Tennis star Jelena Dokic has shared a powerful reflection on body image and life, describing what she calls “three different decades, three different sizes, three different stages of life, three different ages and three different periods of life with very different careers”.
The 42-year-old shared the comments alongside photos from each decade: one from her playing days, another from her time on court as a commentator, and a third from the night she won a Logie Award.
“On the left in my 20’s and a successful tennis player, middle in my 30’s reinventing myself and starting out in different fields and on the right now in my 40’s as former world number 4 tennis player, speaker, commentator, tv personality, 2 time bestselling author and the subject of a number 1, Logie winning documentary,” Dokic wrote.
“Different decades, different sizes, different successes but the same hard working and good person.”
She revealed that criticism has followed her at every stage of her life.
“And still someone always had a problem and something bad to say or write. Yes, even in my 20’s and size 4 and in my 30’s and a size 22 and in my 40’s as a size 10. Whether a tennis player, commentator, author, speaker and advocate.
“And guess what, that’s the reality. Someone will always have something to say or criticise. Too big, too small, too strong, too weak, not good enough, too successful. Always something,” she said.
Dokic also delivered an empowering message to her fans, urging them to ignore critics and outside buzz.
“Unfortunately that’s the world and society we live in. So you do you. Block the outside noise, you don’t need external validation and never lose time and energy in your life worrying about what people will say about you,” she said.
“Let them talk. It says everything about them. Whether family, friends, coworkers, media, social media, internet or strangers.
“The only person you need to make happy is yourself. So focus on you. You are worthy and you are enough. I have done it all in the public eye at all different stages of my life, different careers, different industries, at different sizes and with social media, the internet and the media.”
Despite the scrutiny, Dokic says she has “always held my head high no matter the comments and always will”.
“Because I know who I am. Kind, generous, empathetic, hard working, compassionate, respectful, resilient, strong, unbreakable, courageous and a fighter. And that’s what I am proud of and what matters.
“Not my size, pictures, age, career, job, if I am married or have kids. Be a good person and be kind.
“That’s all that matters at the end of the day. Never allow anyone’s negative, mean and ignorant opinions and words to affect you. Be your own biggest cheerleader.”
Dokic spoke to Nine.com.au in August after wining the Logie for Best Factual or Documentary Program for Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, now streaming on 9Now.
She reflected on her body image, saying she’d “never had a problem with my body image or my weight or my size. I think it was also social media, [the] internet and society.”
“I’ve always talked about that openly, because I went out there … in the middle of the Australian Open, interviewing players in front of millions of people watching in Australia and worldwide, and also sometimes live at the Rod Laver Arena, 15,000 people, when I was a size 20, 22 and now I’m a size 10,” she said.
“For me that never mattered. For me it was about my craft, how I do my job … even on the court, interviews, doing a good job with the players and making them feel comfortable, and how well I do everything else.
“But most importantly, am I a good person? That was what always mattered for me.
“I think a lot of judgment in general comes obviously. That’s the unfortunate thing, that we have to say it is a given and comes with the territory, especially when you’re in a public eye.
“But even if you’re not, there is judgment when it comes to our weight and our size. So I’ve been very open about that and really wanted to tackle that publicly.”
Images: Instagram
