Former tennis champion Jelena Dokic is starring in a harrowing documentary about her life.
Premiering in Aussie cinemas on November 7, the film, called Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, is based on her autobiography of the same name.
The documentary follows Jelena’s story from her war-torn childhood in Croatia and Serbia to the success she eventually found in Australia on the tennis court.
It also covers the extraordinary abuse – physical, psychological and financial – she suffered at the hands of her father Damir and how she broke free of his control.
“It’s the story of falling down from a great height, as the world looked away, and finally finding your feet again,” the film synopsis reads.
Over the years, Jelena has been very open and vocal about her mental health struggles and the abuse she received from her father growing up. The pair are now estranged and he lives in Serbia.
The trailer for the movie begins with her walking onto the tennis court alongside Martina Hingis.
“I’m 16 years old here, playing the world number one Martina Hingis,” Jelena says in the narration. “I knew that if I lost that the consequences would be catastrophic.”
The consequences were in fact often catastrophic, and the trailer gives a snapshot into the action her father, dubbed the “tennis father from hell” by media at the time, would take.
“One day when I lost he was extremely angry. I knew what was going to happen…. There wasn’t an inch of skin that wasn’t bruised,” she said.
The film also looks at why nobody acted despite long-running rumours of what was happening to the teenager.
The documentary also includes input from others in the tennis industry including former players Pam Shriver and Lindsay Davenport and longtime journalist Christopher Clarey.
Given what they know now, they say Jelena’s achievements, which got her to the rank of number four in the world, are even more incredible.
“When you look back and see what she does accomplish. Wow,” said American tennis star, Pam Shriver in the trailer.
For Jelena it’s all about getting her truth out there and she told media that the launch of the film is an exciting time for her.
“I am really excited because there will be a lot of other people in it, ex-players, former World No. 1s. To be able to tell my story but on screen is so powerful, so I can’t wait for that to come out,” she told news.com.au.
Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic story premiered in Australian theatres on November 7, and will be released worldwide on streaming in 2025.
