The past few years have brought a mental health reckoning to professional tennis, and according to International Tennis Hall of Famer Andy Roddick, it’s about time.
“We had sports psychologists in the ‘90s, in the ‘80s, very, very prominent, very famous sports psychologists who were like, ‘Don’t you even f***ing mention the fact that you’re feeling something bad,’” Roddick, 42, said on the Tuesday, April 22, episode of his “Served” podcast. “Like, it was the opposite growing up. And it’s, like, for every person that could overcome it and deal with it. And that made sense.”
He continued, “You don’t treat all your patients the same way. And it was like this lock, stock, lazy, get up, don’t even talk about it, chin up, go forward…I understood why it was an easy rinse and repeat for the people that were trying to profit off of it. But to say this is the way that everyone should process things mentally is f***ing psychotic.”
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Current pros from Naomi Osaka to Carlos Alcaraz have opened up in recent years about their own struggles. On Thursday, April 17, Sara Sorribes Tormo announced she would be taking an indefinite break from the sport to take “time for myself, for my mind and for my body.”
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In addition to showing his support for Tormo, Roddick praised Osaka, 27, for being candid about what she’s gone through. She withdrew from the French Open in 2021 after revealing she had been battling depression.
“The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” Osaka wrote at the time via Instagram.
Looking back at that moment, Roddick noted, “I think a lot of people are going through a lot of things and I respect Naomi for kind of coming out and talking about it.”
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Following his surprising early ouster from the 2024 U.S. Open, Alcaraz, 21, was similarly transparent.
“The truth is that I feel like, instead of moving forward, I’ve taken steps backward mentally. And I don’t understand why,” he said after what he called the “worst loss” of his career.
Roddick said he appreciated that Alcaraz was able to be so honest about his mental health, despite his age.
“I think he’s the first one we’re seeing of the generation where it’s not taboo or you’re not like you know like you said 29 before it’s, like, ‘OK ‘I’m a f***ing adult I can talk about what I’d like to talk about because it’s important to me and hopefully it’ll help someone,’” he said.
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