"Mental health is a serious issue in professional sports" - A look back at tennis players voicing mental health concerns

Tennis is as much a mental sport as it is physical. Although tennis players have been plagued by mental health issues for ages, it is only recently that players have started opening up about their struggles.

Tennis, as an individual sport, requires athletes to travel to various parts of the world frequently and players have voiced that the demanding schedule and having a small team, among other factors, has taken a toll on their mental health. It doesn’t help that they have the added pressure of dealing with people’s opinions on social media.

On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, let us take a look at seven tennis players who have raised concerns about mental health and initiated spreading awareness.

1. Iga Swiatek

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has long been known to advocate for mental health. The Pole has maintained that she always travels with her sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, to all tennis tournaments to keep her mental health in check.

“Stereotypes that we have in terms of mental health are sometimes not helpful because not everybody can be like that. On the top level, everybody can play tennis but not everyone can stay focused or be mentally strong so I’m pretty proud of me and my psychologist on the work that we have done,” Iga Swiatek said earlier this year.

Swiatek recently finished as the runner-up at the Ostrava Open and pledged to donate her prize money to non-profit organizations that help children with mental health issues.

2. Mardy Fish

Former American tennis player Mardy Fish faced instances of severe panic and anxiety on and off the court, which halted his progress especially towards the tail end of his career. Fish, who is the captain of the US Davis Cup team, revealed his struggles in a Netflix documentary.

“I didn’t know where to go. No one knew what I was going through. I had trained myself to show no weakness. Telling other people about it was showing weakness and I didn’t know how to handle that, so I just kept it in," he said in the documentary.

Mardy Fish had a panic attack on the court during his third-round match against Gilles Simon at the 2012 U.S. Open. He, however, told himself to keep playing and eventually won the match. It was before his next match against Roger Federer that his anxiety peaked and the American gathered the courage to withdraw from the match.

3. Naomi Osaka

Four-time Slam champion Naomi Osaka famously withdrew from the 2021 French Open after winning her opening match. The athlete, who had boycotted attending press conferences in Paris "to exercise self-care" and preserve her mental health, decided to pull out due to mounting scrutiny over her decision.

“I communicated that I wanted to skip press conferences at Roland Garros to exercise self-care and preservation of my mental health. I stand by that; I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record would be so harshly scrutinized. Perhaps we should give athletes the right to take a mental break from media scrutiny on a rare occasion without being subject to strict sanctions,” she wrote in an essay for Time Magazine.

4. Stefanos Tsitsipas

Former World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has previously been subjected to judgment due to his father's intense involvement in his matches and his seemingly long toilet-breaks, has time and again called out growing intolerance on social media.

“Social media has become a toxic and unfriendly place to be. It made me feel miserable. It has made me feel lonely. Mental health is a serious issue in professional sports,” he said on the MadHappy podcast.

“Many people want to show strength and how powerful they are, but few are more tolerant towards accepting and showing weakness. For me it’s not a shame to show that side, everyone is different and cannot be treated the same way,” he said in another interview with Adidas.

5. Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff, who recently turned 18, became a pro at the age of 14. In an essay for Behind the Racquet, the young tennis star confessed to suffering from depression, which made her question her career.

“Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn't want. It added this pressure that I needed to do well fast. Once I let that all go, that [was] when I started to have the results I wanted," she had said.

Gauff has since bettered her results and registered her best Grand Slam run as the runner-up at the 2022 French Open in both singles and doubles. She also entered the top-10 of the WTA rankings and is currently ranked World No. 8 in singles, and was also placed at No. 1 in doubles.

6. Robin Soderling

Former Swedish tennis player Robin Soderling, who retired young, had mentioned the adverse effects his mental health issues had on his career. He raised awareness about the stigma around mental health and how players from his generation kept quiet about it.

"Athletes speak about injuries all the time, but we never discuss mental illness. There are a few former players who told me they experienced mental illness and some of them had to retire because of it. They never told anyone. It’s so much easier to say, ‘My shoulder is not good, my knee is injured and that’s why I retired.’ I think it’s just a shame. I don’t think we can make it easier for people around the world dealing with this awful issue if we don’t start viewing mental illness as seriously as we should," he said in an essay on the ATP website.

7. Simona Halep

At the 2022 French Open, 2018 champion Simona Halep suffered a panic attack while competing in the second round against Qinwen Zheng in a match that she eventually lost. In her post-match press conference, the former World No. 1 shed light on the incident.

“It was a panic attack; I didn’t know how to handle; I don’t really know why it happened because I was leading the match; I lost it. I couldn’t focus and after the match it was pretty tough,” she said.

The Romanian recently announced that she was ending her season after undergoing a nose surgery for breathing problems and revealed that she was preparing to retire from tennis earlier in the year.

“In February, I was very close to stopping tennis because I didn't believe I have enough power to come back to the top 10. I was going through many anxious moments and I thought it is time to stop cause it is emotionally unhealthy," she said.

Measures are being taken by tennis bodies to address mental health

In recent years, efforts have been made to help athletes address their mental health. Sports psychologists are made available at Major championships.

Tennis players are also provided with quiet rooms where they can relax and focus without distraction. The ATP and WTA are taking measures to ensure a stress-free environment.

"We strive to be at as many tournaments as time and staffing capacity allows. When we are on site, we have a private space to meet with athletes, sometimes at the player hotel, sometimes the room is on site. Each day, we'll spend some time on site and we'll spend some time at the hotel, typically in the evenings when the players are back from the courts," Becky Ahlgren Bedics, Vice President, Mental Health & Wellness at the WTA said.