The finals in Indian Wells and Turin show: if you are battling pain or trailing behind, you need clear strategies in your head and on the court.
The end of a long tennis year demands everything from the pros. At the WTA Finals in Indian Wells and ahead of the start of the ATP Finals in Turin, it becomes clear how fine the line is between frustration, physical exhaustion, and a mental turnaround. Whether among the women in the USA or the men in Italy: whoever wants to win in this late phase of the season must not only master their shots, but above all manage deficits and minor niggles.
The fact that the season finale takes a heavy toll runs like a common thread through the reports. According to tennisnet.com, world number one Alexander Zverev looks tired after an exhausting season. The situation is even clearer among the absentees: Jannik Sinner misses the season-ending tournament due to injury, and Carlos Alcaraz also had to take extended breaks beforehand. In an interview with the Associated Press, reported on by Tennis Majors, Rafael Nadal criticised the extreme physical demands. He called for fewer hard-court tournaments, as this surface is extremely aggressive on the joints, as well as shorter Masters events and a two-year ranking system to allow for more recovery time.
The wear and tear is noticeable at the WTA Finals as well. Elina Svitolina spoke openly to Sky Sports about how, at the end of the year, everyone struggles with minor injuries and fatigue. During her three-set victory over Karolina Muchova, she already needed treatment on her right leg in the first set. Between matches, the athletes are often left with only ice baths and 48 hours to recover.
How do you handle it mentally when the match is slipping away? Two players in Indian Wells demonstrated the exact same mechanism: using frustration as fuel instead of breaking under it. Svitolina lost her opening match in straight sets to Mirra Andreeva and was also a set down against Muchova. By her own admission, she was extremely angry with herself, but channelled that anger directly into the ball and her effort, initially keeping the rallies simple through the middle and fighting her way back into the tournament with a 3:6, 6:2, 6:2 win.
A similar picture emerged with Mirra Andreeva against Aryna Sabalenka. The young Russian fell behind early, 1:4 and a break down. According to Ubitennis, anger built up inside her too – which she purposefully used to generate more pace on her serve and blow off steam. The result was a complete turnaround: Andreeva claimed eleven consecutive games and swept the world number two off the court 6:4, 6:0. Sabalenka, on the other hand, completely lost control, producing 23 unforced errors to just 8 winners.
That mental toughness is closely linked to solid fundamentals was shown by Coco Gauff's defeat against Linda Noskova. According to tennisnet.com, Gauff lost in straight sets 3:6, 3:6 because her serve collapsed: eight double faults and three early service breaks immediately put her on the defensive. Afterwards, Gauff herself noted how difficult it becomes to apply pressure in return games when you are constantly chasing a deficit.
In the amateur ranks, too, everyone knows those phases when the body aches or the first set is lost without putting up a fight. The performances of the pros offer concrete approaches for this:
Your takeaway: Do not use frustration and deficits to dwell on mistakes; simplify your shots instead and invest the energy into footwork and clean contact points.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.