{"id":820085,"date":"2026-10-31T20:18:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T20:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820085\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T20:18:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T20:18:30","slug":"jelena-dokic-on-finding-love-and-letting-go-of-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820085\/","title":{"rendered":"Jelena Dokic on finding love and letting go of shame"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, Jelena Dokic<\/a> was known to the world as an embattled tennis star, and then as a survivor of family violence. Having burst onto the tennis scene at the tender age of 16, the world was yet to understand the extent of the family violence she was enduring at the hands of her late father Damir Dokic.<\/p>\n

Now, at 43, she is more than just a survivor<\/a> of family violence. Jelena has become a fierce advocate for others.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Jelena Dokic\u2019s new book Live Free is out on November 3.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Jelena speaks openly about family violence, body image, bullying on social media, mental health struggles, and recovering from heartbreak, with a new partner by her side.<\/p>\n

She has also built an impressive career as one of the country\u2019s leading tennis commentators at Nine. <\/p>\n

She is a Logie-award winner for her documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, and she is about to release her third book called Live Free, out on November 3 and currently available for pre-order<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Jelena told nine.com.au holding her books in her hands \u201cgets more exciting\u201d. Her first book Unbreakable and follow up Fearless both became bestsellers, and this one looks like yet another winner.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel like, especially for this one, it\u2019s a real pivot from the first two.\u2019\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like, especially for this one, it\u2019s a real pivot from the first two, and especially from the first one, which was a memoir,\u201d she told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

Jelena wants to teach others that you can go through adversity, survive, and even thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd not being defined by that past, instead actually using it to drive you and still be able to go forward and fulfil goals and dreams, personally and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her latest book, she explains the exact mindset required to achieve all of this.<\/p>\n

Finding her voice and leaving shame behind<\/p>\n

In her new book Jelena talks about finding her voice, reclaiming her life, and reclaiming her self-worth and confidence, everything she wants others to achieve.<\/p>\n

Her newfound sense of peace has been helped in no small part by finding love with her partner Yane Veselinov who has become an important part of her carefully curated inner circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I also chose to talk about my partner as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jelena admits finding love wasn\u2019t something she\u2019d thought she\u2019d ever achieve after her painful split with her partner of 20 years Tin Bikic in late 2021.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jelena Dokic with her partner Yane Veselinov.\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena<\/p>\n

\u201cI really thought that was something that was going to be impossible after finishing an almost 20-year relationship. It\u2019s such a new world to then to go into.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was alone for almost five years and that in a way gave it a chance for this really lovely, amazing person to come along later on in life. But also, I have a very hectic life as well. I work a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo find a person that\u2019s going to be patient and understanding and kind and love you at this stage of your life no matter what. I always said I wanted a person that\u2019s really kind with a good heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

She admits finding love wasn\u2019t something she\u2019d thought she\u2019d ever achieve.\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena <\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

\u2018I always said I wanted a person that\u2019s really kind with a good heart.\u2019\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena <\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to show what a difference you can make to someone that has gone through a lot \u2026 that person can literally save a life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was alone for almost five years and that in a way gave it a chance for this really lovely, amazing person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

The couple first met in 2025.\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena<\/p>\n

Far from being fully healed when they first met, the pair has instead focused on continuing their healing journeys together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually feel like I have gone into my friendships and my relationships definitely not fully healed, and I think we\u2019re all learning and growing and healing our whole lives. And I think you can have scars, you can have wounds that you can work on together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courage, and learning to be brave<\/p>\n

Rebuilding her life has also been supported by treasured friend, mentor, and colleague Todd Woodbridge who urged her to give tennis commentary a go. Since then, she has continued to challenge herself to chase her dreams.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

With her friend and colleague Todd Woodbridge who urged her to try tennis commentary.\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time you\u2019re not going to be ready for something, and you never know if you\u2019re ready or not. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to jump into things and give it a go and figure it out. Sometimes you might feel like you\u2019re waiting to be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the scary part. That\u2019s where courage comes in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I feel if I don\u2019t give it a go, I might regret it. And if even if something doesn\u2019t turn out absolutely amazing, I\u2019ll will always get positive things out of it. I look at it more as lessons than losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process of healing and rebuilding, she explains, isn\u2019t always a smooth, upward trajectory. Her focus instead is on moving forward, and not letting her past harden her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be someone that has gone through something tough and hard, but I didn\u2019t want that to harden me as a person. I wanted to stay soft, I wanted to stay positive, I wanted to be someone that\u2019s kind, I wanted to be someone that could leave a legacy behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be someone that\u2019s kind, I wanted to be someone that could leave a legacy behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a face and voice and advocate for survivors, and especially of family violence and child abuse and mental health struggles, even bullying and body-shaming, which I\u2019m so proud of.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI still look at myself as that girl that could barely string two sentences together, especially post-tennis career, and today I am in fields that are completely the opposite of that. You have to really be able to talk and be able to think quickly and be able to perform live in front of millions of people watching or listening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Jelena at the Nine Upfronts earlier this year.\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you hear from people that you do help, that you do give them something to look forward to, that you do give them inspiration, that they can do something, that\u2019s the biggest motivator.\u201d<\/p>\n

That has also meant learning to let go of shame, judgement, and stigma.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

She is most proud of her advocacy work.\u00a0Instagram\/@dokic_jelena<\/p>\n

\u201cFor such a long time, victims and survivors were shamed instead celebrated and praised for what they\u2019re going through and speaking up, and abusers, perpetrators, and those actually doing the shaming haven\u2019t really faced consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, that\u2019s why I\u2019m so passionate about it and talk about it, because I feel like it needs to change. And we are doing better now, but I feel like, a long way to go.\u201c<\/p>\n

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, Jelena Dokic was known to the world as an embattled tennis star, and then as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":820086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-820085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}