I’m sitting at my desk after having to tug out of this yr’s U.S. Open with a leg damage. Managing bodily illnesses is all the time troublesome, but it surely’s a part of knowledgeable athlete’s job. I’ve all the time understood this.
However my physique is barely half of it. I nonetheless keep in mind the primary time my mom advised me this: If I needed to thrive on this sport — and in life — I wanted to maintain my “entire self.”
We had traveled to Oakland for my first skilled tennis match. I used to be 14. She was conscious that I used to be getting into a brand new part of my life, one that may convey heightened visibility and extra intense calls for. She noticed the pressures gathering on the horizon.
Till then, placing myself ready to carry out at my greatest had all the time meant bodily coaching, bodily preparedness and bodily well being. The extent of my understanding of the psychological facet of issues was to be mentally robust on the courtroom within the title of successful. I made positive by no means to point out any weak point.
What my mother was telling me that day in Oakland was that none of these components of successful would work except I additionally tended to my psychological well being. I wanted to have a balanced life and never determine myself solely as a tennis participant. Regardless that I used to be starting to have success as a younger professional, I needed to stay dedicated to my training, to remain related to my faith, and to benefit from the expertise of enchancment — not be so pushed that I might miss all of it.
In different phrases, my life wasn’t nearly how properly I hit the ball. And neither was my success on the courtroom. We’ve all seen skilled athletes whose efficiency has fallen off due to issues occurring to them off the fields of play that mess with their psychological state.
Just a few years in the past, I used to be recognized with an autoimmune illness. There was no guide I may learn that advised me how I may handle and overcome this sickness. There was not, and isn’t, a straight line to the answer.
However after years of pondering holistically, I knew the best way to get began. I set about working not solely with medical doctors on the bodily facets of my illness, however I additionally sought out psychological well being professionals to assist me see extra clearly — to not let my fears distort my actuality — and to develop my skill to be taught to remain within the second. Additionally, and maybe most vital of all, I discovered to be variety to myself on daily basis as I confronted this new impediment.
I could also be knowledgeable tennis participant, however I truly don’t suppose I’m that totally different from everybody else. All of us face psychological well being challenges ensuing from the inevitable setbacks and uncertainties of life. We additionally stay in a tradition that glorifies being a workaholic, the place the dangers of burnout are sometimes ignored, and the place, let’s face it, whether or not you’re on or off the courtroom, successful is every thing.
It doesn’t matter who you might be. You want assist. You possibly can’t divorce psychological well being from something you do. It impacts your bodily well-being, your decision-making, your skill to deal with troublesome moments.
I grew up working down each final ball on the recent, exhausting courts of Compton. My sister Serena and I have been taught that we’d should combat tougher than different gamers to get the respect we deserved. That’s what I assumed “robust” meant.
However admitting you’re weak is not any joke. It isn’t straightforward to ask for assist or speak in confidence to individuals about having emotional struggles. I’ve been fortunate to have a sister who has gone via comparable challenges; we now have all the time been capable of share our experiences and assist one another.
Taking note of my psychological properly being has allowed me to like the sport of tennis for this lengthy. I suppose you would say, it’s the factor that has actually made me robust.
I’m lucky to have household and coaches who let me lean on them. For me, open and optimistic communication is crucial. It has been fantastic to see so many athletes, equivalent to Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, speak about the necessity to are inclined to the inevitable psychological points that bubble up for all of us.
However it’s extremely irritating to me that solely an estimated half of the those that have psychological sickness get the remedy they want. As we confront the devastating affect of the pandemic, assist for our psychological well being is extra pressing than ever. I might think about that if you happen to’re studying this column, you recognize somebody who has or is struggling emotionally. I do know I do.
I’ve partnered with the remedy service BetterHelp and the Ladies’s Tennis Affiliation, who’re offering $2 million towards free remedy to anybody who indicators up and are supporting efforts to take away associations of disgrace connected to psychological sickness.
I’m excited to lend my voice to destigmatizing psychological sickness, and it begins right here: Let’s present up for ourselves and for one another and acknowledge what it takes to be actually robust.