“It was hard to deal with at times and it made me not want to play and compete all year long,” he said.
“It’s definitely in the stomach a lot – you feel nauseous. I have trouble sleeping and then, because of the feeling in the stomach, struggle to eat properly, eat enough.
“It’s almost a feeling of fear: that something bad is going to happen.”
He may allow himself an occasional social outing, but otherwise will give up tennis until the spring.
Salisbury has plenty of plans, including a safari in Kenya, a ski trip with his girlfriend’s family and Christmas at home – which isn’t always possible for tennis players before the season starts in Australia in early January.
The current world number 10 played the entire season alongside compatriot Neal Skupski, and although they did not win a title, they finished second at 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 fear.
“We’ve been playing well, especially over the last six months. I feel like I’ve handled it well and I’ve managed to get myself in a good state on the pitch to perform well in most of the games I’ve played.
“But I think it took an extra toll emotionally and mentally to do that. It meant it just wasn’t fun to be at a lot of the tournaments I played.
“I haven’t spoken to too many people about the problems I’ve had – mainly my team, friends and family, so not too many 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 about it if you have to compete against them.
“But to be honest I don’t mind people knowing. I’m sure it’s something a lot of other people are dealing with and I don’t think it would have any impact on me, like it’s made me mentally stronger over the past year than I was before.”
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