With an 11-month season, players go from hotel room to hotel room around the world in a push for points and prize money.
That goes alongside the psychological impact of trying to break a losing streak, the pressure of trying to win a Grand Slam and abusive messages on social media.
Matteo Berrettini, who has spent three years battling injuries, said it was a “heavy” feeling to be on court, while world number three Alexander Zverev said he was “lacking joy” both inside and outside of tennis and had “never felt this empty before”.
Andrey Rublev has been open about his struggles, telling the Guardian in January, external that he worked with a psychologist to stop feeling “that crazy anxiety and stress of not understanding what to do with my life”.
He also has a new perspective. At one point, winning a Grand Slam was everything to Rublev. Now, he says he knows it would not change his life at all – but he also knows how difficult it is to give yourself space away from the sport.
“In the end, tennis is just the trigger point. It’s something inside of you that you need to face,” Rublev said.
“You tell Sascha [Zverev] to take a break, it will get tough for him. He would love to play. For sure, Casper [Ruud], maybe, for him it’s also not easy.”
