Amanda Anisimova’s journey to the Wimbledon final came through a large amount of adversity.

The 23-year-old was once a junior tennis star who represented one of several talented American players at the youth level. However, her career didn’t take off as expected, which culminated in a break from the game for most of 2023.

In 2023, Anisimova took a break from tennis, a surprising decision for a 21-year-old to make. The time away from the game proved to be fruitful, though, as Anisimova appears back on an upward trajectory for her career.

As Anisimova fights for her first major title, here’s a look back at why she took a mental health break.

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Amanda Anisimova mental health break, explained

In May of 2023, Anisimova announced on social media that she would be taking a break from tennis due to mental health issues.

“I’ve really been struggling with my mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022,” she wrote on social media. “It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments. At this point my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time. I’ve worked as hard as I could to push through it.”

One source of her issues was grieving the loss of her dad, Konstantin, who died of a heart attack in 2019 right before the U.S. Open. Anisimova withdrew from that tournament, but she couldn’t regain her form afterward, making just one major quarterfinal in the next three years.

However, Anisimova was also overwhelmed by everything that came with being a professional athlete.

“I was just struggling with the lifestyle and just dealing with a lot of stress from it, and it was affecting me a lot on the court,” she said, via The Guardian. “Especially towards the end of the year. I think it was taking away from a lot of the joy that I was feeling when I came to training or came to tournaments. It just really wasn’t working for me.”

At the time of her break, Anisimova won just two matches in the previous seven tournaments and fell to No. 46 in the WTA. This meant that she was stepping away from tennis for the first time since before she began playing the sport as a kid.

“I had done that my whole life — pushing through everything — because I never took any breaks,” Anisimova said. “I felt like it was just unfair for me to keep pushing and pushing as if I’m not a human being.”

With a bunch of free time, Anisimova spent more time with her family, including her young nephews, studied at Florida’s Nova Southeastern University and took up painting. When she decided to return to the game in preparation for the 2024 Australian Open, Anisimova found it easier than expected.

Looking back on her break, Anisimova believes it was an important decision with where she was in her life and career.

“I think it was just more of a necessary thing to kind of reset with where I was at in my life and career-wise,” Anisimova said, via CNN. “It was just something that I needed to do kind of for myself.”

MORE: Meet the family of American tennis star Amanda Anisimova

Amanda Anisimova majors history

Anisimova has made it past the fourth round of a major three times in her career.

First, she broke through to the French Open semifinals in 2019 at just 17, which included beating Simona Halep, in what was only her sixth appearance in a major tournament. Then, in 2022, she made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but she lost to Halep in a similar position.

Three years and a break from tennis later, Anisimova has made it to the Wimbledon finals, which is the farthest she has competed in any of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

MORE: Who has won the most Wimbledon titles?

Amanda Anisimova WTA ranking

Anisimova currently ranks No. 12 in the WTA, which is the highest ranking of her professional tennis career.