‘It isn’t easy to live the life of a top player.’ Chris Evert sounds the mental health gong as tennis players face on-court anxiety, stress

Former world number one Chris Evert recently talked about the importance of starting a discussion about the mental health concerns of tennis players. Her comment comes on the heel of several angry and emotional outbursts by players on the court. Tennis is perhaps one of the most popular individual sports in the world and top players undergo a lot of pressure during each tournament.

Taking note of that, Evert, who is winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her career said, “I noticed that now a lot of the women tennis players have sports psychologists.” Evert told Reuters that it isn’t easy to live the life of a top player. She further added that the fact that nowadays players have therapists, and they are dealing with their mental health issues, and it is commendable.

Off-late there had been several instances of angry outbursts on the court, prompting the ATP tour to issue a warning to star players over the increasing incidents of on-court misbehaviour, including recent high-profile episodes involving Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev. A circular has been sent to the tour’s players over regular ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ at the start of the 2022 season.

For the uninitiated, German player Alexander Zverev was dismissed from the tournament in February after he smashed his racket against the umpire’s chair during a verbal spat laden with profanity, while Australian player Nick Kyrgios was fined for his misconduct at Indian Wells and Miami. Kyrgios had reportedly dealt with severe mental health struggles and had also confessed to having suicidal thoughts during one of his “darkest” periods around the 2019 Australian Open.

Evert, therefore, said that instead of issuing circular and judging the players for their outbursts, it has to be understood where this kind of behaviour stems from. “I’m not making any judgements on the players, but it’s an area of concern: why are players losing control and breaking racquets and putting others in harm’s way?” Evert told Eurosport.

“Why are they breaking down on the court emotionally? It’s something that needs to be addressed. It’s something that needs to be talked about. Tennis is a sport and it’s not life,” she added.