Mental Tennis is Roger Federer's Success Secret.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to succeed so easily, and others never seem to be very successful? This last Sunday, Roger Federer won the Rotterdam Open, which surprised many. In the history of professional tennis Federer is the winning-est male tennis player. The last couple of years however have been sort of a roller coaster ride for him going from being the world #1 male tennis player to being ranked #3 or there abouts: winning some and losing some. So how does Federer make a comeback like the Rotterdam Open?  Mental Tennis is Roger Federer’s Success Secret.

ApekshaHa writing in 10sBalls.com believes the reason for his success is his persistence: he never gave up. In the little dictionary by my computer, the definition of persist is “continue in spite of obstacles or objections”. The Compact Oxford Thesaurus, also by my computer says that to persevere means to “hammer away”, “be tenacious”, “be resolute”, “be purposeful”.

These don’t necessarily sound like qualities of a tennis player, do they? Evidently they are of the successful ones. In the game of tennis as well as the game of life, we all meet with obstacles, disappointments, distractions, even failures. Roger Federer has had some of those in recent months, but he is continuing to persevere, to be tenacious, to be purposeful. As a result, he is continuing to raise the bar for those coming after him, who wish to be classed as one of the tennis greats in the history books. By winning more tournaments, he is setting an example for those who follow.

Mental Tennis is Roger Federer’s Success Secret

He is an experienced person who knows what he is capable of and what he can achieve. Even during those tough moments, he didn’t stop believing in himself . It’s very easy for all of us in life to blame our failures on destiny and not work hard enough to find out where the real problem lies.

In Federer’s own words: ["]I went through some tough moments as well where I was frustrated and I didn’t like it as much. But, I don’t know. I always stay positive. I’m a very positive person”

During the 6 week break after US Open 2011, Mirka (his wife) told him: “It’s O.K. to lose one or two matches very closely, but you can’t start losing more and more and more. Then maybe something’s wrong in your corner. So you just have to question yourself and check with the entire team, see what everybody thinks.’ Original here.

How about your life experience? Do you give up easily when faced with challenges? Do you get discouraged and quit? I have heard it said that the only true failure, is the failure to try again. If you quit when face with hard times, there is no way to get out of your circumstance. The only way to do that is to get up and try again with focus and intelligence.

Be careful though that you don’t try the same thing the same way every time and expect a different result. If you are not getting results with your approach, try a new one, but don’t give up. Remember, mental tennis is Roger Federer’s success secret. Emulate his persistence, his mental strength, his resolve, and in the end you will maximize your talent and ability.

What has changed for Azarenka since last year? Probably a lot of hard work on the court, but also an new-found mental approach to tennis. In the Qatar Open semi-final match against Agineszka Radwanska, Azarenka suffered injury to her ankle and had to have it strapped and bound court side. It looked like she may decide to call the match off, but after a few minutes, she was up on her feet, carefully checking out her ankle and then she was ready to play. As the remainder of the match progressed, Azarenka’s skill and power could be seen again and she took control of the match winning 6-2 6-4.

Azarenka Used Mental Tennis to Advance to Qatar Open Finals

Anil John writing for the gulf-times.com quotes Azarenka:

“Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to pull it off. I had to concentrate very hard on every point, but I am happy that I made it,” said Azarenka who took her winning streak this year to 16 to equal Justin Henin’s record set in 2004; Maria Sharapova holds the most reason season-opening winning streak, going 18-0 in 2008.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to pull it off,” she said.  “I had to concentrate very hard on every point, but I am happy that I made it,” added Azarenka, who took her winning streak this year to 16 to equal the now retired Justine Henin’s record set in 2004. She said the adrenaline kept her going.
“Well, it is, but, you know, when you are in the match, adrenaline is going and you try not to think about it and just try to give your best, whatever it is.
“Sometimes the pain eases out, especially when you’re winning and you are in that mode that, you know, you kinda try to forget about the pain at least.  It doesn’t happen always.
“But as I said, I was just trying to have a clear mind, you know, and just fight through, whatever happened happened, but in my mind I had to adjust and just, you know, be okay with it that I’m not at my best. I just have to try as hard as I can.”
Azarenka said she is not sure what exactly her injury is and whether she will be 100 percent going into the final today.
“Well, I don’t want to you know, I cannot predict.  I’m not a psychic, or how you say, but we’ll see.  I have 24 hours, you know, to get better.  We’re gonna definitely do the best job as possible to be ready for tomorrow.
But the way it happened, I was just, you know, trying to reach for the ball, and I slipped and kinda twisted my ankle.  Other second I know, I was on the floor, you know.  So it’s shocking a little bit.” Original here.

This little vignette described above shows some of what it takes to be a champion. In this case she had to dig deeper, but Azarenka Used Mental Tennis to Advance to Qatar Open Finals.

Isner Intensifies His Mental Tennis Strategy. WikimediaCommons by Emmett Hume

Last weekend, John Isner beat Roger Federer in four Davis Cup matches. Isner said this has been a great encouragement to him going forward from here. Being a big man at 6′ 9″ Isner has to play differently than a smaller, more agile player. He has to have a different game plan, one that involves finishing a point as fast a possible and forgetting about playing along hoping his opponent will make a mistake.

Isner sees this strategy as taking as aggressive an approach as possible. Evidently his team captain, Jim Courier and his coach, Craig Boynton,  as well as many others have been telling him for years that he needs to take control of his games in this way. He needs to use his powerful serve, coupled with constant pressure on his opponents to finish the point and maximize his wins. He can’t afford to sit back to see where the play will go.

Evidently, the message finally got through to Isner. As he approached his match with Federer, he told himself, that he was only going to beat Federer if I played the way he was supposed to.

Peter Bodo writing for espn.go.com says that Isner has refined his “mental strategy.”

“You need to be very intense, mentally,” Isner said. “You can’t afford loose points or loose games. It’s a mental and emotional effort. I’m trying hard to be really professional, which to me means staying as intense as possible every single match.”

Isner sounded like he’s dedicated to the effort, and he’s also trying to keep his win over the all-time Grand Slam champion in perspective. “I didn’t necessarily string together five great matches in a row. I went over there and played one great match. But I’ll take confidence from that.”

Now ranked No. 2 behind Mardy Fish on the U.S. form chart, Isner will have a chance to show that he can sustain that elusive intensity for a regular tournament’s full menu of matches in a week in Memphis, where [he] will be top seeded at an ATP 500 event for the first time. Original here.

I hope Isner can make it work. It would be great to see him move up in the rankings and get more wins. It must be discouraging to fall short of your aspirations so often. But with his win over Federer, he should have a renewed sense of confidence. If Isner can intensify his mental tennis strategy, and follow his coaches advice, we should see an improvement in Isner’s game.

A French Open Win Is Important for Nadal's Mental Confidence. Wikimedia Commons by Roland Garros

During 2011, Djokovic was the dominant men’s professional tennis player. He overshadowed Rafael Nadal who had previously been the top tennis player. And then Djokovic defeated Nadal in the Australian Open last January. So, a French Open win is important for Nadal’s mental confidence.

In interviews following that marathon of a match, Nadal asserted that he had learned a lot from the finals match with Djokovic. One question that comes to my mind is, “Can Rafael Nadal make a comeback and regain the top spot in men’s tennis?” No one of course has the answer, not even Nadal. Only time and future tournaments will tell if Nadal has been subjugated to exist at that lower level from now on.

It will be interesting to see events unfold over the rest of the year. At any rate, an article by Kevin Pacelli in  BleacherReport.com posed a question, wondering how many more seasons Nadal will be a dominant force in men’s tennis. Based on the info I have, Nadal is only about eleven months older than Djokovic, being an elderly 25 years old.

I would think that with their ages being so close, that Nadal, if he stays healthy, should be able to provide Djokovic a lot of competition in the future. Of course, there is the matter of physical conditioning and  tennis skill. Nadal should be able to up his fitness and conditioning, if that is lacking. As far as skill goes, it seems there would be some things he could do there also to combat Djokovic’s new dominance.

But the most important thing, I think will be Nadal’s mental confidence and for that I believe that a French Open win is important for Nadal’s mental confidence.

[...] Djokovic definitely has what it takes to win the 2012 French Open, consequently completing the Career Slam for him, and clinching the non-calendar Grand Slam. In this situation, Djoker will be near impossible to stop in the following months.

This would inevitably cause Rafa’s mental game to deteriorate, with little (if any) confidence going into each of their encounters.

If things play out this way, it is not likely that we will see much more from Nadal. A few more Grand Slam titles could still be coming his way, but if he doesn’t find a solution to the Djokovic problem soon, his days as a dominant figure in tennis will begin to slip away. Original here.

Is Nadal going to be able to stop the momentum Djokovic is enjoying? That depends on Nadal. I am assuming that Djokovic will continue playing at the same level he is at present. I don’t think he will let down, because he has stated that he wants to win a Golden Slam

. To do that, he will need to win the French Open and the Olympic Gold in London this summer. A French Open win, therefore, is important for Nadal’s mental confidence.

Federer's Success Due to Mental Strength, Fitness and Technique

Speaking Tuesday evening, Feb 14, 2012, with a group of reporters in a Rotterdam Hotel, Roger Federer spent some time reflecting on his career, his future in tennis and how tennis has changed over the years that he has been involve with it. He spoke about the obstacles he had to overcome, how he had to become mentally strong in order to accomplish what he did. It became obvious that Federer’s success was due to mental strength, fitness, and technique.

Federer said that if you want to accomplish anything worthwhile in life it doesn’t come easy. It always takes work, even for someone with championship status, and might I add, it takes the right mindset also. Federer went on to say that in his experience he was always re-evalutatin himself, looking for ways to improve, to do better. It’s kind of an evolutionary process.

Romana Cvitkovic writing in TennisGrandstand.com quotes Roger, “I never thought I could play such good tennis. I really had to put in a lot of hard work. Sometimes it doesn’t look like it because it’s all so fluid and people give me so many compliments. But I did put in the hard work and there’s no way around that in the professional game of tennis.”

As a junior, Federer was often seen in tears following defeat and in recalling what made the difference for him during those early years, he concluded that “the biggest improvement that I have been able to make is the mental part. I used to be quite crazy when I was younger, and I eventually got my act together and started to understand why it’s so important to work hard. Once I started to work extremely hard, all of a sudden, I had this really fluid game and I was able to unlock my potential — which I knew was big but I didn’t know it was this great. I’m really amazed overall how well I’ve done.”

To hear Federer say those words reaffirms that nothing in life comes easy, even for a champion that holds countless records, including 16 grand slams and 70 career titles. People may be gifted and talented, but without the proper supplement of training and support, the world may have quickly ended up in short supply of grand slam tennis champions.

“You always have to re-invent yourself; come up with different ideas of how you can improve as a person and as a player. For me, it’s been a great evolution through the rankings from back in ’98 when I was a junior to today, and [how] the game has changed tremendously… I never thought I could play such good tennis. I really had to put in a lot of hard work. Sometimes it doesn’t look like it because it’s all so fluid and people give me so many compliments. But I did put in the hard work and there’s no way around that in the professional game of tennis.”

As he alluded to earlier, Federer credits his success to equal parts mental strength, fitness and technique, and talks about “tennis as an emotional sport” when you are just starting out in the smaller Futures and Challenger tournaments. Original here.

It is always interesting to listen to candid conversations that champions have with others about themselves and their game. Many times there is a lot one can learn, about how the champion thinks, his mindset and his work ethic. One thing you can take from the interview was that Federer’s success is due to mental strength, fitness, and techniuqe.

Mind Tennis: How to Relate to Crucial Moments in Your Game

Whenever you are playing tennis, there are times during a game that are very important.  How you deal with these watershed moments will probably determine whether or not you win. Dr. Allen Fox, a sport psychologist, writing in Tennis.com, says that at these times you need to be aware of mind tennis and how to relate to these crucial moments in your game.

Dr. Fox should know what he is talking about since not only is he a psychologist, but a coach, and former Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

According to Dr. Fox, there are four times, in particular, that you need to take stock of the situation during the game. It is at these times that there is a tendency to have some mental and or physical letdown, or you could lose it altogether. The important thing is to learn how to deal with the four scenarios so you are not on the losing end.

Mind Tennis: How to Relate to Crucial Moments in Your Game

After a long, difficult point
Even at the pro level, particularly long and mentally draining points are often followed by short points. Serve returns are missed and quick errors are made as one player simply isn’t ready for another bruising battle. Knowing this can help you. If you are serving, make a mental note to get your first serve in after a long point, rather than going for an ace. Wide serves can be especially effective against opponents who are winded, tired, relaxing, or in any other way unprepared to reach or move quickly. If your opponent is serving, hit a high-percentage return rather than going for the quick winner. And in any case, be determined to play another long, tough point. Your opponent may not be.

After a long, tense game
When a game requires prolonged concentration and lots of stress, players tend to relax afterward. Don’t. The game following a marathon is the perfect opportunity to run up your lead or kill your opponent’s momentum. Put the length of the game out of your mind and take the same approach to the next game. Tell yourself you’ll stay out there as long as it takes to win. Playing tough in situations like these is not only liable to win you the next game, but it will also intimidate your opponents. It shows them they’re up against a dogged competitor and in for a grueling afternoon.

After a service break
The best time to break an opponent’s serve is after they have broken your serve. They are likely to either relax or become conservative, as they feel they should hold and consolidate their lead. Go after the next game with your most intense and solid tennis. Don’t give anything away; go for deep returns, but don’t play too close to the sidelines. Make your opponent play and see if he or she shows any signs of nerves. You can often break back immediately, not only evening the score, but also deflating your opponent and turning the momentum in your favor. If, on the other hand, you have just broken serve, deliberately try to increase your intensity and generate a little extra adrenaline to forestall any tendency to become complacent or conservative. You’re up a break, so use that opportunity to step on your opponents; don’t expect them to roll over.

After your opponent has blown several chances to break your serve
When your opponents serve after having had their hopes of a service break dashed, they will often be unprepared to focus immediately on holding their own serve. This is a great time for you to break. Your opponents will have seen a promising situation come to naught and will be suffering some disappointment, so they may not be quite ready to play. Be prepared to take advantage of any droopiness. Original here.

Having the knowledge of mind tennis and how to relate to crucial moments in your game will give you a definite advantage. There are times when a mentally prepared player can beat a more skilled player, because he or she better understands the psychology of the game as it unfolds.

If you would like to better understand the psychology that winning player use, click here.

Federer and the Swiss Team Out of the Davis Cup, Thanks to Mind Tennis. Photo of Mike Bryan from Wikimedia Commons by Alvaro Gandara Astray.

Roger Federer and the Swiss Team Out of the Davis Cup, Thanks to Mind Tennis. Federer had the option of choosing the playing surface when he and his doubles team played the United States in Fribourg, Switzerland. Federer thought the slower surface of a clay court would benefit the Swiss team and hamper the U. S. team, but in fact proved to be just the opposite.

The U. S. Team of Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish were up for the task and defeated the Swiss team of Federer and Wawrinka, who were the current Olympic champions, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The doubles win gave the U. S. an unbeatable 3-0 score over the Swiss.

Bryan and Fish definitely had their minds together, with the Swiss crowd at times angry and hostile because of the success of the Americans. Byan and Fish had been paired only once before in Davis Cup competition, in 2007.

Freep.com, reporting on the Davis Cup match said,

Federer and the Swiss Team Out of the Davis Cup, Thanks to Mind Tennis

Given a supremely tough draw in the 2012 Davis Cup, the U.S. is off to an exhilarating start at Fribourg, Switzerland.

The team swept Roger Federer and Switzerland in the first round, with Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan winning the doubles match on clay, a surface selected by Federer to exploit what was perceived as an American weakness.

But Fish and Bryan, paired for the first time in more than three years, were clearly up for this challenge on Saturday. They defeated Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, the reigning Olympic champions, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

“This is probably going down as one of the most memorable (wins),” said Bryan, who played on the 2007 winning team.

The doubles victory gave the Americans a 3-0 win in the best-of-five, first-round series. Read article here.

In order to stay in contention for the Davis Cup, Switzerland will now have to go into the play-offs later in the year to stay in the World Group, which is comprised of the best 16 teams in the world.

John Isner of the U. S., ranked 17th in the world, beat Federer, ranked #3, and 8th ranked Mardy Fish defeated Wawrinka.

The U. S. has won a record 32 titles in team competitions for men’s tennis in the Davis Cup. They will probably play France in the quarterfinals in April, as France is now up over Canada 2-1.

Winning against the reigning champions can be tough. Not only do you have to have the tennis skills, but you have to be up to the challenge mentally. The Americans got off to a slow start in the first one  and one-half games, but they eventually prevailed. The had to stay mentally tough, confident in their abilities.

As a result of Bryan and Fish, Federer and the Swiss Team Are Out of the Davis Cup, Thanks to Mind Tennis.

Bernard Tomic Uses Mind Tennis to Get Davis Cup Win. Wikimedia Commons by gobalite.

Bernie Tomic used mind tennis to get Davis Cup Win over Wu Di of China to extend Australia’s lead over China by 2-0.  Australia’s Davis Cup men’s team captain, Pat Rafter, said it is hard sometimes for Tomic to get himself up for a match when he’s playing someone he knows he can beat.

Linda Pearce writing in theage.com.au reports that Rafter went on to say that, “he [Tomic] kept his mind together and that was the one thing that I was proud of him [for].”

Bernard Tomic Uses Mind Tennis to Get Davis Cup Win

… ”I think Bernie probably more than anything just struggled mentally a little bit. I know he’s hitting the ball well, but it’s harder for him to get up sometimes for these type of matches, because he is playing someone he knows he should beat, and he’s clearly the better player.

”But he did really well. To close that out, he kept his mind together and that was the one thing that I was proud of him [for]. He probably didn’t play the prettiest tennis, I don’t think he was overly happy with how he hit it, but he found a way to win.

”[Wu] actually played some really good stuff out there, and he put Bernie under a bit of pressure there for a while, and if Bernie didn’t go with him he would have found himself in a tough four or five-set match and I didn’t really want that. I wanted to be 2-0 up, and that’s what we expected, what we wanted on day one. We’re there, and we’ll try and close it out tomorrow.”

Rafter said that sometimes it is harder to win when one is playing in the early stages of an event that doesn’t draw the crowds. This is the case sometimes in the earlier matches of the Davis Cup. He said that even though you may not be as up for your game as at other times, you’ve got work on it and build on it. You have to do this if you plan on playing the top players in later stages of the cup.

Both [Tomic and Hewitt] fell short yesterday, but in different ways; the more powerful Zhang taking two sets to find the aggression he needed to challenge the former world No. 1 [Hewitt] on the lawn he loves, and Wu unable to quite capitalise on a loss of concentration that contributed to Tomic’s 3-0 deficit in the second set and the teenager’s struggle to maintain intensity in his first match since facing Roger Federer on Rod Laver Arena in the fourth round of last month’s Australian Open. Original article.

The World's Wining-est Tennis Player Enjoys Mental Tennis. Wikimedia Commons by nick step.

In the world of sports, it is so easy to focus only on familiar players on the pro-tennis circuit. They are the ones we see on TV or read about.  Players like Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Azarenka, Sharapova, Clijsters, etc. But there is another world of tennis out there not publicized much in the media. Suffice it to say, the world’s winning-est tennis player enjoys mental tennis, and her name is Esther Vergeer from the Netherlands. Ever heard of her? I hadn’t until I ran across the article by Eurosport, linked to in this post.

Novak Djokovic holds her in awe, commenting about her: “one of the women in tennis I admire the most, Esther Vergeer”.

Esther has won her last 444 matches including 39 Grand Slams. Why haven’t you heard of her? Esther is a paraplegic playing tennis in her wheel chair. But Esther loves the game, especially the mental game of tennis. She says that  is her motivation.

The World’s Winning-est Tennis Player Enjoys Mental Tennis

It is no surprise that Djokovic holds Vergeer in such regard given her simply unprecedented sporting CV.

When the men’s number one says that Vergeer hasn’t lost since 2003, he’s not lying. She has literally won every singles match she has played in the last nine years — that’s 444 matches and counting.

During her career Vergeer has won 39 Grand Slam titles (20 singles and 19 doubles), as well as 22 year-end championships and five Paralympics titles.

She first reached world number one as an 18-year-old in 1999 and she hasn’t left it since – despite now being 30.

After winning Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award in 2008, between 2004 and 2006 she even went over two years without losing a set (winning 250 in a row).

So how does a player with so much success on her CV stay motivated?

“I love this game more than anybody. It’s a lot of sacrifice, it’s a lot of effort, but I do enjoy that,” she told Marianne Bevis of The Sport Review .

“My main motivation is the inner game: I just love the sport, I love the training, but then also the way I see that I can improve in so many aspects still.

“Then there’s the motivation of the Olympics: You have to set certain goals, and this year for sure I’ve set my goal – my mind – on the Olympics.” Original story here.

This gal could be pitying herself, but to the contrary, she is making use of what she has. She is doing something with her life. Instead of making excuses for herself, she makes use of her talent and ability.

Notice, the thing that motivates her is the inner game, the mental tennis:  almost makes me ashamed of myself. How about you? Now you know that Esther Vergeer, The World’s Winning-est Tennis Player Enjoys Mental Tennis.

Djokovic Aim: To Win The Golden Slam Requires Mental Tennis. Wikimedia Commons by Eklektekuria.

Steffi Graf won the four major tennis tournaments and the Olympic Gold Medal in the same calendar year, 1988. Since that time, such a feat has been called the “Golden Slam”. Djokovic’s aim to win the Golden Slam requires mental tennis. Stefi is the only person in history to win a Golden Slam, and Djokovic is on target to do it this year. He only has to win the French Open and the Olympic Gold medal.

The four major tennis tournaments a player has to win in a single calendar year to win a “Grand Slam” are: The U. S. Open, The Australian Open, The French Open, and Wimbledon. When you add the win of the Olympic Gold, in the same calendar year, you have a “Golden Slam”. SkySports.com reports that Novak’s desire is to win the French Open and Olympic Gold Medal this year, thus making a Golden Slam for him.

Djokovic Aim: To Win The Golden Slam Requires Mental Tennis

All the grand slams and Olympic Games, they are my priorities,” said Djokovic, who was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in London on Monday night.

“Obviously, Roland Garros is the one to win this year. I have to stay optimistic. I have to believe in what I do and believe in my abilities and that I can win on all surfaces.

“I think everything is possible.”

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“I’d been number three in the world for three or four years in a row and Andy Murray was number four.

“What changed for me was the mental stability, strength and experience that I got over the years playing at the top level.

“Just believing I can win the major tournaments, believing I can win against the biggest rivals at the later stages of major events.”

It will be exciting to see what progress Djokovic makes toward his goal. From the quotes above you can see that he has a lot of confidence in himself and his abilities. This is part of what mental tennis is about, being so confident in your ability to perform, you basically forget about form and theory and focus exclusively on the moment. Read what else Djokovic has to say here.

Djokovic’s aim to win the Golden Slam will require mental tennis to achieve. If he doesn’t allow anything to distract him, he may become the first male Golden Slam winner. To learn how you can improve your game, leave your name and best email in the box to the right and you will begin receiving your copy of my weekly Mind Tennis Insider secrets.