Slam winner Salisbury to take a break over anxiety

Joe Salisbury, a six-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one, will take a break from tennis because he is anxious about how his tour has affected him. Salisbury is also a former world number one.

After experiencing increased discomfort for a year, the 33-year-old has returned with numerous physical symptoms and a “feel of dread” (feeling of dread) in April.

In an interview with BBC Sport, Salisbury explained that “my heart is beating all around my body.”

You feel as though your entire body is vibrating a little bit, as you say.

In addition to having those feelings, Salisbury has had them throughout his incredibly successful career.

He won six Grand Slam titles, including a hat-trick at the US Open, and became the second British player to do so in history in 2022.

He said, “It’s been difficult to deal with at times, and it’s made me not want to play and compete throughout the year.”

You feel sick to your stomach, they say. “It’s definitely a lot in the stomach.” I’ve been having trouble falling asleep and then having trouble eating well and eating enough due to the feeling in my stomach.

It almost resembles a fear that bad things will happen.

He may take a sporadic social hit, but otherwise he won’t play tennis until the spring.

Salisbury has many plans in place, including a trip to Kenya, skiing with his girlfriend’s family, and Christmas at home, which are not always possible for tennis players before the Australian season kicks off in Australia in January.

The current world number 10 and fellow Briton Neal Skupski shared the same ATP Finals in Turin last week, but they finished second overall in six events despite not winning a title.

Salisbury remarked about his anxiety, “I wouldn’t say it affected my tennis that much.

“We’ve played well,” he said, “especially in the last six months. I think I handled it well and was able to put myself in a good mood on the court in the majority of my matches.

“But I believe that doing that has taken an additional toll on both my emotional and mental psyche. It’s meant that participating in many of the tournaments I’ve participated in has not been enjoyable.

Not too many people in the tennis world have spoken to me about the difficulties I’ve encountered, primarily through my team, friends, and family.

When you have to travel and compete against them, I believe many people don’t want to share too much because they don’t want other people to be aware of that.

Salisbury’s relationship with Skupski will end at least temporarily because Christian Harrison, an American, will join the Liverpudlian in January.

When I return, I’ve told Neal I want to play with him, said Salisbury.

However, I’ll be looking for someone else if he cooperates with his partner and decides to continue with them. When are partnerships frequently broken up and people looking for each other at that time of year?

However, I won’t spend too much time considering that until I make a decision about returning.

Salisbury is not the only tennis player to stop playing the game, despite the fact that the reasons are frequently different.

Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan, claimed she had experienced “long bouts of depression” before quitting the sport in 2021.

Amanda Anisimova avoided touching a racquet for four months in 2023 because she occasionally felt it was “unbearable” to compete in competitions.