The legendary Tennis Goran Ivanisevic has just spoken about the situation of increasing dependent players on antidepressants, confirming the mental health issue in this sport is becoming so popular and serious that “everyone is taking medicine”.
Ivanisevic – the men's singles champion Wimbledon and is currently the coach of Stefanos Tsitsipas – has lifted the growing psychological pressure that the top players face.
His speech was made as soon as Alexander Zverev frankly admitted the spiritual battles he was experiencing, when he described himself as an “empty, no joy of life” and was in need of psychotherapy after being eliminated from Wimbledon in the first round.
“When I heard the players shared, everyone was taking antidepressants. Zverev said he was in a bad place,” Ivanisevic said in Clay magazine. “I don't understand why they put so much pressure on themselves. It could be due to expectations from outside, from society – and they could not deal with that.”
The legendary Novak Djokovic also agreed with this issue and said that social networks are the cause of the majority of psychological disorders in today's athletes.
“The social network is dense and strongly affecting the mood as well as the daily life of the athletes – especially young people, but the same for the elderly,” Djokovic shared with Sportklub channel.
“Everyone goes online, and then easily caught up in it, becomes too dependent on comments, what people knock on the keyboard or phone … and that hurt. It's not trivial. That's what we need to seriously discuss.”
The 38 -year -old star also warned of the pressure that social networks are causing to young athletes. “Children are being forced to enter a professional path too early, before they develop full emotional intelligence – which is part of psychological preparation for life,” Djokovic said. “If a player is lost in the middle of that rotation, it can seriously affect the spirit and how they live.”
Zverev's courage after losing in the first round of Wimbledon sparked a new wave of discussion about the mental health issue in the tennis world.
“Sometimes I feel very lonely in the field,” Zverev shared. “I was struggling with psychology … I tried to find a way to get out of this hole, but then I felt I fell in it again.”
“I feel, in general, quite alone in life at this time, and it is an uncomfortable feeling. Not only on the tennis court, but the feeling in life in general.”