Former tennis star Jelena Dokic has revealed “disgusting” comments against her on social media, saying she will continue to fight back against online trolls.
Key points:
- Dokic reposted a comment on social media in which the user shed light on his mental health
- She used the comment to highlight the online abuse she receives from “disgusting human beings.”
- She said the comment made her cry, but she would continue to fight for those who were struggling.
Warning: This story contains comments about suicide.
The former world number four retired from the game in 2014 and now has a successful commentating career.
She has spoken openly about her mental health struggles and, in her 2017 autobiography, revealed the physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her father.
Dokic said the trolling and abuse had now reached “a new low”, and she received a comment making light of her mental health.
“Now that the Australian Open is starting, will Jelena Dokic try to kill herself like she does every year,” reads the comment reposted by the star.
The message, written in Serbian, was followed by a laughing emoji.
“This made me cry this morning when I woke up and read it,” Dokic wrote on social media.
“What kind of person can write something like that and, even worse, laugh about it?
“A bad person, that’s who. And of course an ignorant one.“
In 2022, Dokic revealed that she almost committed suicide earlier in the year. She said at the time that she was on the road to recovery and would “come back stronger than ever.”
“I fight for everyone who feels like they don’t have a voice, who doesn’t feel like they’re heard,” she wrote on social media on Friday.
“For those who are struggling, for those who have struggled with suicidal thoughts, who have lost loved ones and friends to suicide…I fight against ignorance, bad people, trolls, online abuse and disgusting human beings.”
It came a day after the Australian star shared two other “disgusting, shameful and disgraceful” comments she received in which she was accused of lying about her past.
“It’s time to call it out and show it,” she wrote.
The messages sparked an outpouring of support for Dokic from fans and other public figures, including Olympic gold medalist Giaan Rooney, who urged the former tennis star to “remember how many people love you.”
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