Are athletes too young? Tennis star Coco Gauff opens up about depression

There’s been a major debate in all sports regarding the age at which players can turn professional. In the NBA, you are required to be at least 19 years old before entering the league. In football, it’s at least 3 years removed from high school in order to be eligible. In tennis, it’s vastly different. Most players join the professional ranks without any tournament restrictions by the age of 17 or 18 today, but a majority of those players start playing professional-level tennis before age 16. Martina Hingis is a common topic regarding this. Her turning pro at age 14 sparked a controversy across the tennis world and subsequently led to the prohibiting of players under the age of 15 to play professionally (as well as limiting tournament play from ages 15-17).

Is that restriction enough?

Coco Gauff, the teenage sensation that has polarized the tennis world over the last year, has recently opened up publicly regarding her struggle with depression.

"“For about a year I was really depressed,” Gauff said in a piece from Behind the Racquet. “That was the toughest year for me so far. Even though I had, it felt like there weren’t many friends there for me. When you are in that dark mindset you don’t look on the bright side of things too often, which is the hardest part.”"

The current world #52 is only 16 years old but already has accumulated a singles title. as well as an 8-3 record in grand slams. The seemingly happy-go-lucky girl with extraordinary talents isn’t what it all seems on the surface. Being thrust into the spotlight at such a young age is something that no person could possibly be ready. Behind all of the accolades and success is major change and loneliness that comes when transitioning to an adult. 15-year-olds shouldn’t have to go through that. It only leads to hard times ahead.

"“Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn’t want,” she said. “It added this pressure that I needed to do well fast. Once I let that all go, that when I started to have the results I wanted. Right before Wimbledon, going back to around 2017/18, I was struggling to figure out if this was really what I wanted. I always had the results so that wasn’t the issue, I just found myself not enjoying what I loved. I realized I needed to start playing for myself and not other people."

Commonly regarded as the successor to the WTA throne once the Williams sisters decide to retire, it amounts to a huge amount of pressure on Gauff to keep playing because of others’ expectations. This leads to the debate if players as young as Gauff (currently 16 years old) should be allowed to play in any pro tournaments at all, regardless of their talent. It’s likely that, like Gauff and many others, that success will always come with a downside. Whether it’s extreme loneliness from being on the road most of the year or struggling to cope with the immense expectations that come with a professional sport, it all could lead to the downfall of a promising career, just because he or she started too early.

Take another young tennis star, for example. Jennifer Capriati began her professional career at age 13 and made the finals of two out of her first three tournaments. At 14, she became the youngest player to reach the top-10. Shortly thereafter, Capriati took a 14-month break from professional tennis, citing personal reasons. She returned to form and bolstered her immense talent with a world #1 ranking (achieved at 24 years old), 14 WTA titles, and 3 major championships all by 2002. However, the American phenom wasn’t able to overcome her many injuries and retired in 2004 at age 26.

Her career, while successful, wasn’t what it was chalked up to be. She was expected to be the next tennis legend, but instead, she became another victim of the immense pressure in sports, with her even resulting to the thought of suicide (stated by Capriati in 1994).

Is it too young for tennis players to be playing at 15 years old? Is it even too young at 17? These questions need to be answered. Although the emerging professional talents are getting younger, stricter restrictions may need to be implemented if we are to protect the mental health of young pros to give them the best career possible.

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