"I've gone through tough times when you no longer enjoy competition," Kudermetova opens up about mental health in tennis
Fresh off her Wimbledon doubles title with Elise Mertens, 28-year-old Veronika Kudermetova has been ranked in the top 10 in singles and won two WTA titles.
However, like many other players recently, the Russian has addressed an increasingly less taboo topic: mental health. In an interview with Championat, the world No. 38 also shared some of the struggles she has faced in this regard.
"Sometimes we experience emotional exhaustion. I've gone through difficult periods when you no longer enjoy competition, when you want to win but your body and mind just can't.
Apathy and depression set in. In those situations, life feels uninteresting—tennis too. You try to meet your goals like a robot.
We talk about it a lot in the locker rooms, not just among the women but also the men. We have a packed schedule, fierce competition—no one gives up, everyone fights.
It has to come from within because you have to realize tennis isn't your whole life. It's important to find ways to unwind—for me, shopping helps, for example.
But I don't always do that. Sometimes I just lie down and scroll through my phone. It's hard to deal with," she explained in recent remarks following her London triumph.
