Robin Soderling hit the headlines loud and strong when back in 2009 he defeated the great Rafael Nadal at the French Open before losing to Roger Federer in the final. The Swede was again the runner-up the following year to Rafael Nadal. Unfortunately, soon after, things got sideways that played his last match in 2011 as he suffered from mononucleosis.
It wasn’t clear if Robin was able to get back to competitions as in 2016 he revealed that he was pondering about coming back. Eventually, this will not happen.
Soderling about suiciding and the help of her wife.
Recently, Robin stunned the tennis community after revealing that he suffered from a deep depression and he has also considered committing suicide. Talking to a Swedish radio, Robin admitted that he started to feel depressed right before facing Nadal in 2010 he couldn’t take it anymore.
“I was no longer the chasing lion, I felt more like a chased prey. Before the final against Nadal, I wanted to escape. Disappear,” he said.
“My talent and will were both a gift and a curse. The life I did everything to make a living slowly took my life away.” he added.
Robin tanked his wife Jenni for the support to reveal
“I didn’t understand how Jenni was able to stand up to me: I was a self-absorbed psychic case that first put his sport first, and then her. Even though I was sick, I was ashamed of my self-acceptance and what I said. When she once pointed out that it was hard for her and that she didn’t feel good about seeing me like this.”
The statement on Instagram
Robin also shared a rather important statement on Instagram talking about mental health as follows.
“Like myself, most professional athletes are high-achieving perfectionists, dedicating their lives to their sport. Being an athlete can be incredibly challenging for your mental health, and for me, my own strive for perfection, as well as the constant pressure I was putting on myself was in the end almost killing me.
It’s a thin line to walk as a professional athlete. On one side of this line you’re doing everything right – you work hard and push your body to extremes, you are dedicated, you have full focus and you are getting the results – and you get celebrated for your success. Putting pressure on yourself and working hard can be very rewarding. But if you cross that thin line – if you don’t listen to your body and give it time to recharge and recover, it can ruin your career, and your life.
In sports, mental training gives you tools on how to perform better and how to maximize your potential in your specific area of expertise – in my case tennis.
No one gives you information and tools on how you are supposed to handle the pressure both on and off the court. How to take care of yourself mentally just as carefully as you’re taking care of your body. In 2011 I was in the best physical shape of my life – but from one day to another I couldn’t take a step, I couldn’t breathe, I just wanted to crawl out of my skin.
I am happy and lucky to have come out on the other side now. After fighting anxiety and panic attacks from July 2011, I have been giving my body and mind time to heal, and now finally – 9 years later, I feel good again, maybe even better than before.
People around me have urged me to speak up about my health journey earlier, but I wanted to wait until I felt ready, and completely healed.The first few years after my body forced me to stop playing tennis, I was really worried that I would never feel well or have a normal life again. That was one of the things that triggered my anxiety the most, what if would have to live in this hell my entire life?
I wish there would’ve been more information available, and that I would have had tools on how to deal with what I was feeling and what I was experiencing – both earlier when I was playing on tour, and after my world came crashing down.I was lucky to have my wife and friends that cared for me and helped me.
It’s a lonely and awful place to be, and I believe it would have been impossible to go through this on my own.It’s time to address mental illness amongst professional athletes, and this time actually do something about it. Data shows that up to one in three elite athletes suffer from mental health issues which can manifest as stress, eating disorders, burnout, depression and anxiety.
We need to start discussing it and making sure that the next generation of athletes will come better prepared than myself. Helping them to have a long and healthy career, and not have to experience what I, and so many other athletes I know, have gone through.
We need to start to educate people – coaches, parents, trainers, and especially the athlete him/herself, and we need to get rid of the stigma that this is a sign of weakness. Mental illness happens to college athletes, to the biggest sports stars, and it exists in all sports. If I can get the conversation going and maybe help one person out there by telling my story, I’m happy.”
