Do you tend to back down or fight for each point?
Tennis is not just a game of skill but a war of attrition. In sports, winning the “war of attrition” is when you wear down, outlast, or out-tough your opponent.
Some tennis players back off in tight matches or tiebreaks. The longer the point drags on, the more fearful they become of losing.
The stress of the moment tenses their bodies and causes them to hit the ball long or into the net. When your opponent knows they have you “on the ropes,” they will play more aggressively and go for winners.
However, if you play mentally tough tennis and keep the pressure up, you can outlast and impose your will on your opponent. A strong mental game helps you manage the physical and mental demands of the game.
Mentally tough tennis doesn’t mean you will play doubt-free. When you are playing in highly contested matches, there will be some level of doubt.
Belief is not the absence of doubt. Belief is having the confidence that you can still play at a high level despite a small degree of doubt.
Mentally tough tennis players use a low level of doubt to motivate themselves and fuel their efforts.
Novak Djokovic is known for his mental toughness. Djokovic entered the 2024 Paris Olympics as the No. 1 seed. Heading into the gold medal match, Djokovic hadn’t dropped a set.
In the final, Djokovic played Carlos Alcaraz in one of the most contested matches of the Games. In a match that lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes, Djokovic outlasted Alcaraz and won 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), earning the Olympic gold medal.
Djokovic was at his best when the stakes were highest, dominating each of the two tiebreakers against Alcaraz. Alcaraz acknowledged Djokovic’s mentally tough play.
ALCARAZ: “In the close moments, in the difficult situations, in the tiebreaks, he played an impressive game. That’s why I saw that he’s hungry for the gold medal. He was going to go for it.”
Djokovic had some doubts if he would ever win an Olympic gold medal.
DJOKOVIC: “There are always doubts. Absolutely, I had doubts, but the belief and the conviction that I can make it is stronger than my doubts… I knew that it was going to happen. It was just a matter of when it’s going to happen.”
Playing confident tennis is a matter of winning the internal battle over doubt and immersing yourself in battling for each point.
When matches are close, the player who wins is often the mentally tougher one who can bounce back after a lost point, who can best handle the pressure, and who can dictate the pace of the match.
Tennis is as much a battle of the mind as it is of the body. Mental endurance can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Just like physical endurance is developed in practice, mental endurance requires similar training. Therefore, you must train the way you want to compete.
In practice, push yourself when tired, be aggressive in your practice matches, utilize positive self-talk, and never stop competing.
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