Jelena Dokic has confirmed the passing of her father, Damir, and shared that she’s navigating a mix of complex and conflicting emotions.
Over the past two decades, the 2000 Wimbledon semifinalist has openly discussed the physical and verbal abuse she suffered from her father, with whom she severed ties over ten years ago.
Earlier this week, reports emerged that Damir passed away on May 16th, though details were scarce. The former world No. 4 has now personally confirmed the news.
“As you know my relationship with my father has been difficult and painful with a lot of history. Despite everything and no matter how hard, difficult and in the last 10 years even non existent our relationship and communication was, it is never easy losing a parent and a father even one you are estranged from. The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief,” the 2000 Wimbledon semifinalist wrote on Instagram.
Dokic: I choose to focus on a good memory…
In her Instagram post, the former Australian tennis star shared a childhood photo alongside her late father.
“It’s an end of a chapter and life as I know it. There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me. For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good memory like this picture,” Dokic added.
At one stage, Damir was barred from attending WTA tournaments. In 2009, he was imprisoned for threatening a politician.
“And as always and especially important to who I am as a person and what I want to stand for which is respect, grace, kindness, dignity and empathy, I will and want to be that person in this situation too. For now, I will leave it there. Please respect mine and the rest of my family’s privacy at this time,” Dokic concluded in her post.
