October 10 is World Mental Health Day. For the occasion, Tennis Canada is honoured to lend its voice and its advocacy to the initiative.
Anchored in three pillars: support, promote, and care, Tennis Canada is committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment, integrating mental health and wellness as a crucial part of a tennis player’s performance journey, through its Mental Health and Wellness Strategy, launched in 2024. In addition, we offer resources to help each individual on their mental health journey.
The Mental Timeout initiative supported by Beneva has had a strong presence at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers (NBO) in both Montreal and Toronto over the past few years thanks to various on-site activations like dog therapy, yoga, and positivity postcards.
The Mental Timeout initiative is also backed by three ambassadors: Bianca Andreescu, Alexis Galarneau, and Rob Shaw. Each Canadian tennis star penned articles earlier this year for Mental Health Awareness Month. Andreescu talked about the importance of patience, perseverance, and gratitude. Galarneau stressed that seeking help is a strength, not a flaw, and Shaw highlighted the significance of creating safe space to talk about mental health.
To mark World Mental Health Day, Tennis Canada has published a video on its social media channels starring Andreescu. It depicts the 25-year-old struggling during a match due to injury. She suddenly finds that, rather than her original opponent, she is facing herself across the court, representing that sometimes the toughest opponent in life is one’s own negative thoughts. The video shows Andreescu’s journey through the next point and concludes with her finding the inner strength to overcome this internal obstacle and secure victory.
This summer, the NBO hosted a pair of mental health panels featuring Jessica Pegula, Andrey Rublev, and Casper Ruud. The discussion in Montreal, which was the second year the tournament had hosted a panel in collaboration the WTA Tour, focused on how players can maintain a healthy presence online in the age of social media while competing at their best.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the panel was the first of its kind on the ATP Tour and centred around reducing stigma by encouraging open and honest discussions about mental well-being, the impact of that stigma on help-seeking behaviour and how to foster a supportive culture in teams and organizations.
REFRAMED THOUGHTS
Thought distortion | Negative thoughts | Reframed thoughts
| |
All or nothing thinking | I totally failed at organizing this event. | Some things didn’t go as planned. We handled it how we could and learned for next time. | |
Over generalization | I always mess up communication with partners | There have been a few tough conversations, and others have gone well. I’m improving each time.
| |
Mind reading
| My colleagues probably think I don’t know what I’m doing. | I can’t know what they think. I can ask for feedback instead of assuming. | |
Catastrophizing
| If this project fails, it will be a disaster. | If it doesn’t work, it would be disappointing, but we’d adapt and improve the next version. | |
Should Statement | I should not feel stressed/anxious about this. I should always stay calm. | It's OK to feel pressure, I can focus on my breathing or take a break |
Learn more about the actions Tennis Canada is taking to foster awareness about mental health and wellness and ensuring that our community has the support they need.
