Former WTA World Number 8 switches to pickleball after long battle with substance abuse and a traumatic childhood

Carling Bassett-Seguso narrates how mushrooms helped her overcome depression.

Former WTA World Number 8 switches to pickleball after long battle with substance abuse and a traumatic childhood

Carling Bassett-Seguso (Via X)

Former WTA player Carling Bassett-Seguso has turned to pickleball after an arduous journey back from addiction. She often involves her daughters in her newfound obsession. The Canadian recently opened up about her drug addiction and depression during her playing days. Carling, became popular at 18 after reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals and US Open semifinals the following year, but couldn’t live up to the expectations after her Dad died.

Bassett-Seguso began her professional tennis career at the age of 15 in 1983. Three years later, she was flying high reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals and Wimbledon semifinals. She reached a career-high of World No. 8, a year later, after winning two WTA singles titles.

YouTube video

However, she met her to-be husband, a fellow tennis player, Robert Seguso, when he was 22 and had won four Grand Slam doubles. That was the same period Bassett-Seguso lost her father, John Bassett Jr., a Canadian businessman who had battled with cancer for two years. Her father’s death led her to depression, drug abuse, and alcoholism for three decades. She shockingly retired in 1988 marrying Robert Seguso, who helped her recover.

FS Video
Young Carling Bassett-Seguso (via Imago)
That was just a bomb ticking. After my dad died, everything just went to crap. After Holden was born (in 1988), I started having my journey in the real world, which really wasn’t the real world. At least I stopped the whole bulimia. You just become a pro at hiding. Even people who do know it, just don’t want to see it. I try to be open with everything. Secrets are our own worst enemy in life.
Carling Basset-Seguso via The Pickleball Show with Curtis Reed

After the deterioration, Pickleball became a panacea for Bassett-Seguso and her five children and husband as well. Now 56 years old, she plays pickleball for eight to ten hours every day at Caloosa Park in Boynton Beach. Despite, retiring at 22, Bassett-Seguso doesn’t miss tennis anymore.

Carling Bassett-Seguso admits mushrooms help her over suicidal thoughts

Carling Bassett-Seguso reveals how psilocybin mushrooms helped her overcome depression. The mushroom is a psychedelic drug that helped the former WTA player deal with her suicidal thoughts.

Carling Bassett-Seguso trading at Delray Beach Tennis Center (via Imago)

I knew the next morning after I took them, there was a glimpse of hope because I could at least get out of bed. (Before she took them), my weight fell to 98 pounds. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t even leave the house. My husband was terrified. I was needy. He couldn’t go to dinner with me because of how I looked.

Carling Basset-Seguso via The Pickleball Show with Curtis Reed

However, the final place for Bassett-Seguso’s recovery was when she got back to her former life as an athlete. She first trained at Delray Beach Tennis Center before switching to pickleball. The combination of Mushrooms and pickleball can be credited for her newfound positive outlook on her life. The former tennis player also claimed to have become the most secure she has been in her life after her slow recovery.

In case you missed it: