LONDON :Aryna Sabalenka advised Alexander Zverev to seek help for his mental health problems before they can destroy him, with the world number one pointing to herself as an example of a player who benefited from speaking with a therapist and her family.
Zverev crashed out 7-6(3) 6-7(8) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4 against Arthur Rinderknech at Wimbledon on Tuesday for his first opening-round loss at a Grand Slam since the 2019 edition of the tournament, leaving the German third seed down in the dumps.
The 28-year-old, who has had to deal with a number of off-court problems in recent years, told reporters after his defeat that he felt “empty” and was considering therapy.
“I had a therapist for five years in my career,” Sabalenka said after her win over Marie Bouzkova on Wednesday. “I stopped I don’t know, maybe in 2022. It’s crazy to hear from someone like Alexander, because he has surrounded himself with his family.
“It’s really important to be open and to talk about what you’re experiencing because if you’re going to keep it inside, it’s just going to destroy you. I think that’s something happening to him.
“He just needs to open up to whoever is close to him … people who can accept whatever you’re dealing with. The moment you start talk about your problems, you start realising a lot of things. It helps to solve them.”
Madison Keys, whose Australian Open triumph in January came in her 46th Grand Slam, had spoken then about how therapy helped her play her best tennis and she said on Wednesday that mental health was being discussed more openly on the tours.
“I think it’s definitely got more open,” Keys said.
“I don’t really remember it being a talking point much. I think more and more players are open to saying, ‘I’m talking to someone’. I would say there’s probably more of us that are speaking to someone now than there was before.
“We have people every single week at tournaments, which is super helpful. Just to have that support, I think they’ve done a really good job at really helping all of the players through what is a really tough career.”
Sabalenka said she no longer needed a therapist and that she often dealt with her issues by interacting with her team.
“We always talk a lot … we can talk about whatever,” the Belarusian added.
“I know they’re not going to judge me and not blame me. They’re going to accept it, and we’re just going to work through it. This is the best advice I can give Sascha (Zverev).”
