Former Australian tennis star Jelena Dokic has revealed what many suspected, that she suffered years of physical and mental abuse at the hands of her father.

Years after escaping Damir Dokic, Jelena joined 4BC’s Alan Jones in studio, sharing some of the harrowing stories detailed in her new book Unbreakable.

Jelena burst onto the scene at the 1999 Wimbledon tournament as a 16-year-old Yugoslavian refugee.

She downed Martina Hingis 6 – 2, 6 – 0, becoming the only qualifier in history to beat the world-number-one at Wimbledon.

But it was Jelena’s troubled personal life that has inspired her to put her story into words.

“It was difficult to write, but at times it was actually quite good, it was freeing and liberating and I felt ready to do it.

“Does your father know you’ve released this book?”

“Yes I think so.”

“Do you have any contact with him?”

“No I don’t. We don’t talk. I’ve tried to reconcile with him over the years. I tried hard at that and tried to understand him and forgive him, but it’s not possible.”

When talking of the constant abuse Jelena says it was important to reveal the truth, not only for her but for other women in similar situations.

“I describe quite a few of his, I don’t even know what to call them really, I wanted to write the book and get a lot of these things out and explain what happened.

“Even today I know the way that he was is not okay and not normal, but for me it kind of was because it was my everyday life.”

Unbreakable by Jelena Dokic and Jessica Halloran is available now.

Click PLAY below for the full interview