Former Australian tennis star Jelena Dokic shares her weight struggles
Former tennis star Jelena Dokic was one to remember when she burst onto the scene in 1999.
Shaking up Wimbledon as a qualifier and beating the world number 1 at the time, Martina Hingis 6-2- 6-0, solidified her place in the world of tennis.
However, after switching to Yugoslavia in 2001 and returning to Australia in 2005, Dokic had a tough time regaining her footing and her career ended in 2014 due to injury troubles.
This was where the issues with her weight began.
“I was thrown into retirement not knowing what direction I wanted to go in,” Dokic said to the Sunday Herald Sun.
“I wasn’t prepared — that’s where my weight gain started.
“When you’re a professional athlete, you’re in this bubble that’s not reality — everything is done for you … training, food, travel, management, so going back into real life was very different.”
Throughout her career, issues with her father Damir Dokic were prominent and it wasn’t until Jelena Dokic published her book in 2017 called Unbreakable that the public became aware of what she went through.
“The book released a lot of emotions I was holding in for a very long time,” Dokic said.
“I’m happy with what I have, but (my weight) is the missing piece in the puzzle.”
Her memoir outlines her rise and fall from the world of tennis whilst struggling to deal with her father’s onslaught of abuse.
Dokic is now happy and settled in Melbourne with her partner, Tin Bikic. After travelling between Australia and Serbia for the last 15 years, the pair have decided to settle down in Melbourne.
“We’ve been through the good, bad and horrible,” Dokic explained.
“He (Tin) was a key part in getting me back from the point of wanting to commit suicide.
“We have quite a few plans in the next few years — marriage is on the list and we’re definitely looking forward to having children sooner or later.
“Raising children, giving them that support and being there for them, and doing it differently to what happened in my family, is very important to me," Dokic added.