Jelena Dokic tells of ‘low moment’ after relationship split from Tin Bikic

Ex-tennis star Jelena Dokic has opened up on the pain of separating from her longtime partner and revealed how she climbed out of deep depression.

Former tennis star Jelena Dokic has opened up on her devastating relationship breakdown and how she fought her way back from the brink in April when she almost took her own life.

Dokic and partner Tin Bikic separated at the beginning of the year and her mental health deteriorated to the point that she was crippled by constant crying, coupled with depression and anxiety.

In the next issue of Australian Women’s Weekly, out on Thursday, she says will always love Bikic, who she was with for almost two decades.

“We didn’t fight, we don’t have any hard feelings, but it was a shock,’’ she said.

“We’d been together for a very long time, almost 19 years – since we were 20 – so it’s always tough when something like that comes to an end.

Jelena Dokic says her ‘low moment’ took her back to previous dark days. Picture: Alana Landsberry for Australian Women’s Weekly

“I’ll always love him. He’s amazing. He helped me through so much in my life. In my lowest moments he was there and I’m not sure I would be here today if it wasn’t for him.

“He’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, with such a good heart. But I think once you end a relationship that’s that long it’s almost like a grieving process, because it ended quite suddenly.”

Dokic said she had a “low moment” which took her back to previous dark days.

The Channel 9 tennis commentator shared her heartbreaking pain in the hope of helping others.

“I had a low moment and definitely it wasn’t easy,’’ she said.

“I even for a second there felt like I had failed because I was there (having these suicidal thoughts) back in 2006 and I felt like I would never be there again.”

She added: “I think the good thing was from my past experiences, I knew exactly what that feeling was and that I needed to stop what I was doing and focus on myself. And as much as it was a low moment, I’m really proud that now six months later, I’m doing so, so well.”

Dokic is close to her only sibling, brother Savo, who now lives in Europe and in a recent trip back to Croatia she also saw her mum, Ljiljana.

She first revealed the decades of abuse she received at the hands of her own father, Damir Dokic, in her 2017 memoir, Unbreakable.

Dokic says she didn’t want the bad things in her life to define her. Picture: Alana Landsberry for Australian Women’s Weekly

She often wonders what compelled her father to be such a horrific bully and five years on she confessed she is no closer to finding the answer.

“I tried to figure it out, I even tried to have a relationship with him later, to get through some of these things, to see if we can work it out,’’ Dokic said.

“But we are just so different. I don’t have any contact with him. It’s very hard to have a relationship with someone who has no remorse and says he would do it all again.

“I look back at it now and I believe life at the end of the day is a series of sometimes tough events and losses and bad moments. At the time I really had to say, this is the hand I’ve been dealt and try to make the most of it, try and turn it into a positive. Even though it almost did cost me my life, I didn’t want that to define me and I didn’t want that to defeat me.”

She added: “It’s definitely changed me. I really feel like a free person now after talking about it, but I also feel so extremely grateful and lucky to be able to help others. A lot of people find so much strength in me sharing my story”.

In September, Dokic is releasing a new book that explores healing, trauma, mental health, body image and body shaming.