Tennis superstar Grigor Dimitrov has won nine ATP titles and over $28m in prize money but he confessed at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm that the pressures of competing on the ATP World Tour have challenged his mental health. The 33 year old former world no. 3, currently ranked 10, lost in the finals today to Tommy Paul 64 63.
Dimitrov made the revelations to journalist Nicholas Albek and the full interview can be read and video watched here at SpilXperten.
I have had anxiety and panic attacks
“It would be a lie if I say that I never had it (mental health issues, ed.). I had severe moments of anxiety, panic attacks, even throughout the tennis match. Of course, I think it always helps when you can talk to people and share, even if it’s another tennis player. I always say we all should be more open to each other. I know it’s difficult. I know it’s a very individual sport. I know it’s brutal, but in the end of the day, we’re all human and no different than anyone else. It just happens that we play good tennis, that’s all.”
“I think a lot of athletes around the world are slowly starting to express themselves, which is lovely to see. Especially, I’ve seen quite a few guys in the NBA speak openly about mental health. We don’t speak enough about it. I totally understand I’m talking from my side, like men in general. We don’t speak about it often, but I think we should. It’s not a weakness. I think it’s totally the opposite. I think showing vulnerability is a huge strength, an absolute huge strength. You sit on your own ground. As a man, I’m very proud of that.”
“I’ve gone through a lot of very big moments, defining moments in my life as a man. And if I sit here and tell you the things that I’ve been through, you’ll be like, wow, you still played or wow, you went through it? How did you do it? You know, everyone has their own path. You need to listen to your own voice within yourself because that’s very important. Of course, tennis is also important, but with experience, not just on the court but off the court, you start to realize the importance of that.”
I have been close retiring three times
“We all want to look good from the outside, but the most important work is from inside out. And I think I’ve been trying to focus on that a lot, but I’m still struggling with it. Even where I’m at in my career, through the experiences I’ve had off the court, the heartbreaks, and the moments where I felt like the whole world was crumbling in front of me. The matches I’ve lost, judging myself for losing a match, playing the victim—those things are inevitable, they’re gonna come. But it’s how you harness them, how you address them. You have to walk with them, and that’s what I’ve done in very big moments in my life.”
“Take 2019, when I entered the US Open being ranked 82 in the world. That same year, I ended up being third in the world. Three times, I was about to retire from tennis. It’s difficult. You may wake up feeling like crap. What do you do? You try, you go on with it, you put one foot in front of the other. If you win, great. If you lose, you take it on the chin and move on. There’s no other way.”
“What if a doctor wakes up in the morning and says, “I’m not going to do surgery”? He needs to save someone’s life. It’s more or less the same. The best part of what we do is that we have a choice. So you need to choose what’s important to you on that day.”
Grigor Dimitrov · Lacoste · Nordic Open · Stockholm · Wilson tennis
