Latest news with #JelenaDokic
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Adopted Aussie Daria Kasatkina bows out of French Open
Adopted Australian Daria Kasatkina suffered a fourth round defeat to rising teen star Mirra Andreeva, blowing an opportunity to force a deciding third set against her close friend as she was eliminated from the French Open in Paris. Kasatkina defected from Russia to become an Australian last March, but it was her former compatriot and regular practice partner who delivered the demolition job at Roland Garros in a comprehensive 6-3 7-5 victory in just 94 minutes. The pair enjoyed a light-hearted moment at the end of the tense match as Kasatkina threw her sweat band at Andreeva at the net, only for the young Russian to stuff it down her top and proceed to sledge her in the on-court interview. 'Honestly I am so, so happy I won. I hate playing against her. We practice so much and even the practice is torture,' said Andreeva. 'She raised her level in the second set and I knew I needed to continue to fight and raising my game. 'My coach says I have to practice with people you don't like, so I practice a lot with her because I hate her … only joking. She is a great person and a great player.' Andreeva, the 18-year-old world No. 6, is a reigning semi-finalist at the French Open and looked completely in control on the clay firing off backhand winners with her precision and power. She broke Kasatkina in the eighth game of the first set and then sealed the set with a booming forehand. 'It is just controlled aggression,' former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic said in commentary for Nine. It was part of a 5-0 run for Andreeva as she immediately broke serve to start the second set on the path to what appeared to be a straight-forward run towards a comprehensive victory. But then Kasatkina settled into her game. She switched from passive to aggressive tennis, added some variety to her game and the winners started flowing. With back-to-back service breaks, Kasatkina was suddenly in control and had the chance to serve for the second set but failed as Andreeva went for her shots again to break back. It was the first and only opportunity Kasatkina had to get back into the match, as Andreeva didn't afford her another opening and rattled off four straight games to secure the win and a place in the quarter-finals. Despite the loss Dokic said there was positive signs for the new Aussie No. 1 female player ahead of the grass court season with Wimbledon next month. 'Kasatkina played some great tennis and still has a lot to build from. We look forward to what she can do on grass,' Dokic said.
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Tennis world in disbelief over Jelena Dokic's French Open act
Jelena Dokic has left tennis fans in awe as she made a classy return to the camera just days after the death of her father Damir. The former tennis prodigy on Wednesday confirmed via a social media post that her 67-year-old dad had died last week. The inspiring tennis commentator was back in front of the camera for Channel 9 on Sunday night when the French Open began. The 42-year-old didn't miss a beat and showed no sign of her personal upheaval when she fronted the preview show on 9Gem. Dokic was brutally honest in admitting she was dealing with many conflicting emotions after the death of her father when sharing the news on Instagram. However, some fans could not believe she was able to fill her commentary role with such class just days after sharing the news. The much-loved former world No. 4 tennis player survived physical and emotional abuse from her father and has been an inspiration for many as she manages her childhood trauma. Dokic's brave appearance on the Channel 9 coverage alongside Todd Woodbridge and Thanasi Kokkinakis has again left her fans with admiration. She shared an image of herself glammed up in a casual, vibrant pink suit from inside the Nine studios after the first broadcast on Sunday night — and the post was flooded with supportive messages. 'One amazing gorgeous lady Jelena,' one Instagram user commented on the post. One person wrote: 'Thank God she is BACK.' One person posted: 'Hope you are going ok working after your recent loss, thinking of you and sending love.' Some people were dazzled by her bold outfit. 'Looking great! Really enjoyed your commentary last night,' one Instagram user posted. Another wrote: 'Always looking beautiful and elegant'. Open secret in Dokic's relationship with dad Dokic has emerged as one of the most cherished figures in Australian sport in her advocacy for sufferers of abuse and mental health. The final message she shared about her father shows how raw the trauma of her abuse remains. 'My father passed away in the late hours on 16.05.2025,' she wrote. '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. 'It's an end of a chapter and life as I know it.' Just last week, Jelena talked excitedly about the prospect of becoming a mother and her desire to adopt. Dokic, who turned 42 last month, is a beloved figure in Australian sport. The former world No. 4 tennis player survived physical and emotional abuse from her father Damir to forge a successful career as a commentator and author. Dokic continued in her post she had 'complex emotions' about Damir's death and was trying to focus on good memories of her father. 'There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me,' she continued. 'For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good memory like this picture (see above). '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. Thank you to so many of you for checking in on me over the last few days and for being here for me while I navigate this difficult and complicated situation. 'And my final words. RIP.'
Tom's Guide
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Tom's Guide
How to watch French Open on 9Now (it's free)
You can watch the 2025 French Open live on 9Now, streaming for free until June 8.. The free stream includes English commentary and every serve as Roland-Garros grips clay court tennis fans around the world. The Australian platform will stream every serve, ace and rally live from Paris. But how can you watch the French Open free from anywhere? Can you get the free 9Now stream in the U.S., U.K. and Canada too? And what phones is the app available on? Here's our full (and quick) guide to how to watch French Open free on 9Now... 9Network has teamed up with 9Now to broadcast the French Open for free. You don't need a any subscription to watch the 2025 Roland-Garros action. New to 9Now? Register for a free account or download the app on your mobile device. OUTSIDE THE U.K.? ACCESS 9NOW FROM ANYWHERE WITH A VPN. We signed up to check it out and it works perfectly. Day 3 is live now and the quality is good, as you can see. Although 9Now is a national is only broadcasting the French Open for free in Australia. Tennis lovers traveling or working outside Australia will need to use a VPN to access 9Now's free French Open stream in the U.S.A, U.K. and Canada. There are lots of VPNs but NordVPN is the one you can rely on to unblock 9Now and stream Roland Garros like a pro.... and you can save 70%. Looking to watch 9Now from outside Australia? If you're traveling abroad, use NordVPN to access 9Now as if you were back home in England. We test all the providers and we rate Nord as the best VPN. There's 24/7 support available, a money-back guarantee and, best of all, there's currently over 70% off with this deal. Save 70% off with this NordVPN deal It's really easy to use a VPN to watch French Open on 9Now. 1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite. 2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you want to watch the free French Open stream on 9Now, choose 'Australia' from the list. 3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to 9Now, sign in, and watch the French Open tennis on 9Now for free. 9Now's "Wide World of Sports" is covering Roland Garros 2025 live from Paris. Prime-time coverage will be "live and free on the 9Network, with every match live and on demand with two courts in 4K on Stan Sport." Live play commences daily from 7 p.m. AEST / 5 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. BST, accompanied by expert analysis from an "all-star team" including Todd Woodbridge and Jelena Dokic. They'll be joined in the studio by Thanasi Kokkinakis, and commentar Brenton Speed. Expect daily highlights and in-depth insight into the playing conditions in Paris. You can use 9Now on a range of devices: Android phones and tablets (Android OS 5 and newer) Apple iPhones and iPads (iOS 12 or later) Chrome (latest two versions) Firefox (latest two versions) Safari (latest two versions) Mozilla (latest two versions) Apple TV (including Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD) Amazon Fire TV Android TV Chromecast (including Chromecast with Google TV) LG Smart TV (webOS 4 or higher) Foxtel iQ Freeview Fetch TV (Gen 3 or newer) Roku (including Roku 2, Roku 3, Roku Express, Roku Express+, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+ , Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Streaming Stick+ and Roku Streambar) Hisense TV Mobile apps - download the 9Now app on your phone or tablet (iOS/Android). Nine Network has been the "exclusive broadcaster of Roland-Garros in Australia" since 2021. offering extensive coverage of the tournament on its free channels (Channel Nine, 9Go and 9GEM) as well as on its on-demand streaming service, 9Now. There have been no major complaint about its streaming quality and, in fact, 9Now has already been successfully streaming the Australian Open since 2018. The free-to-air coverage is HD with 4K streaming available over on the Nine Entertainment-owned Stan Sports platform. As of 2024, Nine says it "2.7 million viewers" watched the Olympic Games, including tennis, exclusively on the platform, which certainly sounds worthy of this year's French Open – not to mention Wimbledon. Of course, for the best streaming experience, 9Now says "you need a minimum of 0.6 Mbps." If you want to get the best out Roland Garros, 9Now recommends "1.8 mbps for good picture quality." We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tennis world blown away as Jelena Dokic makes brave move amid 'difficult' time
Tennis fans are showering Jelena Dokic with praise after the Aussie icon made a brave return to work with Channel 9 this week following the death of her father. Dokic revealed last week that estranged father Damir had died at the age of 67. Dokic hadn't spoken to her father for 10 years, and has spoken publicly on numerous occasions about some of the shocking abuse he inflicted on her. The former World No.4 admitted to "conflicting and complex" feelings about Damir's death and said "it's never easy losing a parent and a father, even one you are estranged from." She wrote in a social media post: "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. 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." View this post on Instagram A post shared by JELENA DOKIC 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺 (@dokic_jelena) Considering the difficult time she'd be going through, Dokic could be forgiven for shying away from the public spotlight. But she was back at work with Channel 9 on Sunday night, leading the network's coverage of the French Open at Roland Garros. Fans flocked to social media to commend Dokic on the brave move. One person wrote: "Thank God she is BACK." While another commented: "Hope you are going ok working after your recent loss, thinking of you and sending love." View this post on Instagram A post shared by JELENA DOKIC 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺 (@dokic_jelena) It was a mixed night for the Aussies on the second day at Roland Garros, with Ajla Tomljanovic, Alexei Popyrin and Daria Kasatkina winning through. But the Aussie contingent lost Aleksandar Vukic, Chris O'Connell, Daria Saville, Kim Birrell and Jordan Thompson. Tomljanovic turned the tables on compatriot Maya Joint, winning 6-1 6-3 after retiring hurt against Joint on her march to the Morocco Open title last weekend. Asked if she had a point to prove, Tomljanovic explained: "My coach kind of gave me a really good pep talk - 'You've got to get angry, get determined' - and it really worked today. "Maya had been playing so well, I had a few days to think about it and knew if I don't come out this way on the attack, it's going to be really tough. It's just nice to see everything pay off when I play the right way." Kastakina, playing her first grand slam tournament since switching allegiance from Russia in March, got the better of Czech opponent Katerina Siniakova, 6-1 3-6 6-2. And Popyrin ended a run of five-straight opening-round losses at Roland Garros when Yoshihito Nishioka retired hurt while trailing 5-7 4-6 2-1.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tennis world moved by Jelena Dokic's brave act after death of abusive father
Jelena Dokic has been met with an outpouring of praise from tennis fans for her courage in returning to work after revealing last week that her dad Damir had died at the age of 67. The one-time world No. 4 took to social media last Wednesday to reveal in a lengthy and emotional post that her father had passed away. Jelena suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of her father who was also her tennis coach early on in her career. 'As you know my relationship with my father has been difficult and painful with a lot of history,' she posted. '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.' Despite the emotional turmoil, Dokic was back at work on Sunday night, leading Channel 9's coverage of the French Open. Fans took to social media to praise Dokic for her bravery at such a difficult time. 'Thank God she is BACK.' posted one fan. 'You are inspirational and a brilliant role model. Love your work,' replied another. 'Hope you are going ok working after your recent loss, thinking of you and sending love,' posted a third. Damir, who was his daughter's tennis coach early on in her career, garnered a reputation in the tennis community for having a fierce temper and was kicked out of four grand slam tournaments within a 12 month period alone. In September 2000, the man once dubbed the 'tennis father from hell' was kicked out and banned from the US Open over in a bizarre incident that started as a dispute over a $10 piece of salmon. Damir verbally abused a food service worker in the players' lounge at the National Tennis Centre after objecting to the price and size of a portion of salmon he was served. The dispute escalated when the tennis coach threw the fish at the female worker. Jelena recalled the incident in the Channel Nine documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, adapted from her 2017 memoir of the same name. Footage aired in the documentary showed the tournament's head of security Pete Pistone escorting Damir into the parking lot. 'Please don't touch me,' Damir said while resisting. He then turned aggressive and branding the security guard a 'f**ing idiot'. Jelena was just 17 at the time. 'I started to get really overwhelmed and emotional, and I started crying,' she recalled. 'For me, this was an everyday thing. It was just hell, but now it was also very public. Mr Pistone is believed to have said 'I've never seen a crazier mother f***er in the world' in reference to Damir. The embarrassing incident was one in a long line of aggressive moments courtesy of the tennis legend's father. Earlier that same year, Damir was accused of attacking a cameraman at the Australian Open. Five months later, Damir was escorted by police from Wimbledon for drunkenly parading around a flag and smashing a reporter's phone shortly after his daughter won a match. He was seen drinking heavily prior to the match before walking around the arena waving a cross of St George and shouting slogans such as 'the Women's Association are fascists and political' and 'the Queen is for democracy, everything else in this country is fascist'. As bemused tennis fans looked on, Damir then approached the main press building where he became involved in a heated conversation with journalists before smashing a mobile phone. The following year at the Australian Open, Damir claimed there were irregularities in the draw following Jelena's first round loss to US star Lindsay Davenport. 'I think the draw is fixed just for her,' he claimed. Damir was banned from the tournament due to abusive behavior. In 2009, he was jailed for 15 months after threatening to kill the Australian ambassador to Serbia with a grenade launcher after heavily armed police arrested him and confiscated an arsenal of weapons that included two homemade bombs. The sentence was later reduced to 12 months following a second appeal. In the documentary about her life, Jelena bravely opened up about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and the pressure she felt to win as Damir would inflict regular beatings. Watching footage of herself play in the documentary, she said: 'I'm 16 years old here. I was playing the No. 1 Martina Hingis and I knew if I lost the consequences were catastrophic. 'One day after I lost I knew what was going to happen... I was starting to feel really broken inside. 'There was not an inch of skin that wasn't bruised. I'm 17 and through his actions, [I] became the most hated person.' In another harrowing incident, she detailed her father kicking her head until she lost consciousness after she lost a match.
