Jelena Dokic - Survivor of war and abuse, defined by none.
For the finale of season 2, we have none other than world tennis champion, coach, best-selling author, and commentator Jelena Dokic.What you may know about Jelena is that she is of course, a tennis superstar having defeated Martina Hingis at the tender age age of 16 providing one of the biggest upsets in sports history, playing major grand slams including the US Open, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbeldon and achieving top 4 in the world as well as representing the country in the Olympics.What you may not know is that she has endured so much more in one lifetime than anyone should ever have to. A refugee child not once, but twice, escaping war-torn Yugoslavia moving to Australia at 11, enduring poverty, racism and extreme psychological and physical abuse at the hands of her alcoholic father whilst achieving greatness in the tennis communities worldwide is an unbelievable story to be told. The courage to pull away from him and face her demons, working throughout managing her depression and suicidal ideations and share this with the world is awe inspiring. You would’ve most recently seen her in the news online and commentating for Wimbledon and beyond speaking up against fat-shaming trolls and in support of Ash Barty’s familial support, which she did not receive.This is a timely conversation given what’s happening in Afghanistan and Haiti at the minute and from the perspective of a former refugee, twice. Jelena shares so many truth bombs here as well as perhaps surprisingly managing to always find the light through the darkness and simple joys to help us get through lockdown number 6. You’ll be excited to what she’s got coming up next too!