Dota 2: Tundra's Saksa takes early exit from Riyadh Masters due to mental health

Western European Dota 2 powerhouse Tundra Esports announced on Saturday (22 July) that their position 4 support player, Martin "Saksa" Sazdov, will be missing the rest of the ongoing Riyadh Masters 2023 after he was forced to fly home due to illness.

Tundra's coach, Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling will be standing-in for Saksa for the remainder of the tournament.

In a post on his personal Twitter account, Saksa explained that his exit from the Riyadh Masters was caused by an ongoing struggle with "anxiety, sleep, and [his] mental health".

"Sorry to my teammates and Tundra for doing this last minute and I'm thankful for them supporting me this whole time," said Saksa.

This marks the fourth time that Saksa has exited a tournament early during the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.

Back in April, Saksa made his first early exit from a tournament in DreamLeague Season 19 due to burnout. He also missed out on DreamLeague Season 20 in June.

Saksa's third early exit in a tournament then came during the Bali Major earlier this month.

Tundra has seen mixed results in the events that Saksa missed out on this season. The team finished fourth in DreamLeague Season 19, 9th-10th in DreamLeague Season 20, and third in the Bali Major.

With that said, the reigning The International (TI) champions are still primed to defend the Aegis of Champions as they were one of the 12 teams to secure direct invites to TI 2023, which will be hosted in Seattle this October.

The intense competition schedule of Dota 2

The gruelling competition in the DPC, especially in the cutthroat Western European regional league, seems to have taken its toll on Saksa.

After helping Tundra claim the Aegis of Champions in TI 2022 last October, Saksa and his teammates only had three months to rest before the 2023 DPC season kicked off in early January.

It's a much shorter offseason compared to most of the top professional sports leagues around the world.

So far this season, Saksa and Tundra have played in the Winter, Spring, and Summer Tour regional leagues in Western Europe as well as all three Majors in Lima, Berlin, and Bali.

Outside of the DPC, Tundra has also played in the BetBoom Universe: Episode I - Comics Zone, DreamLeague Season 19, DreamLeague Season 20, and the ongoing Riyadh Masters.

Once the Riyadh Masters concludes on 30 July, Saksa and Tundra will have two and a half months to rest and prepare before they defend the Aegis of Champions in TI 2023, which kicks off with its Group Stage on 12 October.

Saksa is not the only player to miss out on competition this season due to health reasons.

Team Liquid's Samuel "Boxi" Svahn was forced to exit the Lima Major due to a health emergency, even if the team was set to play in the Major's upper bracket finals at the time. While Liquid was still able to reach the Grand Finals despite Boxi's absence, they lost the title to Gaimin Gladiators in a 0-3 sweep.

Nigma Galaxy's Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi has elected to miss out on the 2023 DPC season altogether due to lingering health issues. With that said, he did return to the team as a stand-in for DreamLeague Season 19.

OG's Tommy "Taiga" Le also missed some time during the Summer Tour regional league in May after struggling with anxiety and depression. Héctor "K1" Rodríguez also took a mental health break in that same month.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.