‘I was quite depressed at times’ – Alexander Zverev opens up on mental health struggles

Alexander Zverev has opened up about his battle with mental health saying that he “was struggling a lot”.  

Alexander Zverev has had several off-court issues to deal with in the last year, with the ATP conducting an investigation into allegations of abuse of his former girlfriend.

He also was in the headlines after he was fined for smashing a racket on the umpire’s chair at the Mexico Open and was kicked out of the tournament as a result.

Following his epic comeback victory in the second round of the French Open, Zverev shared his mental health struggles insisting that it was not down to social media.

Zverev told reporters post-match, “You have to learn not to look at it. But for me, my mental health does not depend on social media.

“My mental health depends on other problems I have, to be honest. I never talk about it. I think some players talk about it more often, and more open. I don’t like to do that, but I was struggling a lot this year.

“So, yeah, not because of social media. I was struggling a lot because of other things, so I was not happy.

“I think I was quite depressed at times, as well. So, yeah. It’s all a big part. I think the pressure we are under, we are constantly in a spotlight.”

The German continued as he said the current top players are under greater scrutiny than players from the previous generations.

“I think players from 20, 30 years ago don’t understand because now every single little thing you do, there is a camera there or someone that can comment on it or there is someone that will write about it. 30 years ago it wasn’t like that.

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