"I was sinking into some creepy stuff": Lucas Pouille recalls going into dark period including depression after poor fortunes on court

Lucas Pouille played a grand slam semi-final once and was ranked very highly on the rankings however he's far removed from that type of tennis.

The French player suffered a major drop off in form as he sank outside of the top 100 with very poor performances on the court. He lost his confidence and his level suffered with it too with his personal life in turmoil as well. Pouille suffered from depression due to his bad results and he revealed some of that in an interview with L'Equipe.

Pouille said:

"I started having a darker side and going into a depression that led to me sleeping an hour a night and drinking alone. I was sinking into some creepy stuff. I made the decision to say stop."

He also revealed something he asked a close friend during that time:

"Do you find it normal that at 28, when I am a father, I cry every night in my hotel room, every time I lose."

He's back to tennis right now with hope of making it back to the top 100 after thinking that his tennis career was done:

"In my head, it was over. I couldn't do it at all. I didn't watch tennis until October. But at some point, I came back to it. Tennis is my life."