Don’t take it personal in your tennis match

We continue to publish some interesting thoughts of Nick Saviano from the book Maximum Tennis.

Don’t make your tennis match into a personal battle between you and your opponent, even if you hate his guts. It is counterproductive to focus on the person you are playing, as opposed to how he is playing, what he is doing, and what his tendencies are. If you are thinking about your opponent, you are no longer focused on your own execution.

Jennifer Capriati, after defeating Serena Williams in a hotly contested quarterfinal match at the 2001 Wimbledon, said “I don’t worry about what she (Serena Williams) is doing. I just try to concentrate on my own game.” Perhaps Jim Courier said it best, just before winning the 1992 French Open: “Opponents don’t worry me. It’s like playing a faceless person on the other side of the net. I concentrate on me and how I play.”

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