Controversial professional tennis coach Damir Dokic - father of Jelena Dokic - has died aged 66

A controversial professional tennis coach who became estranged from his own daughter amid her claims he abused her as she rose through the professional ranks, has died. Damir Dokic was well known for fiery courtside outbursts throughout the career of his daughter, Jelena.

Starlet Jelena shot to fame at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships when, as a qualifier aged just 16, she defeated highly-ranked pro Martina Hingis in the first round.

She rapidly rose through the professional tennis ranks, reaching number 4 in the world in 2002, and making the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

At her side throughout was her controversial coach - dad, Damir - who became infamous for his physical and verbal confrontations on and off the court, including claiming tournament draws were fixed against his daughter, and throwing a piece of fish at a worker at the US Open, after claiming it was too expensive, subsequently being barred from events for incidents of disruptive behaviour.

The Serbian coach, who claimed to be a veteran of the Croatian War of Independence, even served time behind bars after being convicted of causing public danger and the illegal possession of weapons in 2009 after threatening Australian Ambassador to Serbia, Clare Birgin, with a hand grenade.

In her 2017 autobiography Unbreakable, Jelena - who moved with the family to Australia at the age of 11 and is a citizen - revealed her father had physically and mentally abused her throughout her childhood and into her adult life, claiming he took all her tennis winnings. She also revealed the pair had not spoken for 10 years.

In November 2024, a documentary film based on her book was released in Australian cinemas.

This week, announcing her father had died at the age 66, the star said she had “conflicting and complex emotions and feelings”. She said: “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.”

She added: “The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief. 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.

“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. And my final words. RIP.”

Jelena retired from professional tennis in 2014, becoming a familiar face and voice to viewers as a pundit and commentator.