Whilst mental health remains a relatively taboo subject within the world of professional tennis, there have been players both past and present who have decided to open up about the struggles they have faced mentally, to be honest with their peers and supporters, and to try to destigmatise this subject in the sport.
Hearing these stories from these players is part of what has inspired this project and documentary, as without them this conversation would not have started in tennis. There are many more players who are struggling than just those who will be featured in my documentary, so I wanted to share a few of those from the women's WTA tour.
Serena Williams
As someone who is seen as one of the best players of the sport, having someone with as much influence as Serena opening up about their mental health has set a big example to the rest of the players on tour. As I have previously mentioned on this blog, last year, Serena took to Instagram to open up about her feelings of post-partum depression and feeling as though she wasn't there enough for her baby. Following on from this, earlier this year Serena wrote an open letter in Harper's Bazaar magazine in which she opened up about receiving therapy after her ordeal in the US Open 2018 final.
"As for me, I felt defeated and disrespected by a sport that I love—one that I had dedicated my life to and that my family truly changed, not because we were welcomed, but because we wouldn’t stop winning. [...] I was hurt—cut deeply. I tried to compare it to other setbacks I’d had in my life and career, and for some reason I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was about so much more than just me. [...] Days passed, and I still couldn’t find peace. I started seeing a therapist. I was searching for answers, and although I felt like I was making progress, I still wasn’t ready to pick up a racket. Finally I realized that there was only one way for me to move forward. It was time for me to apologize to the person who deserved it the most."
Serena Williams for Harper's Bazaar, July 2019
Naomi Osaka
Naomi has often spoken openly about her mental health on social media, in an effort to remain transparent and relieve herself of the burden. After winning Indian Wells, a Premier Mandatory level tournament on the WTA Tour last Spring, she opened up later in 2018 about the pressures she was feeling after winning a big title, and how this had impacted her mental health. After this she went on to win her first Grand Slam title at the US Open, and her second straight after at the Australian Open, showing the benefits of opening up about struggling mentally as a pro player. Since then she has made an effort to check in every few months and provide updates of how she is feeling at the time, including at the end of the 2018 season, in March this year when she spoke about feeling like a role model and being in a good place mentally, and an update this Summer about feeling unhappy on court.
"The last couple weeks have been really rough for me, I haven't been feeling the ball right and it's thrown me off a lot to the point where I started getting really frustrated and depressed during my practices. I had a lot of pressure entering the hard court swing because I felt a lot of expectation on me from Indian Wells [...] If anyone was following Cincy you would know my match I lost but I feel like it was a step in the right direction."
Naomi Osaka on Twitter, August 2018
Alison Riske
Last month, top twenty player Alison Riske opened up about her struggles with anxiety in an interview for the WTA Tour website. She described little things she had seen a change in, where she was able to handle a stressful situation calmly when it would have previously panicked her, and how this has contributed to her career-best season this year. In the interview, Alison notes how conquering this has not just helped her in her career, but is something she will be able to carry with her in her life after retirement.
"It's more just being able to calm myself and speak to myself in moments that would before be very anxiety-ridden for me. Those things can't affect how I go out and compete on the tennis court. [...] I was very anxious. Anxiety-ridden about everything. I would just feel the nerves and I would even be shaking if I go out for a match that I'm really nervous for. Just the rampant thoughts of possible failure and what it would be, instead of coming from a place of power, as opposed to all the things that could go wrong."
Alison Riske for WTAtennis.com, October 2019
Katie Swan
British player Katie Swan has opened up about her mental health struggles this year on her Instagram and on Behind The Racquet - a platform created by one of Game, Set, Mental Health's interviewees Noah Rubin to give players a place to share their stories. For Mental Health Awareness month in March, Katie posted to Instagram to share how she was tackling her struggles with the help of a psychologist, and admitted to feeling like less of a person when she lost tennis matches before this. After this, she took to Behind The Racquet that month to use her story as a reminder that the mental health conversation needs to be normalised, and that everyone should be able to feel like they are being heard when struggling.
"We need to normalize it. We can’t make people feel as if they have some kind of disease just because they are seeking help and talking to a psychologist. [...] I thought I was being dramatic after everything that took place last year. It took some time to understand that there is no need to compare your obstacles with past ones. No matter the hardship it should be given full respect no matter the size. It took a while to open up about the pressures I faced but with the help of my friends, family and team, I was able to see the positives. I deserve to be here and I found my fight again."
Katie Swan for Behind The Racquet, May 2019
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