When Naomi Osaka opened up about battling severe depression and anxiety at the 2021 French Open, it came just three months after winning her fourth Grand Slam at the Australian Open.
Since then, countless players on the ATP and WTA Tours have been more open about their own mental health. And some of them directly credited Osaka with helping them find the courage to make their own problems public.
During an interview with Forbes.cz, 2023 French Open runner-up Muchova was asked whether mental health is an important topic in tennis and why this was the case.
“It’s definitely a topic of the moment. The calendar is extremely full, tennis is an individual sport, you have to deal with pressure, you’re almost always alone – that’s a lot of pressure on one person, whether it’s a man or a woman. I try to use every free moment to completely separate myself from tennis,” the 29-year-old said. Forbes.cz.
Muchova hopes for a calendar change and adjustment
During the same interview, Muchova also spoke out against the current calendar structure. According to the Czech tennis star, managing the playing schedule in the long term is impossible without having both physical and mental consequences for the player.
“It’s been a long battle, but I think it’s finally being talked about publicly. We’re trying to push for change, for more sensible planning, and to ensure that health is seen as a priority, and not as a side effect of performance,” the former world number 8 added.
In March, Muchova suffered a wrist injury and was out of action for the next two months. The Czech also suffered a muscle injury late in the year. It’s also worth mentioning that she blamed fatigue and exhaustion for her withdrawal from her second-round match in Wuhan in October.
Muchova played 43 matches this year and won 26-17.
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