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by Wolfgang Jenewein
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Over the past two weeks, I followed the French Open whenever I could. The matches and the athletes impressed me greatly—especially yesterday’s final. I was really rooting for Alexander Zverev and followed the match intensely for over four hours. In the end, Carlos Alcaraz triumphed, and I was a bit disappointed. Still, I learned a lot:
In tennis, perhaps more than in any other sport, you can see how crucial mental strength is for success. Of course, nutrition, mobility, technique, speed, strength, and endurance all matter! Athletes must continuously work on all these areas just to even have a chance to compete in a Grand Slam tournament. But in the end, whoever wants to win and establish themselves sustainably among the world’s elite needs above all the right mindset: an unshakable belief in themselves and the confidence that they can always turn things in their favor.
Tennis players who, after losing a point, a game, or even a set, have the ability to stay positive and keep believing in themselves are more successful in the long run. The best players manage, even after making a mistake at the end of a long and hard-fought rally, not to lose their confidence. They remind themselves that they trained for exactly this moment, to get back up and keep fighting. They think about how they dreamed of playing here as children. Or they tell themselves, “I missed that shot, but the next one will land.” This allows them to establish positive thoughts, calm themselves, and regulate their breathing and heartbeat before stepping into the next point after roughly 25 seconds. By maintaining positive thoughts and belief in themselves, they expend less energy over the course of the match than their opponents, who drain themselves with fear and negative emotions.
It was fascinating to see how Carlos Alcaraz yesterday repeatedly shouted a loud “VAMOS” to motivate himself even after mistakes, or raised his fist to the sky after nearly every winning point! Equally striking was his constant eye contact with his coach, who mostly just nodded supportively and affirmatively, signaling: “You’re strong, you’re doing everything right, stay calm, everything will be fine.”
As banal as it may sound, it is crucial for our psyche, well-being, and performance. A positive mindset makes the difference and was likely also the reason why, in the end, Carlos Alcaraz triumphed yesterday and not Alexander Zverev.
We also need more confidence and positive thinking in our society and economy to remain successful in the long term – perhaps yesterday’s match can serve as a metaphor and reminder!
What do you think about that?
Warm regards,
Wolfi