Australian Open title contender Andrey Rublev reveals how a tennis great saved him when he stopped his medication after depression made him feel life was not worth living.

Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev has opened up about his mental health struggles and revealed that advice from a former world number one has done more to help him turn his life around than taking antidepressants.

The world's top 10 player has an impressive 16 titles under his belt, but unfortunately many fans know him best for his emotional outbursts on the pitch.

Rublev admitted this week in Melbourne that his infamous collapse at Wimbledon, where he hit himself several times with his own racket last July, was when he hit rock bottom.

'That was the worst moment I ever faced about myself. It wasn't about tennis,” Rublev said. the guardian.

'It had to do with myself, like after that moment I don't see the point of living life. So that?

'This sounds overly dramatic, but the thoughts inside my head were killing me, creating a lot of anxiety, and I couldn't take it anymore.

Andrey Rublev says he “saw no reason to live” after his collapse at Wimbledon in July last year, when he repeatedly hit himself with his racket.

The volatile Russian says he is now in a much better position when it comes to mental health.

'I'm starting to have a bit of bipolarity. I don't know if you can say it like that. But the one who started like this is me.

'Now I feel better. I can see the things that were happening.'

Rublev revealed that his fellow Russian, tennis great Marat Safin, was there to help him on his mental health journey, encouraging him to seek out a psychologist.

“Since Wimbledon some things have changed,” he said.

“I was taking anti-depression pills and they didn't help me at all. In the end I said, 'I don't want to accept anything anymore.' I stopped all the pills and Marat Safin helped me a lot with the conversation.

'It made me realize a lot of things and then I started working with a psychologist.

“I learn a lot about myself and even though I don't feel happy or in the happy place I would like to be, I no longer feel that crazy anxiety and stress of not understanding what to do with my life.”

Rublev was quick to add that his decision not to take medication may not be right for other people suffering from depression.

Rublev said tennis great Marat Safin (pictured left) has been very important in his recovery.

Rublev (pictured at practice ahead of the Australian Open this week) says he now feels embarrassed when he sees images of his emotional breakdowns.

“You can have everything in life, a healthy family, all the material things, the healthiest relationship, but if something happens to yourself that you don't want to see, you will never be happy,” he said.

“If you find it and accept it, you will feel better and better.”

The Russian says he is in a much better place now and is embarrassed when he sees clips of his meltdowns.

“At first, of course, I felt bad, embarrassed, because I'm not that kind of person,” he said.

'It's not nice to see. Now, by understanding more about myself, I am more relaxed about it. “I’m in a much better place.”

'When I watch those videos it's like I'm in a previous life. It's not me anymore.'