Paula Badosa 'moved' by Andrey Rublev's mental health journey: "So much respect"

Andrey Rublev’s willingness to open up about the ups and downs of his mental health journey has struck a chord with tennis fans and players alike, including world No. 11 Paula Badosa.

The Spaniard sent Rublev a message thanking him for speaking up, after hearing the player share his struggles with depression and anxiety—a topic she herself is all too familiar with.

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“I was kind of in a loop, lost with myself for a couple of years,” Rublev told a small group of journalists, including Tennis.com’s David Kane, at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“I was not finding the way, not understanding what to do or, it sounds a bit dramatic but even the reason or purpose to live. It’s one thing for this to happen once or for one to three months. But when it’s happening for one, two, three, five years, there comes a moment where you cannot take it anymore.”

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Badosa took to social media to say she had “so much respect” for candid Rublev, who lifted the trophy in Doha over the weekend.

“Listening to all this really moves me and I know how much pain it is,” Badosa wrote. “This will only make you stronger at the end of the day. I'm glad you're feeling better,” she said, adding, “Thanks for speaking up.”

Badosa herself has long been open about her own struggles with depression and anxiety, a topic that was also documented during her stint on Netflix’s *Break Point*.

“People were talking about me like I was the next big thing, the next Maria Sharapova,” she said. “I felt like, ‘Wow, now I have to be a legend. Maybe next year, I have to be a Top 10 player.’ So, for me, it was a lot of pressure…

“Life didn’t have a lot of sense because ever since I was seven years old, my dream was to be a professional tennis player. It was very bad. I didn’t want to go on a tennis court.”

The Spaniard revealed that she sought the help of mental health professionals, along with the support of friends and family, in order to turn things around. And now, Badosa is back on track in tennis too: The former world No. 2 recently returned to the Top 10 for the first time since 2023 after recovering from a back injury.

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After lifting the trophy in Doha, Rublev’s first ATP title in nearly 10 months, the Russian bowed out in the opening round of singles and doubles in Dubai.

“I’m not in a good or bad place, but I’m not feeling any more stress, not having depression,” Rublev said. “I’m just neutral, not happy, not bad. At least I found the base, and that’s a beginning."