"I wanted to quit after my injury because I was very burned out for many years" - Nikoloz Basilashvili shares dark side of tennis

Nikoloz Basilashvili has become Georgia's best tennis player. Formerly ranked inside the top 16, he boasts five ATP titles and a Masters 1000 final to his name, and has made it to at least round three of every Grand Slam.

More recently, it has not been smooth sailing for the 33-year-old, who has now started to cover the costs in his professional tennis career, picking up a staggering £88k loss on tour last year in a bleak reality check for some tennis stars.

Instead of fighting for titles, he is now struggling outside the top 100 in the world, fighting for important ranking points to place him back within the top players as he looks for a way to earn his money back.

Basilashvili's career took a turn for the better in 2018, when, as a qualifier, he went on to win the German Open, defeating Leonardo Mayer in three sets to claim his first ATP title in his third final. Later that year, the Georgian stormed to victory in another 500 event, conquering 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4.

He carried on to pick up titles in 2019, surviving two match points in the semi-finals against Alexander Zverev before overcoming Andrey Rublev in the Hamburg Open. He peaked at a high of 16 in the world, something he was unable to replicate for the rest of his career.

A drop-off in 2020 was swiftly forgotten about the next year, when he won a brace of 250 titles in the space of a couple of months in Qatar and Germany. Later that year, he would reach his maiden Masters 1000 final, but come out second best to British star Cameron Norrie. The following year, he backed up his Qatar success with a repeat of the prior year's final, but this time lost out to Roberto Bautista Agut.

He has failed to reach a final since, and his career has been circling out of control. He finished 2022 down in 92nd after consistently ending the year around the 20th rank. In 2023, he suffered a crucial elbow injury, which he ended up having three surgeries on. He took the risk to carry on playing instead of protecting his ranking, and paid the ultimate price. He dropped outside the top 500 and practically had to restart his career.

This was a really tough period for the Georgian, who was not only battling his injuries but also personal demons swirling around his head, one of which is the money he is losing. Now mostly playing Challenger Tours, he struggles to make as much money as he once did. For example, he won £46,500 in prize money compared, which was not close to covering his travel and coaching costs, which totalled out at £107k, leading to a net loss of £88k in 2024.

In an interview with The Guardian, Basilashvili opened up about his demise in tennis. He said: “I wanted to quit after my injury because I was very burned out for many years. You are mostly alone, and you don’t really have a lot of friends to talk to. I don’t know if there is any other sport like this, to take a flight on the same day you play a match and then next week you are in another city.”

Despite this, things are starting to look up for Basilashvili. Now regularly getting into Grand Slams, he won his first Grand Slam tie since 2022, defeating number ten in the world Lorenzo Musetti in four sets before losing by the same scoreline to fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego. He also qualified for his first Masters 1000 event since 2023 at Indian Wells, where he failed to get past the first round. Now up to 112th in the world, he needs more big wins to progress back up the rankings and to earn the money he is simply not earning on the Challenger Tour.