'you're Not Just A Tennis Player' - Taking Care Of Mental Health

Wimbledon 2025

Dates: 30 June-13 July Venue: All England Club

Coverage: Live crossed BBC TV, power and online pinch extended sum connected BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full sum guide.

Before she was a Wimbledon semi-finalist, Amanda Anisimova was a teenage prodigy tipped to triumph Grand Slam titles.

She reached nan 2019 French Open semi-finals arsenic a 17-year-old, stunning defending champion Simona Halep on nan way, and moved wrong nan world's apical 25.

But 4 years later, Anisimova knew she needed to stop. Struggling pinch her intelligence wellness and burnout, she recovered it "unbearable" to beryllium astatine tennis tournaments.

She did not touch a racquet for months. She took holidays, saw friends and family, attended her assemblage successful personification for a semester, and stayed distant from tennis until nan itch returned.

Now group to look world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka connected Thursday for a spot successful a first Grand Slam final, Anisimova is thankful she could return nan clip to reset.

"I learned a batch astir myself, my interests disconnected nan tribunal and conscionable taking immoderate clip to respire and unrecorded a normal life for a bit," nan 23-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"What I've learned is to perceive honestly to yourself, to your intuition and what your assemblage is telling you."

With an 11-month season, players spell from edifice room to edifice room astir nan world successful a push for points and prize money.

That goes alongside nan psychological effect of trying to break a losing streak, nan unit of trying to triumph a Grand Slam and abusive messages connected societal media.

Matteo Berrettini, who has spent 3 years battling injuries, said it was a "heavy" emotion to beryllium connected court, while world number 3 Alexander Zverev said he was "lacking joy" some wrong and extracurricular of tennis and had "never felt this quiet before".

Andrey Rublev has been unfastened astir his struggles, telling the Guardian successful January, external that he worked pinch a scientist to extremity emotion "that crazy worry and accent of not knowing what to do pinch my life".

He besides has a caller perspective. At 1 point, winning a Grand Slam was everything to Rublev. Now, he says he knows it would not alteration his life astatine each - but he besides knows really difficult it is to springiness yourself abstraction distant from nan sport.

"In nan end, tennis is conscionable nan trigger point. It's thing wrong of you that you request to face," Rublev said.

"You show Sascha [Zverev] to return a break, it will get reliable for him. He would emotion to play. For sure, Casper [Ruud], maybe, for him it's besides not easy."

Five-time awesome victor Carlos Alcaraz said successful a Netflix documentary that his biggest fearfulness was that tennis would go an "obligation".

The relentless pursuit of success, nan determination to clinch that long-awaited Grand Slam aliases to threat a losing streak against a peculiar subordinate becomes a portion of someone's personality, and they tin find it difficult to cognize wherever tennis ends and they begin.

Alcaraz makes a concerted effort to bask himself connected and disconnected nan court. It is not different to spot him laughing aft an astonishing constituent - moreover erstwhile he was struggling against Fabio Fognini successful nan Wimbledon first round, he still managed to grin astatine his opponent's ridiculous shot-making.

He has besides spoken astir really mentally refreshing his trips to Ibiza person been, moreover if his squad did not want him to spell aft his 2024 French Open triumph.

"It's astir having nosy playing tennis, person nosy stepping connected nan tribunal and not reasoning astir nan result," nan Spaniard said.

"It's conscionable unrecorded successful nan moment."

Australian Open champion Madison Keys has spoken astir really therapy helped her summation perspective.

The American antecedently worked pinch sports psychologists, but said focusing connected athletics "was not arsenic adjuvant arsenic I needed it to be".

"From a beautiful young age, our personality becomes very wrapped up successful being a tennis player," Keys said.

"That's awesome but erstwhile you person reliable weeks, months and years connected tour, that tin return a toll connected really you deliberation astir yourself arsenic a person.

"Being capable to dive into that and fig retired really to abstracted nan 2 and cognize that you're not conscionable a tennis player, you're a afloat personification that has each of these different really awesome attributes and interests, was a really important portion for me.

"That benignant of made nan tennis a spot easier."

Sabalenka worked pinch a therapist for 5 years earlier deciding she was fresh to "take responsibility", describing herself arsenic "my ain psychologist".

She talks openly pinch her team, saying: "We tin talk astir whatever. I cognize they're not going to judge me.

"They're not going to blasted me. They conscionable going to judge it, and we are going to activity through."

Anisimova says her break was "a basal thing" and put her connected nan trajectory she is connected today.

Since returning to nan tour, she has won nan biggest title of her profession astatine nan WTA 1,000 arena successful Doha and surgery into nan world's apical 10.

"It was thing that I needed to for myself," she added.

"I decidedly had to find my measurement back, really activity connected nan fittingness side, and get successful my hours of training.

"It's been a journey. I yet recovered my crippled and my confidence."