For most tennis players there is a loss every week. What is important is to have an understanding of how you are going to manage the losses over the course of a season. The hardest part off the elite athlete is: how do I deal with them? The player has to be able to bounce out of it and be productive immediately. In order to do that, a player must ask himself some tough questions and answer honestly.
Look at every loss as individual moment that has its own backstory. I recommend that you look at your training and ask yourself, ‘have I been doing all the right things leading up to competition?’ One thing that I really stress is that you have to get the building blocks in place before you can honestly judge your results.
The Futures level is probably the most vulnerable area of professional tennis. There is not a lot of money, players often live week to week and there is plenty of self-doubt thrown in the mix. All that adds up to extra pressures.
I watch too many players who jump on the tour but don’t bring the tour with them. Generally, they don’t have the strength of mind yet to survive. Where do you see yourself in the game? Do you think you belong on the Futures circuit or do you see yourself on the ATP Tour? A lot of players are hoping and very few believe that they belong on tennis biggest stage. Whatever level you want to be at, and if you believe, then it is about your process.
