Former world No.4 tennis star Jelena Dokic has explained why she tried to reconcile with her abusive father Damir as she revealed she was last in contact with him a decade ago.
The 40-year-old has long been open about the suffering she endured at her father's hands, writing in her book Unbreakable that he inflicted regular beatings with a belt or a hard-capped boot, and once knocked her out.
'Even if I won, I would still at times be beaten and be abused. I had some very difficult moments where I was beaten and kicked and punched to the point of being unconscious,' she said.
Dokic - pictured with her mother Ljiljana and father Damir at the 1999 US Open - has unsuccessfully tried to patch up her relationship with her dad 'once or twice'
The 40-year-old has long been open about the suffering she endured at her father's hands when he was her tennis coach from a young age
Damir was her coach throughout her career and Dokic said he 'silenced' her - and would accept nothing short of perfection.
'I was silenced for my whole life. From the very first day that I started playing tennis, the No.1 rule was "Never tell anyone anything, or there will be massive, massive consequences",' she said of his dominating personality.
Now Dokic has opened up about the last time she was in contact with the man who left her mentally scarred.
'I last had contact with hi about 10 years ago. And yeah, I even tried to reconcile with him once or twice,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
'I think no matter what happens, you kind of hope that maybe you can kind of salvage a relationship when it comes to family.
The former world No.4 (pictured playing at Wimbledon in 1999) revealed her father's reaction to her approach made her realise she had to cut him out of her life
'Those dynamics are always very difficult. But it's very hard when someone doesn't have any remorse or can't say sorry.
'In fact, what he says is that he would do it all again. So, for me, that is very, very hard.
'I had to make a cut and go, "I don't need a toxic person or a toxic relationship in my life".'
Thankfully, the star player turned commentator is in a much better place with her brother and mother.
'I have a great relationship with my brother, which I'm really glad about because my father used my brother and weaponised our relationship - not allowing me to talk with him for about seven years, because he was so much younger than me,' she said.
'We pretty much talk every day, and with my mum, as well. I've had some tough conversations with her because she was on my father's side - but we're in a good place today.'
Dokic also revealed what she wanted the journalists who covered her on-court career to do when she was still being coached by Damir, who she says was 'very aggressive and drunk' during 90 per cent of the interviews he gave.
The Channel Nine commentator (pictured with Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka) has become a mental health advocate and author
'I just wish someone would have said, "Look, there are two underage kids going home with this person and that's not OK,"' she recalled.
'I wish maybe there was a little bit more concern instead of making him a joke and a punchline.'
Last June, Dokic shed light on the harrowing truth concealed behind a photo taken during her teenage years at the US Open.
In a deeply personal Instagram post, she revealed the distressing experiences she endured, including depression, social media abuse, body shaming, and alleged violence inflicted by her father Damir throughout her career.
Sharing a photo of herself appearing distraught at a press conference, Dokic explained the torment she faced as a 17-year-old, having allegedly been physically assaulted by her father just weeks prior.
Last year Dokic took to Instagram to reveal the shattering background to a seemingly innocuous photo of her taken at the US Open (pictured)
'Young, 17 years old, in a media storm, beaten unconsciously [sic] by my father only a few weeks earlier, trying so hard not to break down in the press conference,' she wrote.
'Dealing with my father's public and drunken outbursts while the world judges me and the media has plenty of headlines.
'Only a few years earlier, grew up in poverty, had no food on the table, had no clothes, was a refugee twice, bullied, isolated, faced racism.
'What followed only a few years later after this image was taken was that I almost committed suicide.
'Sad, broken, alone, in pain and deeply traumatised.
'It's made me who I am today and I am proud of that.'
