Dokic was born in Osijek (former Yugoslavia, now Croatia) but her family emigrated to Sombor, Serbia in 1991 due to the Yugoslav wars. They moved to Australia in 1994, and Jelena played for Australia from 1999 to 2002, when she began playing for her native Serbia and Montenegro.

When it comes to tennis parents from hell, Dokic could tell a tale or two. Following the long tradition of aggressive, money-grabbing or just plain barking fathers on the WTA Tour, Damir takes his place proudly with the best. Fond of a drink or two, he managed to get himself thrown out of the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, Wimbledon and the US Open. He made the tea-time news after running away with a television microphone and berating a camera crew in Melbourne following Jelena's early departure from the Australian Open in 2000.

Jelena's final breakthrough took place at Rome in 2001. There she won her first title at one of the big-money, top-tier events, and, having developed the winning habit, she has been doing it on a regualar basis ever since. After that, she won the Toyota Princess Cup at Japan, the Kremlin Cup at Moscow, the Sarasota Open at Florida and after she had won Birmingham she finally won a tournament on every possible surface!

On october, 8, 2001 she entered the Top 10 for the first time in her career, and settled down there, and if she announces the Top 10 as her home, it's meant more literally than with any other player!

Up to date, Jelena has amassed over $3,6M in prize money.