LONDON: As a growing number of players speak more openly about their mental health, Andrey Rublev believes for many tennis is a trigger point but not the cause.
The topic was brought back into the limelight at Wimbledon on Tuesday evening after Alexander Zverev spoke about his struggles. Admitting he might need to have therapy to help him, the German said he feels alone on the Tour and has been coping with such issues since the Australian Open. Meanwhile, earlier this year, Casper Ruud said he felt like a ‘hamster on a wheel’ with the Tour schedule taking a toll on him.
Rublev himself has been open about his journey. Recently, a documentary called ‘Breaking Back: Andrey Rublev’ was released that detailed the Russian’s struggles with emotions both on and off the court. When asked how he views the sport nowadays, he replied ‘I still want to achieve as best as I can, but in a healthy way, not in a struggle way.”
Speaking to reporters at The All England Club on Wednesday, the 27-year-old argued that burnout on the Tour is a much more complex issue than many think.
“To be honest, it’s nothing to do with tennis. It’s about the same thing. It’s just you can find an excuse, how exhausted or mentally tired from playing nonstop, but it’s nothing to do with tennis.” He explained.
“In the end, tennis is just the trigger point. It’s something inside of you that you need to face.
“It happens to everyone because Sascha (Zverev) loves tennis, and Casper. Many players, they do love tennis. Those who don’t like tennis are more relaxed. They don’t really care because maybe they have different priorities.”
“You tell Sascha or someone to take a break. It will get tough for him to take a break. He would love to play. For sure, Casper, maybe, for him it’s also not easy.
“It’s nothing to do with tennis. Tennis is just the trigger moment.”
For Rublev, giving advice to players about their mental health isn’t the key thing. Instead, he emphasises that the most important thing is to put everything into perspective.
“It doesn’t matter what happens in your life. The other people are absolutely having the same things,” he commented.
“So it’s not like my life is unlucky compared to his life. No, he also struggled, but the thing is, you have different situations. That’s the only difference, but if you go deep to the main point, it will be about the same thing.”
In his second round match at Wimbledon, Rublev beat South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3. He will next play Adrian Mannarino.
