ATP men's tennis offers 24/7 mental health support, meditation after isolation

May 21 (UPI) -- The Association of Tennis Professionals has announced a partnership that will provide mental health support to players on the men's tennis tour.

Tour officials announced partnerships with Sporting Chance and Headspace on Wednesday "to support the mental health and wellbeing of its player members and staff."

The ATP Tour was suspended in March. The partnerships include a 24/7 helpline for the players to access therapists.

"They will help the players deal with any issue they may be struggling with, from the psychological effects caused by COVID-19 and not playing tennis, to dealing with anxiety and depression or the effects of a sporting injury," the ATP said.

The partnerships also give players access to more than 1,200 hours of meditation and mindfulness content. The content includes a specially curated collection for mental health support amid the COVID-19 pandemic called "weathering the storm."

"Being mentally strong is just as important as physical strength in tennis and looking after the mental health of our players and staff is a key priority for us," ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said.

"Everyone has been adapting to periods of self-isolation and decreased physical activity during the pandemic, but this can have a particularly detrimental effect on professional athletes who are used to particular training structure and playing day in day out.

"We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to support our players and staff during this time and I'm proud of the partnerships we've been able to announce in recent weeks and months which allow us to do this."

The ATP Tour is suspended through at least July due to the pandemic. Tournaments planned after Aug. 1 still are expected to proceed. The ATP said it will update its calendar in mid-June.