Joe Salisbury: Anxiety prompts British doubles star to pause tennis career
“It was hard to deal with at times and it made me not want to play at times throughout the year,” he said.
“There’s definitely a lot in the stomach – you feel sick to your stomach. I was struggling to sleep and then it was hard to eat well and eat enough because of the feeling in my stomach.”
“It’s almost like a feeling of fear – fear that something bad is going to happen.”
He may allow himself the occasional social beating, but he won’t be playing tennis again until spring.
Salisbury already has plenty of plans, including a trip to Kenya, a ski trip with her girlfriend’s family and a Christmas at home – something that’s not always possible for tennis players ahead of Australia’s season starting in early January.
The current world No. 10 has played a full season with fellow Briton Neil Skupski and although they didn’t win a title, they finished runners-up in six events including the French Open, the US Open and last week’s ATP Finals in Turin.
“I wouldn’t say it affected my tennis that much,” Salisbury said of his anxiety.
“We’ve been playing well, especially the last six months. I feel like I’ve handled it well and managed to put myself in good enough condition on the field to perform well in most of the games I’ve played.
“But I think it took an extra toll emotionally and mentally. It meant a lot of the games I played were not enjoyable.
“I haven’t talked to a lot of people about the struggles I’ve been through – mainly my team, friends and family, so there aren’t a lot of people in the tennis world.
“I think a lot of people don’t want to share too much because they don’t want other people to know that when you have to compete with them.
“But to be honest, I don’t mind if people know. I’m sure it’s something a lot of other people have to deal with, and I don’t think it’s going to have any impact on me, like anything in the past year has made me mentally stronger than I was before.”
