In recent weeks, a lot of athletes from different sports have expressed their dire situation due to mental health and have received various kinds of reactions from people. Roman tennis star and 2-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep also spoke on mental health and showed her support towards tennis player Naomi Osaka and American star gymnast Simone Biles.
Four-time Grand slam winner, Naomi Osaka has spoken about her mental health several times in the last year. She even decided to boycott media press conferences. Meanwhile, Biles, who was also suffering from mental health issues, decided to withdraw from two events at the Tokyo Olympics. The former World No, 1 Simona Halep could relate to their problems therefore she showed her support.
The 29-year-old Romanian said, “It’s a big problem, I’ve felt it for years. In 2014, I felt it the most, because I was at the beginning, I didn’t know how to manage all the tournaments, the success I had. It is an emotional load every week to be at the top and I agree with them (eds. Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka) that maybe some athletes fail to manage this pressure.”
The Wimbledon winner shared how she went through the same thing back in 2014. Halep addressed how managing fame and playing in so many consecutive events can get mentally and physically exhausting for any sportsperson. She feels that doing it time and again makes one more capable of managing things.
“The pressure is exhausting at some point, you feel that you no longer have the strength to go, to train, you have to resist an entire match, tournament after tournament. The performance is very difficult, from my point of view, but if you have the desire and if you accept everything that happens to you, even the failure, I consider that from tournament to tournament, you are much stronger,” Halep added.
Halep has been out of action for months now following her injury in Rome while she was playing against Angelique Kerber. It was due to the injury that she missed Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics. However now she is all set to return to action at the National Bank Open in Montreal. It will be great to see the former World No. 1 back in action.
