ASICS is an acronym from the Latin phrase Anima Sana In Corpore Sano or ‘a Sound Mind in a Sound Body’ and the Japanese based firm has intensified their efforts of late with a number of high profile and ground-breaking initiatives to help them lead the way in the fight to improve tennis players mental health.

The brand has recently been involved in a global study that linked the positive effects of tennis on a players state of mind and on May 17th they will launch a stress busting ‘Uplift court’ in Paris aimed at helping keen Parisian tennis players to utilise the benefits of tennis to relieve their stress.

Now ASICS have announced a change to their sponsored player contracts which, for the first time, sees them fund mental health support for all its athletes with industry experts, including Daria Abramowicz, high-performance sports and performance psychologist of world number one tennis player, Iga Świątek. Abramowicz will lead a group of specialised experts who will provide confidential assistance to ASICS athletes.

Abramovic has said, “Stress and anxiety are at record highs for us all, including elite athletes. Which is why I am proud to be working with ASICS on this project to provide mental health resources to more athletes. I’ve seen an increase in brands talking about how they support mental health in sport but ASICS is now doing something about it, so I am thrilled to work closely with the team to provide tools and resources to help improve their mental wellbeing. By offering confidential support, I believe we can help normalize what is normal and help them on their journey to a sound mind in a sound body.”

ASICS athletes will also be encouraged to support ‘the positive message; that sport doesn’t just uplift the body, but it also uplifts the mind’ and to ‘normalise conversations around mental health by being open and honest about how they are feeling’.