Badosa on facing mental health struggles as a tennis pro: "I feel at home on court but I go from that to get me out of here, I want to die"

Paula Badosa has been open about her struggle with mental health believing that it's very important to talk about it publicly to lessen the stigma about it.

Being about your mental health struggles is something that is rather new. Traditionally people opted for the silent battle as it was viewed as something that is not 'normal'. Things are changing in modern times and more people are open about their fears and doubts and Paula Badosa is one of them.

She opened about her struggles a couple of times and now in the Netflix series Breaking Point as well:

“When I’m OK, I feel at home on court and I feel like this is my place. But I go from that to ‘get me out of here, I want to die. The difference was that now I’m more exposed and of course for me it was tough to handle what people were saying about me, the judging of playing a tennis match, I couldn’t in my head understand a little bit what was happening."

She added:

“But then I learned and I understand that you’re an athlete and you’re exposed to that and I have to accept it and that I have to listen to the people surrounding me, my team, and that’s the most important no matter what.”

She once again underlined the need to talk about the subject openly:

“I feel happy when other athletes talk about it and we normalize these situations. You feel you’re not alone in this and of course there are other players that struggle. In tennis there are moments that you feel unbeatable and moments you feel you can lose against anyone. It’s a very mental sport.”