Jelena Dokic ‘sick’ as video shows father assaulting teenage daughter during practice session
The tennis community has condemned the actions of a father in Serbia, after video went viral of the man allegedly assaulting his 14-year-old daughter during a practice session.
Nine commentator Jelena Dokic said she felt “sick” and “heartbroken” after watching the footage, while Australian player Daria Saville said the teenager will be “broken forever.”
The horrifying footage shows a man kicking and hitting the girl, before he throws her to the ground and kicks her again.
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Dokic, who shared her own experiences at the hands of an abusive father in her powerful autobiography Unbreakable, called the man a “monster.”
“I feel sick, I threw up and I am heartbroken after watching this,” Dokic wrote on social media.
“You think this is brutal? It is but it’s a normal day for a lot of us that have been or are abused especially as children.
“Hitting, ear pulling, spitting in our faces, throwing us on the ground, punching and kicking us. Just another day for us and that includes this 14 year old girl.
“Imagine what happens behind closed doors. It’s even worse.”
Reports out of Serbia suggest the man has been arrested and charged with domestic violence offences.
Serbian media is reporting the man could face between two and 10 years in prison if found guilty.
“This is exactly why I spoke up about this and wrote about it,” Dokic wrote.
“I always said I am not the first or the last to go through this but my question now is ‘have things changed in the way our sport and society deals with this?’
“How about this poor girl. Who will talk about her and protect her?
“I will tell you from personal experience. Nobody.”
Andy Murray’s mother, Judy, herself a successful tennis coach, wrote: “Horrific example of parental physical abuse in junior tennis.”
The man who shared the footage online, Croatian actor Igor Juric, told Nine’s Today he had no hesitation in drawing attention to the father’s actions.
“I knew the video would go viral and that’s why I posted it,” he said.
“I was fully aware it could also cause harm to the girl who suffers violence in the video, but I chose the lesser evil.
“When I say lesser evil, it was important to me that institutions and citizens in Serbia understand how much this girl is suffering.
”We have to do something serious to stop it. I hope this will trigger change in our country.”
The president of the Belgrade Tennis Association, Milan Slavković, said in a translated statement the father’s actions were appalling.
“We strongly condemn the violence on the tennis court that occurred during the training,” he said.
“We have learned that it is a case of (alleged) domestic violence, since the perpetrator is the father of a young tennis player.
“We are cooperating with the competent authority to get this case closed as soon as possible.”
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