Jelena Dokic reveals final conversation with father Damir - and how he turned her into an Aussie villain

Australian tennis hero Jelena Dokic has revealed the final conversation she had with father Damir 10 years ago. Dokic has previously lifted the lid on the horrific abuse she received at the hands of her father, and new details have emerged in recent weeks with the release of her documentary 'Unbreakable'.

Adapted from her 2017 memoir of the same name, the documentary delves into Dokic's toxic relationship with her father, and how she overcame it to become the strong person she is today. The 41-year-old reached as high as World No.4 in her tennis career, and has since become a much-loved commentator and analyst.

One of the most shocking stories she has recounted involves being attacked by Damir after she lost a match, in which she had her head kicked and lost consciousness. She is now estranged from her father, and on Tuesday she opened up on the last time she spoke to him - over 10 years ago.

Speaking on Nova 100’s 'Jase & Lauren' radio show in Melbourne, she said: "I don't think we even really fought that very last time. It was the fact that you realise that, and this might sound extreme, but it is for people that either grow up without parents or parents that are not supportive, is the fact that you realise someone just doesn't have your back, and that your parents actually don’t love you.

"I had to draw a line in the sand for myself, going look, first of all, this person is very toxic. If I continue to have this person in my life over the next 10 or 20 years, it's not going to do me any favours. I never spoke to him about [the documentary or books]. I did hear that he wasn't too happy, but we went into everything having proof. He has admitted to everything that I talk about, basically, and that's probably why you haven't heard anything else from him since, because there is footage. We have it in this documentary as well."

How Damir forced Jelena Dokic to turn her back on Australia

In 2001 at the height of her career, Dokic was booed at the Australian Open after announcing she was switching allegiances to Yugoslavia. Dokic was born in Croatia when it was still part of Yugoslavia and moved to Australia with her family at age 11.

She won the US Open junior girls title in 1998 while representing Australia, and teamed up with Mark Philippoussis to win the Hopman Cup in 1999 as a 15-year-old. But Damir forced her to turn her back on her adopted country, leaving her heartbroken.

On Tuesday, she said she would take "100 years of abuse" if she could go back in time and stay representing Australia. However she's not sure she would have survived the beating she would have received for defying Damir.

"In 2001 when I had to switch from playing from Australia to Yugoslavia within 24 hours of walking on Rod Laver Arena. I was literally between two fires," she said. "My father here, if I didn't go and say it in a media conference that was called on suddenly, when I came back to the hotel room, who knows, probably wouldn't have survived that beating. Or here, I had the media, sponsors, public who were going to hammer me like they did. So what do you do?

"So of course, I did that. 24 hours later, you walk out and you are on Rod Laver Arena, 15,000 people booing you, everyone writing that you're a traitor, and you're a 17-year-old who loves Australia so much. I loved representing this country. I come from a different culture. I was born in a different country, but I came here when I was 11. I absolutely loved Australia.

"This always makes me emotional. I would take 100 years of abuse for him not to have taken that moment from me, with my people, with Australia. I came back a few years later. Yes, I was accepted, but it was never the same, until my book came out and until now. And now people understand it and see so it's also really good lesson on kindness. You never know what's going on, especially with children behind closed doors with their parents."

Jelena Dokic an inspiration after shocking upbringing

Dokic famously shocked Martina Hingis in the first round of the main draw at Wimbledon in 1999 as a qualifier. She made the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2000 and rose to a career-high ranking of World No.4 that year, while also representing Australia at the Sydney Olympics.

But she was doing it all despite some awful abuse from her father, with cuts and bruises clearly visible on her body during matches. Dokic played Fed Cup for Serbia and Montenegro in 2004, but switched her allegiance back to Australia the following year. She had a 14-3 record in Fed Cup and produced many famous victories for Australia.

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