The US Open 2026 impressively demonstrate how important the mind is in tennis. Learn how you can use the mental strategies of the pros for your own game.
In tennis, a match is often decided not by the best shot, but by the strongest nerves. The US Open 2026 provided plenty of object lessons for this. Whether it was the extreme pressure situations in the men's semi-finals or the comeback behaviour in the women's draw – the pros in New York showed that the mind is the most important weapon on the court. For you as a recreational player, there is plenty to learn from these extreme situations that you can take directly into your next match.
How to keep your nerve in moments of absolute stress was demonstrated by Alexander Zverev in his semi-final against Karen Khachanov. Although Khachanov was the better player at times in the second and third sets and even had two set points in the third set, Zverev stayed cool. According to match reports from Tennis Majors, he secured the victory in three sets because he minimised errors in the crucial moments of the tie-breaks and took his chances ice-coldly. Ben Shelton, who came out on top in the all-American duel against Frances Tiafoe, also emphasised after the match how surprised and happy he was with his own calmness and focus in the final phase. For your game, this means: if your opponent is leading or the match threatens to slip away, rushing achieves nothing. Take a breath, focus on the next point and trust in your strengths instead of rushing.
Another important aspect is dealing with your own weaknesses or dips in form. Zverev revealed after his semi-final victory that after an extremely weak performance in the first two rounds, he sat in the locker room with his team at three in the morning and had to laugh at his own poor play. This humour took the pressure off and paved the way to the final. On the other hand, former US Open champion Andy Roddick analysed Coco Gauff's semi-final defeat against Elena Rybakina on the podcast 'Served with Andy Roddick'. Gauff's forehand let her down as Rybakina increased the pace. Gauff later explained that she uses such phases to mentally focus on long-term improvements for the next season instead of letting herself be crushed by current failure. If a shot is not working at all for you in a match, do not try to force it. Accept your form on the day, adjust your tactics and learn from it for your next training session.
Success does not fall from the sky, but is the result of hard work on the details. Ben Shelton explained his sporting leap by the fact that he focused extremely on the 'small extra categories'. These include sleep, nutrition, the type of training and the mental attitude. Aryna Sabalenka, who reached her eighth consecutive hard-court Major final despite a temporary dip in form, also shows how important continuous work is. For recreational players, this is a clear indication: a good match does not just begin with the warm-up on the court. How fit you feel, how much you slept and what attitude you bring onto the court massively influences your performance.
Your takeaway: Stay calm in tight match phases, accept mistakes with humour and focus fully on the next point instead of dwelling on missed opportunities.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.