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Sania Mirza opens up on depression after 2008 Beijing Olympics, makes shocking revelations

The injury had kept Sania Mirza out of competitive tennis for a year.

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To read every day you're finished is devastating, says Sania Mirza
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Not being part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games due to a wrist injury took a toll on India's tennis ace Sania Mirza. Having to pull out of the tournament lead to her falling into depression, but the players made sure to battle it.

The injury had kept the six-time Grand Slam winner in the doubles category out of competitive tennis for a year. Mirza said it had left her a mental wreck, unable to 'come out of my room to even eat a meal for over a month'. 

In an interview to YouTube channel, Mind Matters, Mirza said, "That day — when I had to pull out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of a bad wrist injury — I went into depression for 3-4 months. I remember crying for no reason. I mean, I used to be absolutely fine, and then I would just burst into tears. I remember not coming out of my room to even eat a meal for over a month.

"I felt I will never be able to play tennis again. I am a bit of a control freak, so for me not being able to do something, not on my terms was very difficult to digest," said Mirza.

The 34-year-old who was recently was part of the Indian contingent which competed in the Billie Jean King Cup in Latvia added that for a then 20-year-old, on the threshold of making it big, it was a major blow.

"It’s a lot for anybody at any age, but for a 20-year-old to handle that kind of pressure, to handle that kind of emotion and to read every day that you’re finished and you’re never going to come back to not knowing if you’ll ever be able to compete at another Olympics, is devastating," she added. 

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee also said, "My wrist was so bad that I wasn’t even able to comb my hair. I had lost complete motion. And, after the surgery, it got worse. I felt that I had let my family down, myself down. I have left my country down because I had to pull out of the Olympics."

Talking about her battle with intense anxiety, she said her family was the pillar of strength, which helped her win back her confidence.

"My family helped me see the right direction. I came back from that a year later. I didn’t play tennis for 6-8 months. After that, I came out of that hole, so to say. That was the year of the Commonwealth Games in India and I won two medals. That goes to show you that when you are mentally in the right space your success follows."

Giving advice to professional athletes, Mirza said it is necessary to ‘keep your mind in the right place every time you compete’.

"If you don’t, it is very difficult to be the best athlete that you can be. I knew that if I did not pay attention to my mental health, did not speak to my psychologist that will affect me."

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