Tennis players share their mental health struggles during Wimbledon

The Star

3 days ago

Zverev lost unexpectedly to France's Arthur Rinderknech during the first round of this year's Wimbledon Championships men's singles, revealing afterwards that he has been struggling to find joy in life. — AFP
Mental health is not often spoken about in tennis, but the three-time Grand Slam finalist Alexander Zverev's candid revelations at Wimbledon have made it a talking point at this year's (2025) tournament.
The German third seed told reporters after a disappointing first round exit that he often struggled, both on and off the court.
"I feel very alone out there at times.
"I struggle mentally... I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment," he said.
"I've never felt this empty before... Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well," the 28-year-old former Olympic champion added.
His comments come four years after former women's world number one Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, revealing she had suffered for a long time with depression.
Asked about Zverev's remarks, the 27-year-old replied she wasn't sure if she was the "person that should be giving advice".
"Life is serious and not serious at the same time," she said, adding that she didn't play at England's Queen's Club tennis tournament last month (June 2025) because "mentally, I didn't feel ready after losing in the French [Open]".
"So I skipped that," she said.
Zverev, who reached the Australian Open final in January (2025), said on July 1 (2025) that he lacked motivation in life, and for the first time, probably needed to consider therapy.
He said that even when he was winning, he did not feel happy or motivated to keep going.
Be open
His frank comments prompted Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, 27, to urge him to continue to "talk openly", adding she had previously been in therapy for five years.
"I think it's really important to be open and to talk about what are you experiencing because if you're going to keep it inside, it's just going to destroy you," she said.
"The moment you start talk about your problems, you kind of start realising a lot of things... helping to solve them," she added.
Tenth seed Emma Navarro, 24, said it was difficult for players to stay positive "when you're losing most weeks".
"We have ourselves as our own critics, and then however many other people out there who are equally as critical," the American player said.
She added she had "built a bit of a hard shell around me" to cope with the pressures.
But she said she was often alarmed by the criticism and attention, both positive and negative, directed at young women players still in their teens.
"I think it's really tough as a teenager to be exposed to that type of attention.
"It's a little bit scary because you're so impressionable at that age."
"I cringe a little when I see younger kids dealing with that much attention," she said.
For fellow American Madison Keys, 30, one major problem was the all-consuming nature of players' lives.
"From a pretty young age... our identity becomes very wrapped up in being a tennis player.
"That's great, but when you have the tough kind of weeks, months, years on tour, that can really take a toll on how you think about yourself as a person."
She urged players to surround themselves with a "really great support system and... don't go on Twitter (now known as X)". – By Helen Rowe/AFP