India, July 18 -- To the wider world since becoming a top-drawer tennis pro, Ons Jabeur was the "minister of happiness". The Tunisian carried that tag with zestful authority, spreading her infectiously cheerful personality around the women's tour making almost every competitor her friend and viewer her well-wisher.

To her inner self for the last couple of years, the minister was feeling the vacuum of the very term that defined her. "Deep down, I haven't truly felt happy on the court for some time now," she said.

And so, at 30, the three-time Grand Slam finalist on Thursday announced that she was giving her sport - and her ministry - a pause.

It's not just Jabeur, several top faces in tennis have spoken up about the lack of joy they exp...