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

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."

"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."