Former World No.1 Dinara Safina's secret struggles with anxiety and binge eating which led to tennis retirement

Former world number one Dinara Safina has opened up about how anxiety played a key role in her quitting the sport.

The 37-year-old grabbed the top spot in the WTA ranking 15 years ago as she went on to play in three Grand Slam finals between 2008 and 2009. Two of them came in the French Open whereas one came in the Australian Open. However, she unfortunately ended up losing in all three of them.

That’s not all as she also played in the semifinal of the Wimbledon in 2009 and the US Open in 2008. Safina was recently quoted in a report where she revealed how anxiety was one of the primary reasons why she decided to retire from tennis.

“What ultimately kept me from coming back was that physically, I struggled with body weight,” she said. “I was fighting anxiety and a binge eating disorder. I was consistently overweight, and I couldn’t lose it even though I fought so much to do so,” the 37-year-old explained.

“I would try different diets and nothing worked and to play with an extra 30 kilos, it’s not easy. For me, this was one of the main reasons why I never tried to come back, and these were tough moments for me, because I was physically not like I was, and people were saying that I had gotten fat and the blah-blah-blah.

“It’s not a secret, but at the same time, I don’t want it to be a story where people read it like I feel so bad and I’m crying over this. I want people to understand that this can happen to anyone.

“Everyone has their own problems, their own fears, and it’s normal, when facing them, to feel like you are alone in this world and no one else understands. Many people have gone through the same things. There is always light at the end, and it’s important to remember that you’re not alone.”