That empty feeling: Why are so many stars losing the joy?

Ex-world No.2 Jabeur is taking a break from the game and many others are feeling the mental strain too

- Rutvick Mehta

To the wider world since becoming a top-drawer tennis pro, Ons Jabeur was the “minister of happiness”. The Tunisian carried that tag with zestful authority, spreading her infectiously cheerful personality around the women's tour, making almost every competitor her friend and viewer her well-wisher.

To her inner self for the last couple of years, the minister was feeling the vacuum of the very term that defined her. “Deep down, I haven't truly felt happy on the court for some time now,” she said.

And so, at 30, the three-time Grand Slam finalist on Thursday announced that she was giving her sport—and her ministry—a pause. It's not just Jabeur, several top faces have spoken up about the lack of joy they experience while giving people the thrill of aces and winners. It's not just tennis, several voices across sports are increasingly bringing up a question that world No.1 golfer Scottie Scheffler asked ahead of the ongoing Open Championship: “What's the point?”

The point reverberating over the course of this Wimbledon was just how many and how unhappy tennis' most glowing stars are. That its women's singles trophy was held by a player who returned after a break from the sport to prioritise her mental health was almost symbolic.