“INSPIRING”: Madison Keys and Others React to Mardy Fish’s Netflix Documentary

Over the past couple of years, mental health, as a topic, has been garnering a lot of attention around the world. Especially with high-performance athletes in sports like tennis. Retired American tennis player Mardy Fish, has shared his personal experience of dealing with anxiety in a documentary on Netflix, titled ‘Untold – Breaking Point’. 

The documentary is a part of Netflix’s ‘Untold’ series, the concept behind which is to depict what an athlete goes through before stepping up to play a professional match every single time.

As far as Mardy Fish’s story is concerned, the American delved deep into the pressures of the game whenever he encountered top tier players. From the early 2000s till 2011, Fish has played a prominent role in American tennis alongside Andy Roddick.

The American managed to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, Australian Open, and the US Open in his career. He also had six ATP tour titles to his name and reached a career-best sixth position in ATP men’s singles rankings in 2011.

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Despite these accomplishments, Fish couldn’t deliver consistent performances against the top seed players and eventually retired. An active campaigner of mental health on social media, Mardy Fish was one of the few players to openly support Naomi Osaka when she decided to skip pressers at the French Open this year.

Madison Keys, Rennae Stubbs, and Others react to the documentary of Mardy Fish

Those who watched Fish’s documentary on Netflix have praised the American for being brave enough to come out with his story. It’s evident that the former world number six had to quit playing tennis to preserve his mental health.

Here’s how few tennis professional and others reacted after watching ‘Untold – Breaking Point’:

American tennis player Madison Keys tweeted, “Just finished Untold: Breaking Point on Netflix. Everyone should go watch it. Thank you, Mardy Fish”. 

Another American tennis player, Christopher Eubanks, who recently lost to Frances Tiafoe in the first round of the US Open, also tweeted his appreciation towards Mardy Fish after seeing his story.

“I would encourage everybody, tennis player/fan or not, to watch Untold Breaking Point and listen to the story of Mardy Fish. Such an incredible and powerful documentary”, tweeted the youngster.

Sachia Vickery, another upcoming American tennis player, also shared her own issues with performance anxiety while praising Fish’s documentary.

“Mardy Fish, I thought I was one of the only players who was going through these type of things . Your documentary was so inspiring to watch and learn from , thank you for sharing this with the world especially athletes”, Vickery reacted.

Retired Australian doubles tennis player Rennae Stubbs, who won six grand slam doubles titles, also praised Mardy Fish for narrating his mental health struggles.

“Just watched the documentary on Netflix about Mardy Fish and his struggles thru his carrer! So good! #breakingpoint”, tweeted the former player.

Sasa Ozmo, journalist from Serbian sports channel Sport klub also appreciated the documentary.

Not just from sports fraternity, even entrepreneurs are appreciating Mardy Fish for narrating his struggles as a top-ranked tennis player. Jason Saltzman, an American social entrepreneur, who had personal bouts of anxiety, tweeted after watching the documentary.

In the age of social media where scrutiny and personal attacks on a player have increasingly become rampant, it’s great to see players like Mardy Fish trying to explain how hard it is to play a professional sport at the highest level.

Also read: After Naomi Osaka, Mardy Fish to Feature in Netflix Documentary to Reveal Mental Health Struggles