In the early 2010s, Mardy Fish was the best American tennis player.
But he was also dealing with an anxiety disorder, which was found out after the fact.
Mardy eventually became a strong advocate for talking about the mental health problems that athletes face.
In 2015, he told his own story. Mardy talks about the same thing in the Netflix show “Untold: Breaking Point.”
Mardy was lucky that his family, especially his wife Stacey Gardner, helped him through it all.
So, how about we find out more about her?
Who is Stacey Gardner?
By the middle of the 2000s, Mardy was doing pretty well on the court.
He was winning matches and going far in many tournaments.
In the documentary, Mardy said that he was in a good place mentally at the time and felt lucky to be able to play tennis and hang out with friends all over the world.
He met Stacey Gardner at about this time. On NBC’s “Deal or No Deal,” Stacey was both a lawyer and a model.
Stacey said that when she met Mardy, he didn’t seem like a cocky athlete, but more like a funny, goofy guy.
They liked each other a lot and got married in Beverly Hills, California, in 2008.
When Mardy was 27, he decided to get back into the sport and try to make it to the World Tour Finals tournament for the top 8 players at the end of the year.
This meant that Mardy had to go through a lot of hard training.
Christian Locascio, who trained him, moved in with them in Los Angeles, California.
In the documentary, Stacey said that the training was so hard that he didn’t have much time for anything else.
But then Mardy started winning tournaments and beating top-ranked players. In 2011, he reached his goal of making it to the World Tour Finals.
But as rankings and performance went up, so did the pressure to keep doing well. Mardy’s anxiety started to get worse.
Mardy’s constant efforts to do better always made him feel like he wasn’t good enough.
In 2012, just before his fourth-round match at the US Open, Mardy started to worry that he would have another anxiety attack on the court.
When Stacey asked him how they could make it better as they were driving to the stadium, Mardy said, “Right now, the only thing that makes me feel better is the thought of not playing this match.”
Stacey told him he should do that.
Where is Stacey Gardner Now?
After Mardy pulled out of his match, Stacey was right there with him.
In the documentary, she said she was worried about whether or not Mardy would ever be himself again.
Then he started seeing a therapist, and that was the first step on his way to getting better.
In 2014, Mardy and Stacey had a son named Beckett. In 2016, they had a daughter named Stella.
The family lives in Los Angeles, California, and spends quality time together.
