At what is now the midway point in the creation of my radio documentary and project Game, Set, Mental Health I wanted to reflect on what I've achieved so far and what's to come.
As publication is now in the first week of January, it gives me a chance to update halfway through the project as well as right at the end as I initially intended and it's suitable because I have achieved half of what I wanted to so far with this project, and have more lined up to complete the rest soon.
The two main groups who are key in the issues surrounding mental health in tennis and the two main groups I aim to speak to for this documentary are the professional players, and the two main governing bodies the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) - the respective men's and women's pro tours.
So far, I have gathered case studies of several players who have opened up about their mental health journeys in the past and been able to interview one ATP Tour player and one WTA Tour player for the documentary.
My ATP player interviewee, Noah Rubin, was significant as he also created an online platform, Behind The Racquet, which allows players and others involved in tennis to share their personal stories on his Instagram and website in a Humans of New York inspired style.
My WTA player interviewee, Kiki Bertens, serves as a case study of a top player who had a period in which she struggled dealing with losses and life on tour as a pro player, leading to her almost retiring, before overcoming this and having the best seasons of her career. Kiki's story was valuable as it serves as an example that players can overcome times in which they struggle with their mental health and not have this affect them in the future.
In our interview, Kiki also mentioned how good the support offered by the WTA to assist players with their mental health was, and I am interested to find out more about this when I interview Kathy Martin later this month, the senior director of the WTA's Athlete Assistance department which deals with the more mental and psychological aspects of a player's performance and wellbeing.
I have also been communicating with one of the ATP's player officers who says that the organisation are currently undergoing an extensive analysis into this area and will be publishing their findings during the 2020 season, and am looking to obtain an official statement on this for my documentary.
I am interested to see what these figures within the WTA and ATP will contribute to my project and hoping to find out that this issue is becoming increasingly important to them.