I'll take 100 years of abuse, Jelena Dokic in tears over Australian tennis defection, documentary

Jelena Dokic says she would put up with 100 years of abuse if I could take back not playing for Australia during her tennis career.

The 41 year old brings a documentary about her life Unbreakablewhich details the physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, Damir Dokic.

She was born in Croatia in the former Yugoslavia and her family moved to Australia when she was 11 years old.

Dokic made a name for himself as a talented junior tennis player, winning the 1998 US Open girls title and the French Open doubles with Kim Clijsters.

As a 15-year-old she won the Hopman Cup for Australia in 1999 with Mark Philippoussis.

Her breakthrough moment came that same year when, as a 16-year-old, she upset qualifier Martina Hingis in the first round at Wimbledon and raced to the quarter-finals.

In 2000 she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon, her best result at a grand slam.

Dokic was booed at Rod Laver Arena at the 2001 Australian Open after losing to Lindsay Davenport after announcing plans to quit Australia and represent Yugoslavia.

At that point in her career, her father was not allowed to attend her matches. Dokic claims he was behind the decision to turn his back on fighting for Australia.

I would accept 100 years of abuse if I could take it back not playing for Australia for a few years, an emotional Dokic told the Carrie & Tommy Show.

He took away something I loved so much.

He took that away from me at that moment. He's sitting in a hotel room watching this while 15,000 people boo me. I just wanted to fall into the ground and disappear and never come back.

I would take any abuse, anything in the world, to not even experience that personally, but that it didn't take my people, Australians and my fans and everyone who always cheered for me, that it didn't take 10 or 15 years before my book was published. I came out to let them know the truth and how much I really love Australia.

Dokic represented Australia at the 2000 Olympics, losing the bronze medal match to Monica Seles.

In 2004, she played in the 2004 Fed Cup for the Serbia and Montenegro team.

After a turbulent period in the mid-2000s, the former world number 4 made a comeback to tennis and reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 Australian Open in fairytale fashion.

She switched back to Australia in 2005 and represented Australia in the 2009 Fed Cup, where she won several matches.

Dokic had a record of 14-3 wins and losses in Fed Cup matches, including wins over Kim Clijsters and Anna Kournikova.

Dokic said being booed by the Australian crowd was a low point in her career as she loved nothing more than representing Australia.

I came to this country as an 11 year old and I really accepted it and loved Australia, she said:

I loved representing Australia. I loved team events. I always won anything that had to do with team events. I had a 99 percent win rate. There's a reason for that.

Fed Cup, Hopman Cup which I won with Mark Philippoussis. I loved it and I thrived playing in Australia and at the Australian Open.

He (Damir Dokic) took that away from me for those few years. I wanted to come back sooner, but I was worried about people's reaction even if I came back three, four years later.

Everyone hugged me when I came back, but people still had doubts. They didn't look at me as someone who was a patriotic Australian, and it hurt me because I was.

I have really accepted this country. I always say, I was born in another country, but I'm Australian. That's how I always looked at myself. I love Australia. I love my fans so much.

No matter what match it was, every time you heard Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi while the crowd was playing, I literally got goosebumps.

Dokic says she has no hatred towards her father.

I don't blame anyone. I don't hate anyone. I absolutely don't hate anyone and I would never do that, she told the newspaper Daily Telegraph.

I'm not bitter about it. Even to my father, which people find surprising. But I don't hate him. I don't necessarily forgive him, but I don't hate him.

In the new documentary, never-before-seen footage and candid interviews with Jelena paint a heartbreaking portrait of the young stars' family lives and tell the story of her inspiring triumph over adversity.

In a particularly disturbing part of the film, Dokic describes an attack by her drunken father after she lost a match.

I remember she was so angry that he went into the bathroom with me, locked the door and beat me up, she said.

He hit my head against the wall several times. He kicked me. My shins were so bruised that I could no longer walk. He actually hits me on the head. And then I fell unconscious for a while. He also stepped on my head.

Dokic published her autobiography Unbreakable in 2017, in which she first opened up about the abuse, and has since become an inspiration for young women who have suffered similar treatment in sports.

“I'm very grateful that (my story) has been received the way it has been and I'm very proud of it,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

It gave me a voice. It gave me the strength to reclaim my life. I proudly stand up for all the others who don't feel like they can and don't have a voice. I can tell you that there are many stories in tennis and other sports that are similar to this and they have been very afraid to say anything for exactly that reason.

– Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story will be released in theaters on November 7.