Slam winner Salisbury to take a break over anxiety
Great Britain's Joe Salisbury – a six-time Grand Slam doubles champion and former world number one – is to take a break from tennis because of anxiety which has affected him on tour.
The 33-year-old is not planning to return before April after a year in which his discomfort has intensified, leaving him with many physical symptoms and a "feeling of dread".
"I've had heart palpitations, a feeling of your heart beating all around your body," Salisbury explained in an interview with BBC Sport.
"You feel like your body is almost a bit shaky, almost like your whole body is vibrating a little bit."
Salisbury has experienced those feelings at other times in what has been a hugely successful career.
In 2022, he became just the second British man in history to top the doubles world rankings and his six Grand Slam titles include a hat-trick at the US Open.
Salisbury has had therapy, but it was when sitting out a run of tournaments in Asia this autumn that he decided it was time for a longer break.
“It's been tough to deal with at times and it's made me not want to be playing and competing at times throughout the year,” he said.
"It's definitely a lot in the stomach – you feel sick to your stomach. I've been struggling to sleep and then, because of the feeling in the stomach, struggling to eat well, eat enough.
"It's almost like a feeling of dread – that something bad is going to happen."
He may allow himself an occasional social hit but will otherwise switch off from tennis until the spring.
Salisbury has plenty of plans in place, including a safari in Kenya, a skiing trip with his girlfriend's family, and Christmas at home – which is not always possible for tennis players before a season which starts in Australia in early January.
The current world number 10 played the whole of this season with fellow Briton Neal Skupski, and even though they did not win a title, they were runners-up 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 anxiety.
"We've played well, especially the past six months. I feel like I've dealt with it well and managed to get myself into a good enough state on court to perform well in most of the matches that I have played.
"But I think it's taken an extra toll emotionally and mentally to do that. It's meant that it's just not been enjoyable being at a lot of the tournaments that I have played.
"I haven't spoken to too many people about the struggles that I have 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 that, when you are having to go and compete against them.
"But to be honest I don't really mind if people do know. I'm sure it's something which a lot of other people are having to deal with and I don't think it would have any impact on me, as if anything over the past year it's made me mentally stronger than before."
- GB's Skupski & Salisbury suffer heartbreak in final
- GB's Salisbury & Skupski beaten in doubles final
Salisbury's partnership with Skupski will now come to an end – for the time being at least – as the Liverpudlian will play with American Christian Harrison from January.
"I've said to Neal I would like to play with him when I come back," Salisbury said.
"But if he does well with his partner, and he decides to carry on with them, then I'll be looking for someone else. At that time of the year there are often partnerships that have split up and people who are looking.
"But I'm not going to think about that too much until I decide when I am going to come back."
While the reasons often differ, Salisbury is far from the only tennis player to take a break from the sport.
Japan's four-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka spoke out in 2021, before she took time out from the sport, about having endured "long bouts of depression".
Amanda Anisimova did not touch a racquet for four months in 2023, having sometimes found it "unbearable" to be at tournaments.
This year the American reached the final of both Wimbledon and the US Open and will end the year as the world number four.
- If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line website.
