Alexander Zverev and mental health: when being a millionaire, successful, and one of the best tennis players in the world isn't enough to make you happy.

“I struggle to find joy off the court, and I feel very, very alone. I've never experienced anything like this before. I have mental issues, and I've felt them since the Australian Open. I'm trying to find ways to break out of this state, but I keep slipping back in. It's not pleasant. My problem isn't tennis right now, it's finding something within myself. I go to sleep with no motivation to get up the next day.” Just minutes earlier, Alexander Zverev 's surprise first-round exit at Wimbledon had taken place, and his words echoed throughout the All England Championships .

Many things can be said about the German, but never that he's doing poorly. On the contrary. He's third in the world rankings and has often been within a handful of matches of the world number 1. His official earnings reach nearly $54 million, and he has won 24 titles. But at the world's most important tournament, he bared his salt and spoke openly, bringing, like so many other athletes, the topic of mental health to the table.

From a numbers perspective, Zverev can be considered a successful tennis player . It only took a short time for Adidas to take him away from Nike as he appeared on the circuit with the American brand and at the beginning of 2016, when he hadn't even won his first tournament, the German brand kept him and placed him among its top stars. His qualities soon made him stand out among other figures of his generation such as Daniil Medvedev , Casper Ruud , Stefanos Tsitsipas , Nick Kyrgios , Kyle Edmund and Borna Coric , for example: his height (1.98 meters), his blue eyes and his blond hair also placed him as a preferred model for large companies.

But all that is not enough for Zverev.

Several colleagues said they could empathize with him. Others offered advice. Amanda Anisimova , a 2019 Roland Garros semifinalist at just 17, who even stepped away from the tour two years ago due to “mental exhaustion,” said: “It’s definitely complicated. Each of us goes through something at some point in our lives. We have our moments of negativity. Honestly, it takes a bit of self-reflection, figuring out what’s going wrong or how I can create a lifestyle that I enjoy. I feel like there are many ways out. For me, it was finding people I could trust. People I could talk to.”

Some also suggested therapy. Aryna Sabalenka , the world number one, recalled that she's been working with a psychologist for five years because "it's really important to talk openly about whatever you're dealing with... It's really important to be open and talk about what you're going through because if you keep it inside, it's only going to destroy you. I think that's something that's happening to him."

“Our identity is so wrapped up in being a tennis player. That’s great, but when you have tough weeks, months, years on tour, it can really affect how you see yourself as a person,” explained Madison Keys , the American champion from Australia, adding: “It’s really important to be able to dive into that and figure out how to separate the two personas and know that you’re not just a tennis player and that you’re a whole person who has other really cool attributes and other interests and different things in life.”

Finally, Russian Andrey Rublev emphasized: "Tennis should be just the trigger. We need to confront what's happening inside us."

On the other side stood none other than Mischa Zverev , his older brother and coach. And he didn't leave him in a good light. " Of course, life is hard, but there are millions of people who live it, and I think it's much harder for children in Africa than for a tennis player at Wimbledon," he said.

Zverev set off more alarm bells. Not just in tennis. He's a clear example that the brain always dominates, even with the most successful and... millionaire body. You don't play with health. And even less with mental health.