"I will be back": Jelena Dokic's Instagram update speaks of difficult period

The name Jelena Dokic was associated with competitiveness and emotion on the WTA Tour, and the former prodigy's recent message about herself on social media shows the same attributes.

Dokic, 38, explained why she has been offline for a while.

"I am sure you have all noticed that I have been absent from social media for a while now," Dokic said. "I am going through a very tough period in my life right now and a huge change and I just need some time to recover, heal and process the pain and trauma that I am going through."

Before she retired, Dokic won six WTA titles and during 2002, got to the No. 4 spot in the rankings. She beat top players like Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati and most famously, in 1999, then-No.1 Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon.

In 2010, she was no longer in the Top 100 and her 2016 autobiography detailed the frequent physical abuse she experienced from her father and coach, Damir Dokic, including once a beating with a belt that left her unconscious.

"I know a lot of you have written to me and I haven’t replied but just know that I do see your messages and I appreciate them very much but I am not in a good space right now to reply and communicate with you all like I usually do and I am so sorry for that," said Dokic, a native of Croatia who competed for Australia most of her career.

"The same goes for posting so I will be staying off Instagram for a little while longer. I know so many of you look forward to my posts and find so much inspiration in them and I am so sorry I can’t provide that for you right now… I love you all and I am very grateful for all your support and love… I will be back and I will be back stronger than ever even if it doesn’t feel like that right now but I will be back."

During Grand Slam events, she is frequently on Australian television as a commentator.