Mental health panels offer candid insights from Pegula, Ruud and more

Jessica Pegula offered honest, thoughtful reflections during a recent mental health panel in Montreal, where the WTA Foundation also announced a $10,000 donation to the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport.

Mental health was at the forefront earlier this week at the National Bank Open in Canada. A number of tennis stars took part in enlightening and powerful mental health panels in Montreal, where the WTA event is being held, and Toronto, where the men are playing.

This was the second consecutive year that Tennis Canada staged the event in partnership with the WTA, and the first time that a mental health panel was held at an ATP Masters 1000 event.

At IGA Stadium in Montreal, World No. 4 and reigning Canada champion Jessica Pegula participated in a conversation with Blair Henley, Tournament Director Valérie Tétreault, coach Mark Gellard and WTA Tour Director of Safeguarding Lindsay Brandon.

Among others topics, the conversation focused on how players can maintain a healthy presence online in the age of social media while still being able to compete at their highest level. They also discussed the Threat Matrix, a proactive monitoring service that aims to protect athletes from online abuse and threats. The Threat Matrix was launched in 2023 by the International Tennis Federation, the WTA, the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the United States Tennis Association.

“A lot of people don’t realize how many bad messages we get," Pegula explained, "and the irony is that it doesn’t matter if we win or lose. You have to have thick skin as an athlete, but it’s definitely becoming necessary to change our habits online, to use measures to filter out the negativity, and even to turn off comments during tournament weeks.”

In Toronto, the panel featured Tennis Canada's Director of Wellness Marie-Josée Bellemare, coach Craig Boynton, Sportsnet's Caroline Cameron, World No. 13 Casper Ruud and World No. 11 Andrey Rublev. The group discussed ways to normalize open and honest conversations about mental well-being, how negative perceptions can deter individuals from seeking help, and the importance of building a culture of support within teams and organizations.

"Certain things you can keep to yourself, but I had a good experience talking with a psychologist,” Ruud said. “You go to the gym with a trainer to work on your fitness, but talking to a psychologist is like working on your mental aspect in the same way -- you work out your brain a little bit, get your thoughts sorted and find new ways to motivate yourself. I just found it really helpful. I didn’t [necessarily] want to be a voice [on mental health] but it felt like a natural thing to talk about.

"I wanted to advise people that, if you’re struggling or if you have issues, or you’re uncertain if you should talk to someone or not, it’s definitely a good thing to try. It helped for me.”

The panels on Monday were part of Tennis Canada's Mental Health Strategy, which launched in February 2024. The strategy -- in partnership with the University of Ottawa, Own the Podium, the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS) and Game Plan -- strives to improve the health and wellness of Tennis Canada's athletes, coaches, parents and staff members. And the Mental Timeout initiative, a key part of the strategy's Promote pillar, aims to bring awareness to the importance of mental health and wellness.

“These stories are so important because they’re motivating, inspirational and they’re breaking down barriers,” Tennis Canada Chief Executive Officer Gavin Ziv said. "So, we are very appreciative, and we take this topic very seriously at Tennis Canada. Marie-Josee [Bellemare] and her team are doing incredible work, not just with the kids in our program, but with our coaches and parents. This is part of what it takes to be successful.

"We are happy with where we are, but we know we have a lot more work to do. So, please, keep on listening."

During the panels in Montreal and Toronto, the WTA Foundation and ATP Serves announced that they will each make $10,000 donations to the CCMHS.

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