Bolt on regaining love for tennis again: "When I saw guys I grew up with doing well, my fire started to burn a bit"

Alex Bolt spoke last year to ATPTour.com in their My Point series about losing and regaining his love again for tennis.

Bolt detailed how he decided to hang up his racquet and the steps it took for him to return to playing tennis again which included a stint in a different sport and working a normal job.

"My coach, who was Simon Rea at the time, sat me down and we had a pretty long chat. There was clearly something wrong. Outside of tennis, I was fine. But as soon as a match began, it was a different world," said Bolt to ATPTour.com.

"Simon (Rea) didn’t speak to me about tactics or my performance that day. He said I should be more worried about my wellbeing and happiness. And he was right — if I wasn’t happy playing tennis, what was the point?

In that moment, I didn’t think I’d ever pick up a tennis racquet again. I certainly needed a break. That’s when life got a bit weird. Tennis was all I knew. I’d never worked a day in life."

I got a call from my brother-in-law, who was working as a fencer. He needed a couple of people to help him with a project, so I joined in. It’s not like I had anything else to do.

"I was actually really excited. I remember waking up at 5:30 a.m. and making the 45-minute drive from home in Murray Bridge, South Australia to a primary school in Mannum. And let me tell you, this was work. Putting up retaining walls. Digging holes. Sticking posts in the ground. Cementing. I didn’t know much of anything about what I was doing, but I was doing it."

"Those were long, hot days. It can get pretty hot out on a tennis court, but this was rough. I was drained to say the least."

Trying a different sport to regain passion

"Local Aussie Rules football was starting, and some of my mates asked me to play, so I joined the Mypolonga Football Club, where I was a goal-scoring forward. It wasn’t a professional team, but it was fun. I played with the club a bit, and caught up with my friends from home. That helped me regain my happiness again," he continued.

"It was probably a couple months after that when I started missing tennis. I know, I know. I didn’t think I’d ever pick up a racquet. But I wasn’t totally out of touch. I’d made some great mates with the Aussie boys, and was still in group chats with them.

So when I saw guys I grew up with doing well, my fire started to burn a bit. Jordan Thompson and I had been climbing the ATP Rankings together. Yet there he was cracking the Top 100 and winning four ATP Challenger Tour events that year. Me? I was sitting at home. I was like... s***, that could be me. That should be me."

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