Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur has spoken out about her struggle with depression.
She said that the busy tennis schedule, with many tournaments played one after another, has made it hard for her to rest and take care of her mental health.
Jabeur is asking tournament organisers to change the tennis calendar, especially the Masters 1000 events, which now last two weeks instead of one. She believes this new format puts extra pressure on players and leaves little time to recover between events.
“I think it’s more like tournaments piling up, for example, Doha, Dubai. It’s my favourite and I want to play there, but two 1000 tournaments in a row? It’s too much. And I feel like they want to add more. Also the two weeks, 1000 tournaments. I don’t know whose idea it was. It’s such a bad idea. None of the players like it.
“I think the media also, they don’t like it. So, you stay too long there. You feel like, instead of stressing for one week, you have two weeks very intense. People think that we have more time, but actually, no, it’s too long.”
In July, “The Minister of Happiness”, which is her nickname, announced that she is taking a break from competitive tennis to focus on her well-being. Since then, no one knows when she will be returning to court.
She added, “I’m coming back when I feel like it, when I feel happy again,” said the Tunisian world No 78.
“I think it is time to speak up and to change this. I feel like they see us as robots, but not as human beings anymore on the court. Just play, play, play.
“You don’t want to disappoint your team and then your sponsor. And then you look at the ranking, I’m losing points. What should I do? Should I play more?
“So for me, it’s like all that I’m going to put away. Thankfully, everyone was really supportive from my side and even if they were not, I’m putting myself first, no matter what.”
The 31-year-old also announced that she will be launching her own foundation and her new academy, which will start operating in November, located in Dubai.
