Jannik Sinner said the pandemic was the start of a really difficult time for people across the world and he wanted to create a “safe environment” for young athletes who needed to open up somewhere. ‘What’s Kept You Moving’ is a series of interviews conducted by Sinner with young athletes.
During those interviews, young athletes share their experience with the pandemic and how they were able to cope with the challenging period. “I came up with the idea of What’s Kept You Moving during lockdown in 2020, I wanted to create a conversation around how people are dealing with difficult times and that its ok to talk about hard things that you’re facing.
2020 was the start of a hard time for many, many people, especially my generation, Generation-Z in relation to mental health. It was a huge problem before the pandemic and since then it has only been heightened. I wanted to collect people’s stories of how they have dealt with mental health with the with the hope to create a sense of community and a safe space to share your thoughts and feelings, with the idea to get people talking more about it,” Sinner told the Monte Carlo Masters website.
Sinner: I feel everyone has a story
Athletes’ mental health has been receiving more attention than ever before. Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is one of the biggest reasons why bigger focus has been put on athletes’ mental health and well-being.
“One reason for making this project was that I feel like everyone has a story, no matter what walk of life you are from or what stage of your life you are in, everyone has a story which should be told. This is something I felt before the project but has only been justified further since the start of it.
To see that no matter what people are doing or going through in their life, we can all relate. That’s why I am happy its sort of made a community where people are able to come together and share experiences,” Sinner explained.
