Jelena Dokic praised for giving ‘big middle finger’ to Australian Open in light of Alexander Zverev case

Shahida Jacobs
Aryna Sabalenka with Jelena Dokic
Aryna Sabalenka with Jelena Dokic

Jelena Dokic “won the Australian Open without entering” following her “powerful” gesture and comments during her on-court interview with Aryna Sabalenka after the semi-final.

The story started on Tuesday when former world No 4 Dokic asked Sabalenka for one of her towels following her victory over Barbora Krejcikova in the quarter-final on Rod Laver Arena.

“You’re winning so easy, you’re barely sweating … I see you’re taking these towels every match, you’ve got at least one more match … so now in front of 15,000 people you need to give me a towel because you’ve got too many,” she said to the defending Australian Open champion.

Sabalenka happily obliged.

Two days later Dokic was again on duty for the post-match interview following Sabalenka’s win over Coco Gauff and she asked for another towel before explaining the reason for her request.

“After your last match … you gave me a towel; they are very precious, everyone wants one, and I said, ‘You are winning so much, you probably have about 20 in your hotel room, so you can give me one — which you were so kind enough to give me’,” she said.

“I’ll take another one, by the way. But what I want to get you to do, if you’re OK with it — can you sign it, because then we will auction it off for kids and women affected by domestic violence, is that OK?”

She received rapturous applause and it was a poignant moment given her extremely painful journey as she was abused by her father Damir as a young star.

Dokic has been open about her past as only recently she revealed “Even if I won, I would still at times be beaten and abused”.

One fan praised Dokic for her on-court comments, writing on X: “Jelena Dokic just won the Australian Open without even entering. What a beautiful moment asking Sabalenka on this stage to support Domestic Violence charity by auctioning her towel. Public, powerful and a big middle finger up to the #AusOpen.”

Jelena Dokic comment on X
Jelena Dokic comment on X

Telegraph sports reporter Molly McElwee went even further as she explained why it was a powerful message in light of the Alexander Zverev case.

Zverev is to stand trial in Germany in May over allegations of domestic abuse, which dates back to May 2020.

The former world No 2 has denied the allegations and the ATP Tour has allowed him to continue playing despite an outcry from fans and support groups for domestic violence victims.

McElwee told Telegraph Sport in a video: “This is really powerful on a couple of levels.

“One, because Dokic herself has already spoken about how she is a survivor of domestic abuse – abuse that she suffered from her father when she was a child and a player on tour.

“It’s also really important that in the context of this tournament Alexander Zverev has gone on a run through to the semi-finals, one of his best run at a major ever. But at the same time last week news broke in May he will be facing a public trial in Germany and facing domestic abuse allegations.

“It’s really interesting that Dokic, of her own initiative and independent of the organisations and organisers of the tournament to shine a light on domestic violence when one of the biggest stars in the sport is actually facing allegations of domestic violence at the moment.”

READ MORE: Former world No 4 opens up on cruel weight gain trolls, dealing with anxiety and her abusive father

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