Djokovic's Incredible Reflection on the Toughness of Tennis: "You Transform Your Life Around This"

Carlos Navarro | 6 Jul 2025 | 15.41

Novak Djokovic and a deep reflection on tennis. Source: Getty.

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One of the main points of debate generated at this Wimbledon 2025 is related to mental health in tennis and the intrinsic toughness of this sport. The relevance of this topic, on this occasion, has been due to the harsh words of Alexander Zverev after his defeat in his debut, referring to the existential void he was beginning to feel within the circuit, the lack of motivation to get out of bed, and do his job. The latest to join and give his opinion on the reasons why many tennis players enter a negative spiral was Novak Djokovic... and few have been more reflective and have given greater depth to their words.

The Serbian structured his speech into three main points, three reasons why tennis players can feel mentally "burned out" and succumb to the frantic pace of life imposed by the circuit. The first reason, which he gives significant importance, is the brutal dependence on social media and the harshness of the comments they receive: young athletes, according to him, can feel overwhelmed by the negative stimuli they receive through social networks.

"Social media is extremely present and in a certain way dictates the mood and daily rhythm of an athlete, especially in young ones, although also in some older ones. Everyone is present on social media, and there you can get lost, give too much importance to the comments, to what someone writes from a keyboard or their phone... and that hurts. It is not something trivial. It is something we must seriously discuss," remarked the Balkan harshly, pointing out the hateful comments that many of his colleagues receive daily.

PROFESSIONALISM... AND AN EXHAUSTING CALENDAR AND PACE

Nole continued his speech referring to the exhausting lifestyle that tennis pushes you into, starting with the demands that children receive from, increasingly, a very young age. "In my opinion, children are pushed too soon into a very strict professionalism, before they have developed emotional intelligence, a fundamental part of psychological preparation for life. When talent is identified, they are pushed professionally. 'Play, play, play'... agents appear, with all kinds of interests, and push the player to the limit to make the most money. It's a vicious circle, and if a player misses something there, it can affect their psychology and how they live their life,"

Once this first formative stage is overcome, with increasingly professional structures and their respective consequences, Novak concludes his presentation with an aspect that is frequently discussed, perhaps the most debated: the exhausting pace of the current ATP circuit. "Tennis has the longest season of all global sports. Those who play a full schedule compete from January 1st until late November. There are other sports that also have more competitions now, but tennis is individual, there are no substitutes, no one can replace you for five minutes... every point counts, every day matters. If you want to reach the top, you have to dedicate your entire life to tennis and sports. If you falter, sometimes the task is too tough,"

These are words that come from someone with over twenty years in the elite and many conversations with the younger generation. Can tennis do something to soften its brutal lifestyle? Only further testimonies will shed light on the potential seriousness of the matter.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La increíble reflexión de Djokovic sobre la dureza del tenis: "Transformas tu vida alrededor de esto"