American tennis player Coco Gauff has revealed about her struggle with depression brought on by the mounting pressure and hype during her rapid rise to prominence in the sporting world.
The 16-year-old Florida-based player said she had rediscovered her love for the sport after becoming depressed.
In July last year, Gauff came to limelight when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in her first major championship appearance. She defeated former World No 1 Venus Williams along the way.
Penning down her darkest moments in a post for Behind the Racquet, Gauff wrote, “Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn’t want. It added this pressure that I needed to do well fast.”
“Right before Wimbledon, going back to around 2017/18, I was struggling to figure out if this was really what I wanted. I always had the results so that wasn’t the issue, I just found myself not enjoying what I loved,” she added.
Gauff said she had realised that she needed to start playing for herself and not for others. “For about a year I was really depressed. That was the toughest year for me so far,” she wrote.
The tennis star said she felt there were not many friends for her. She knew she wanted to play tennis but was not sure how to go about it.
Gauff also said that she doesn’t like to be compared to Serena Williams or her sister Venus.
“First, I am not at their level yet. I always feel like it’s not fair to the Williams sisters to be compared to someone who is just coming up. It just doesn't feel right yet, I still look at them as my idols," she added.
from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/34JWfpl
No comments:
Post a Comment