Australian tennis star Jelena Dokic has revealed the terrifying truth behind a major change she undertook in the middle of her career.
The former top five tennis star turned media personality has never shied away from detailing and speaking about her harrowing upbringing.
Watch Tennis Live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. Live Coverage of ATP + WTA Tour Tournaments including Every Finals Match. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The 39-year-old has been open with her struggles with depression, online abuse, body shaming and the family violence she suffered throughout her career.
Dokic revealed the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of her father during her tennis career in her book Unbreakable.
Now in an eye-opening post shared on Instagram, Dokic has detailed the extent of the abuse and how it led her to attempting suicide.
“What is the most common comment I see when it comes to my body, size and weight? ‘What happened to her? I can barely recognise her’,” Dokic said.
“Really? What happened? You can’t recognise me? Let me tell you what happened.
“I survived being a refugee twice, I was bullied, I lived in a domestic violence filled home for 15 years and I was beaten unconscious, I was abused physically and emotionally and got beaten for the first time when I was six years, I was called a whore and a cow since I was as young as 11. I had to escape home, I battled anxiety, depression, PTSD and trauma and I almost committed suicide.”
The caption came alongside two photos of the tennis commentator, one showing her in the middle of her career while the other was her in her media role.
She says the truth behind the photo is that despite her immense success throughout her career, she’s happier being a size 16 compared to a size 4.
The photo shows bruising on her leg and it says everything about her tragic reality.
“I still managed to do pretty well, I managed to be top five in the world as tennis player and a grand slam finalist, I am a best-selling author, commentator and speaker but most importantly I survived. So, while you see a weight and size change, I will tell you the difference between these two images,” she said of the images above.
“The one on the left is a size four, scared to death, beaten unconscious and that bulge on my shins is from being kicked all night.
“The one on the right is me at size 16, I have survived it all and I am here healing from my trauma and thriving.
“I will take the size 16 over the size 4 any day if it means I am happy.
“If it means I turned to food to try and survive, then so be it. But I am here, I am happy and most importantly I made it through.
“So, there is the answer, once and for all. I went through hell and back and I survived and today I try to help others.
“That’s what happened. And for those that still don’t get the point, well that says everything about you. Beauty isn’t about being a certain size, beauty is having a beautiful heart and soul.
“I will leave it at that.”
It’s not the first post where Dokic has revealed the hellish situations she suffered through during her playing days, sharing images of her legs covered in bruises.
“Swollen, bruised and bleeding shins from being beaten and kicked all night with sharp shoes right into my shins for losing a match,” she posted on Instagram.
“These images were taken more than two weeks later and I was still heavily bruised. I was 17 years old.
“To this day I still have sensitive and bumpy shins from this beating.
“From every wound there is a scar and these are mine. I have survived but not everyone woman and girl has or will.
“And that’s the sad reality.”
Dokic has been an outspoken advocate after suffering domestic violence at the hands of her father Damir.
In her book Unbreakable, Dokic wrote: “A mediocre training session, a loss, a bad mood — any of these trigger him to bring out the belt. My losing particularly sends my father into a rage. I rarely lose but when I do the consequence is brutal.
“Then he tells me to take off my shirt. It hurts a lot less when you have your shirt on and that’s why he makes me take it off. I stand in my bra, my back to him, and he orders me not to move as he hits me. Often he almost slices my skin with the belt.”
