward and try to take the positives out of every situation.<\/p>\n

“I was aware of the fact that he was ill, it’s happened and it is what it is.”<\/p>\n

Jelena says she will be “processing some of the things and those emotions” in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\"jelena‘I’ve been estranged from my father for 10 years, so for me it’s different.’ (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I think that ultimately, at some stage, I will probably talk about a little bit more openly.<\/p>\n

“That kind of grief, perhaps when a parent or someone that you’ve been abused by does die … what does that do for you? What kind of emotions come through and what kind of grief comes through?”<\/p>\n

Her message of kindness<\/p>\n

For now, Jelena is focused on her extraordinary career as a tennis commentator for the Nine Network and advocacy work.<\/p>\n

“It’s been incredibly important to raise awareness of domestic violence and mental health, but it’s also been really important for me then to come out of that,” she says.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"jelena“I always wanted to be a representation of being a winner and standing in front of people.” (Instagram @jelenadokic)<\/p>\n

“I wanted to show people that if I can do it, they can do it as well, to give them hope that you can go through any kind of hardship and adversity, come out the other end.<\/p>\n

“I always wanted to be a representation of being a winner and standing in front of people.<\/p>\n

“What I stand for is being a winner, but I also wanted to stand in front of people as being someone that has done things with kindness and grace and dignity, no matter what I’ve been through … no hate, resentment, or anger.”<\/p>\n

She also wanted to “break that cycle”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Shop the most packable puffer jackets<\/a><\/p>\n

\"jelenaHer books Unbreakable and Fearless were instant hits. (Instagram @jelenadokic)\"jelenaJelena has since built an extraordinary career as a tennis commentator for the Nine Network. (Getty)<\/p>\n

“I wanted to be someone that … represents a winner, a fighter, but also that you can do it with a smile on your face and that you can do it with kindness and turn the worst of circumstances into driving you to do better, to help people.<\/p>\n

“I am just as proud of the fact that people connect kindness with all the other things that I do and fight for and advocate for.<\/p>\n

“If people can say, ‘Look, she’s very kind and she’s lovely and she’s so nice and she does everything with a smile,’ then yeah, that’s my ultimate goal and the legacy that I wanna leave behind.”<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is in need of support for the issues raised contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732<\/a>.\ufeff<\/p>\n

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jelena Dokic never expected to win the Logie for Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story. “I went into it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-56384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}