Untold: Breaking Point

   

Untold: Breaking Point documents the struggle that American tennis player Mardy Fish had with anxiety and mental health. Mardy excelled at a young age, but really blossomed once he began training with fellow American Andy Roddick. During their professional careers, both were under extraordinary pressure to become the future of men's tennis...and then Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic happened. Once Mardy finally became the highest ranked American male player, the pressure was ratcheted up even further, culminating in constant anxiety.

Released 2021; Runtime 79 minutes

Concepts

• Anxiety & Stress, Mental Health Issues: Towards the end of his career, Mardy develops an anxiety disorder. He explains how he felt while he was anxious, how he tried to cope with it, and the toll it took on him, as it eventually forced him to retire. He decided to open up about his anxiety disorder to bring awareness to mental health issues in tennis.
• Commitment: At one point, Mardy decides that he really wants to put forth 100% effort, so he hires a new trainer and commits himself entirely to being the absolute best tennis player he can. His new diet and fitness regimen, combined with better performance, ultimately leads him to a career-high ranking of seventh in the world. However, the resulting expectations and pressure contributed to his anxiety issues.
• Mental Toughness: Mardy discusses how mental toughness was instilled into him from his earliest days of training, and how it ultimately meant that showing any vulnerability was a problem to be avoided because other players would exploit that. But in turn, this meant seeking help to deal with his inner struggles was not something he was initially inclined to do.