Tennis star and TV commentator Jelena Dokic has opened up on hitting rock bottom – and seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

In a raw interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, the 39-year-old has opened up about a tumultuous year which saw her split from her partner of 18 years, Tim Bikic, and struggle with her mental health.

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Dokic has been upfront about her mental health over the years, giving her more than 100,000 Instagram followers a candid insight into her struggles.

Now, single and living alone for the first time in her adult life, Dokic said 2022 has seen her go through some incredibly dark times.

Viral footage circulating earlier this year of a 14-year-old Chinese tennis player being verbally and physically abused by her father and coach took Dokic right back to her own youth, when she was abused by her own father, Damir Dokic.

The true depth of her trauma was revealed in her 2017 memoir, Unbreakable.

But Dokic’s relationship breakup at the beginning of this year knocked her for six in a different way.

“We didn’t fight, we don’t have any hard feelings, but it was a shock,” Dokic said of the end of her relationship with Bikic.

“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.”

Saying she would “always love him,” Dokic said Bikic had been there for her in her “lowest moments.”

“I’m not sure I would be here today if it wasn’t for him,” she added.

“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 threw herself into work, but she knew something wasn’t right – and by April she was struggling with suicidal thoughts.

“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.”

But because she had been there before, Dokic knew exactly what to do – ask for, and accept, help.

“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,” she said.

“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 surrounded herself with her closest friends and visited her mother in Croatia.

Then, in Australia, Dokic gradually began to adjust to life as a single woman.

“It’s actually made me realise that I’m very strong,” she said.

“I have to be honest, I love to be in a relationship, to love someone and be loved back, but I’ve realised that I can be on my own.”

She said it was important to open up to others if you are struggling mentally, and that there was no shame in doing so.

“For a while there when I was battling my mental health I did feel like – ‘oof, where do I go from here? How do I fight? How do I get out of this?’,” she said.

“But there’s always a bit of that optimism in me, and I try to pass that on to other people as well.

“That’s why I like the saying: ‘There’s always a light at the end of a tunnel’.

“It’s sometimes hard to see but you’ve got to hold on to that, even through the darkest moments.”

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If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For further information about depression contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust.