Aryna Sabalenka always had the talent to win Grand Slams, as she's been doing recently, but she struggled to get over the finish line before.
Sabalenka has been a tremendous tennis player for much of her career. She's always had the talent, but never quite managed to get it done on the biggest stage due to various factors.
Part of that was needing to learn how to win, which is essential and difficult in tennis. Very few tennis players can waltz into a winning career. Most have to endure some losses before they learn to win.
On top of that, Sabalenka also needed to improve her game because it was very streaky. While she could always play like she does right now, doing so consistently was a major problem for her only a couple of years ago.
But the most important part by far was the mental aspect. Tennis is a very mental sport, and the difference between winning and losing a match can often come down to belief.
After having doubts earlier in her career, Sabalenka now fully believes in herself, and it’s made all the difference. She’s had to learn how to manage her emotions and the ebbs and flows of a tennis match, which she did.
That’s the main difference she finds when she looks back at how she changed as a player over the past three years, as she revealed when talking to ESPN after her win at the 2024 US Open.
"I think mentally I became really strong. I’ve been through a lot on and off the court. I just figured out for myself how to control my emotions and stay balanced on court. Even when things aren’t going my way I just keep reminding myself ‘Come on Aryna. You’ve been through a lot."
"It’s just a tennis match. You can handle these emotions. You just have to focus on the things you have to do to win. Slowly things will get better for you.’ I think that was the biggest change. I guess I figured out how to control my emotions."
Breaking down emotions on a basic level is truly sound advice for anybody because, ultimately, emotions are emotions, and they come and go. Breaking down the situation to its basic level is also a solid approach because, in the end, it’s just a tennis match.
A similar approach is used by Jannik Sinner, who dismisses tennis pressure as something that can be compared to real-life pressure. Winning or losing a match won’t make or break his life, as some other things can.
Being mindful that it’s just a tennis match and nothing bad will happen regardless of the outcome helps in alleviating some of the pressure tennis players experience.
As tennis legend Billie Jean King once famously said, pressure is a privilege because it’s not the type of pressure that can be found in the real world with real consequential problems.
0 Comments