'Dominic Thiem might have been dealing with depression,' said Mats Wilander

The US Open champion Dominic Thiem has struggled to deal with the new reality surrounding tennis and the entire planet for the past 13 months or so.

The pandemic helped Thiem a bit to claim his first Major crown at the US Open last September. The Austrian played well in the rest of the season to remain among the world's best players, but it became harder for him to deal with the current state of tennis, with no crowd in the stands or freedom to travel. Dominic explained how tough it was to play in front of the fans in Melbourne Park against Nick Kyrgios when the crowd left the match, struggling more and more to accept that and winning only five encounters in 2021.

Also, the Austrian has been dealing with injuries and wasn't ready to play in the last couple of weeks. Dominic will return in Madrid, where he wants to make a fresh start ahead of Roland Garros. Mats Wilander said that Thiem might be dealing with a slight depression, as he doesn't care about his results at the moment.

"For a tennis player, the ultimate indicator of depression is when you are on the court, and you no longer feel the emotional urge to win. When the outcome doesn't matter anymore, it's an alert. It's like a sporting death," Mats Wilander said.

"Huge parts are lost, and the coronavirus has taken beautiful things, starting with traveling and moving freely. The bad things stay. It isn't easy to play through week after week in these circumstances. Some guys can take it, for whom life in the bubble is probably an advantage, for example, Dan Evans or Alexander Bublik. They have problems focusing on sport in normal times. It's great for them; they concentrate exclusively on tennis, there is nothing else. It was extreme in Dubai, we were locked up, but there was an everyday life outside of it. You were let out of the hotel at 9 p.m. and allowed to enter an empty stadium.

That's not so great. I've had a completely planned life for as long as I can remember. Every day, every week, every month is divided. I feel better knowing what will happen the next day. That's gone right now. I'm playing one of the most memorable matches in my life against local hero Kyrgios, and I'm getting 2-0 down. The atmosphere in Melbourne was terrific, even though people didn't stand by me. And suddenly, there was a lockdown. I came into the locker room late at night, sweaty, and the facility was evacuated in the meantime - like a nuclear accident.

The day after next against Dimitrov, there was extreme midday heat in isolation. I didn't make it pushing that through and dealing with the situation. I chased the big goal of winning a Major for 15 years without looking left or right. I achieved it - under weird circumstances, but that's not that important to me. In a way, some things fell by the wayside - private life, dealing with other things and broadening your horizons. You have to do something for your head, for your brain. There was only tennis. I want to change that a bit," Dominic Thiem said.