But it was her personal experience of domestic abuse by her father that lead to her grabbing that spotlight with both hands.

Serbian-born Dokic was the special guest at an early International Women’s Day luncheon hosted by Clifford Craig.

She said her relationship with her father, that played out in the public arena, had given her life a new purpose.

“It has become my mission, to be able to educate and help to inspire women to speak up and speak out about any abuse they have experienced,” she said.

“I want to do anything I can to improve that, not just in sport but in society.”

A 16-year-old Dokic burst onto the international tennis scene in 1999, after winning a Wimbledon qualifier against Martina Hingis.

It was only her second Grand Slam after entering the sport as an adult two years earlier. Dokic began playing tennis at age eight.

However it was her off-court relationship with her father and coach that detracted from her rise onto international tennis rankings.

Dokic alleged she had experienced domestic abuse at the hands of her father in her 2017 autobiography Unbreakable.

She said writing the book had become a “cathartic experience” for her, to be able to get down all of the details in one place.

“The book goes into quite a bit of detail, I talk about a lot of serious things and it describes the abuse, it really tells the story of what abuse like that looks like and I’ve had feedback that it’s hard to read for a lot of people,” she said.

“But it really has been cathartic, to get those things down [on paper] and see just how much power he had.”

The book has also had a far-reaching impact on other women, with people in similar relationships reaching out to Dokic while she’s been on the book tour and speaking at public events.

“Women have come up to me who are experiencing similar things or they are in similar relationships to what I went through and they are looking to me for advice,” she said.

“I had no idea the book would reach so far, and I wasn’t really prepared for it at the start, but now it has sort of become my mission.”

Dokic said her entry into women’s sport happened at such a young age, but she soon learned being in the public eye had ‘role model’ as part of the job description.

“I think people forget that I was so young, I was 14 when I first started so I don’t think I was really aware that I needed to be a role model,” she said.

She said being a sportswoman meant she had a unique platform in order to raise particular issues and she used this to her advantage when dealing with the breakdown of her relationship with her father.

However she said at the time she wasn’t ready for the intense scrutiny being in the public eye would have.

“I didn’t really look at it that way but now I have realised what a platform I have,” she said.

Traction of women speaking out against domestic abuse in the entertainment industry is all helping the cause, Dokic says.

The ‘Me Too’ campaign in Hollywood has been sparked by women (and some men) speaking out against sexual abuse they have experienced at the hands of powerful men.

Dokic said it was great to see women speaking out about the injustice and although her experience was slightly different, she believes all forms of abuse should be in the spotlight.

“Sexual abuse [and the Me Too movement] is in a similar vein to what I’ve been trying to do,” she said.

“What has happened in the industry, everyone is shocked, especially at the amount [of abuse].”

Dokic said she applauded the women who had come forward as part of the campaign.

“It’s good that it’s out there,” she said.

Groundswell movements that has improved the profile of women’s sport has been welcomed by Dokic, who has been following the issue for years.

She said the introduction of an Aussie Rules women’s league would help with the “fight for equality” in women’s sport.

“I’ve been watching it very closely; we’ve been fighting for this for a very long time,” she said.

“We want equality for women’s sport and the tide may be starting to turn.”

She said she hoped the movement would continue and extend to other sports, which would lead to improvements in pay disparity for sportswomen.

The luncheon was hosted on March 5 at Country Club Tasmania in Launceston. International Women’s Day will be held on March 8.