Negative thoughts: How do tennis players deal with them before and during a match?

Andrea Petkovic expressing her frustration on the court

A professional tennis player works day in and day out to achieve his particular goal, although he may not always succeed. If he does, he feels proud since he worked very hard for it, and if he doesn’t, he starts questioning his luck in some cases. There are times where the match goes down to the wire and a mere call from a line umpire or chair umpire changes everything.

It’s a cruel game as you have only winner and there are no ties or draws. Why does the match change in that crucial moment? Why are some players unable to win it during that particular moment? Is it lack of talent or is it lack of practice? But if it is these two things how does a player get that far in the match?

In other words, your mind plays an important role under such conditions. When a player starts thinking a little too much, things tend to go haywire.

I have been a professional tennis player for more than five years and I have seen the journey and I have been in matches which have gone down to the brink which I ended up losing. I remember a match in Bhimavaram I played a month ago; it was 3-4 in the third set and 30-40. I was down a break point and then I got a very bad call. It cost me the match. And I kept thinking about it the next game, which didn’t let me focus.

Such thoughts can really change a lot of things. They say it is best to erase those thoughts as your mind would then be under your control, but sometimes the thoughts are just so intense that we have no control over them, even if we try. The more we make mistakes, the chances of us getting into a negative mindset gets higher.

Last week there was a tournament which took place in Hyderabad. I saw a player who was warming up and listening to some music. He looked extremely focused and didn’t smile at anyone before entering the court. I spoke to him after he got off court. I asked him why he isolates himself and listens to music right before the match. He told me he needs some time to cope with the pressure as there are several thoughts in his head like, “Will I win?”, “What if the other guy plays well?”, etc.

It’s clear that tennis players have several things running in their head and they are constantly trying to control them. I remember Roger Federer in one of his interviews said he just tries to talk to people and smile before his match so that he forgets about his match.

Indian Davis Cupper M. Saket Sai has been quoted as saying, “I try not to think about my match before getting on court so I talk to others to distract myself. But during a match I just think about the points and analyze where I went wrong and make sure I don’t repeat it.”

Most players get negative thoughts during the match when they miss a lot, and they tend to question themselves. And those type of negative thoughts can end the match in a jiffy.

Another player, Prerna Bhambri – Indian Fed Cup player – has a similar take. “I tend to get thoughts like, ‘What if I lose? What will people say?’ I try to erase them by listening to music. During the match I am very calm and only think about a particular point.”

As we can see, each player has his or her thoughts before stepping onto the court and while playing their matches. These can be controlled by throwing in some positive thoughts, but it’s different for everyone. Not everyone can handle a particular situation in the same way.