PARIS — elina svitolin she can vividly recall her struggles as an eager young player on the international tennis circuit, and is now campaigning for better mental health protection for young people starting out in their careers.
Svitolina, former number 3 in the ranking, remembers how hard the weight of expectation, loneliness and long trips was. Not to mention the replay of crushing defeats in her mind when she’s stuck in a remote hotel room.
“I had difficult moments in my career (at) a young age. You travel alone, only with your coach. When you travel so many weeks a year, it can be a big challenge,” Svitolina, a 27-year-old. Ukrainian player, she told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday. “You’re losing almost every week, so this is mentally very difficult to deal with.”
Therefore, he welcomes the idea of psychologists being available to youngsters on the tennis tour.
“I think it’s the right path,” he told the AP in Paris. “Because traveling from January to November can be very difficult. The expectations of the media, the parents, the coach. You are working a lot and you are not having the success that you want.”
Svitolina approached things differently in her youth, and perhaps more resiliently. But she said juggling too much, too young, affected her emotional development and her personality.
“For sure something changes in your mental life. You become more downhill, you become more (of) a sad person,” he said. “You become a bit of a lonely person, you miss your friends, you miss your family. You’re in a hotel all the time, packing every few days to move to the other city.”
Svitolina made it on the elite women’s tour, winning 16 career titles, reaching the quarterfinals or better at all four major tournaments, including the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open. There are players who did not reach the highest level, but have to deal with similar hidden struggles.
“There are a lot of things that people don’t see, they don’t realize, that are happening to the young player and what they are going through,” Svitolina said. “It took me a few years to find a good person that I could share (things) with.”
In July of last year, Svitolina married the French player. Gael Monfilswho continues to play on the men’s tour.
Svitolina, who works with a psychologist, was one of the speakers Wednesday at the Global Sports Week conference in Paris. She addressed mental health in sport and also evoked young players who have access to psychological support.
“For young people, the transition can be a challenge, so it is important to have a mental coach,” he told the forum. “To give them this opportunity, if they need to share their fears, share their concerns. It’s very important.”
Young players can feel disoriented early on, he said.
“When you’re a junior, it’s extremely difficult to know what’s going to happen to you. You just see players win trophies, all smiling and happy, but you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes,” he said. “When I was a child, I never heard anyone talk about his difficulties… People took it as a weakness.”
Svitolina, who is ranked 27th, is on a break from tennis. She constantly fears for her family in Ukraine, affected by the 11-week Russian invasion. The mental strain of the war worried her so much that she stopped playing.
“Sometimes your body can’t handle this pressure,” he said. “When I’m not mentally fit, my physical condition drops.”
Misconceptions about successful athletes need to change, Svitolina said, namely that glory and financial gain provide them with some kind of magical immunity against emotional and mental frailty.
“I feel like people are mixing (things), like when you have a lot of money, you should be happy,” he said. “To me, a successful person is the person who bounces back from tough times, tough losses. I feel like this is the best value you can have. It shows how strong you are.”
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