The importance of preserving mental health

There has been a lot of talk about mental health over the past 15 months.

“The topic of mental health has been underestimated, especially in the last 15 months due to the situation in the world. This week, for the first time, we have a chance to be out of the bubble and be free. We forgot what that was like. When you travel, you have to be in your room, and after that, you can only be on the court. When you do this week in, week out, it drains you mentally. We are human beings like everyone else and we need freedom. I was against bubbles and such ATP rules, I did not see why Government regulations were not being followed. ATP has changed that and I am glad about it. If the country we play in forbids us from going out, then we will respect that. But if such rules do not exist in the country we are in, then we should abide by that, while respecting epidemiological measures. That has been my opinion from the start – especially this year – and it took a while for this to happen. We need to talk a bit more about mental health, in order for the players to feel better. There are a lot of factors at play, tournament prize money has been decreased and many players are at a loss due to travelling and fighting for points. Otherwise, their ranking will drop. In general, we can’t complain because we travel and play tennis. This isn’t ideal for either ATP or anyone else and many interested parties need to be considered. We should be aware of what is going on and try to make the best possible decisions for everyone,“ said Đoković.