Netjets US Summer 2023

CONQUERING THE CLUTCH POINTS IN A MATCH …
AND HOW HE APPROACHES CRUNCH-TIME PLAY
I mean, I hope I also don’t choke as well! Seriously, though, I know we all look like everything’s totally under control.
But I think we both feel the same way. Let’s just not mess this up. Let’s just get this point over and done with so
we can move on to a different, less stressful point. But, of course, if you want to be specific, I guess once the point
is over, I use the first five seconds to react in a positive or negative way, the next five seconds to relax and then
the next five seconds to respond to what has happened quickly—the last point or the last hour. And ask myself,
“Is there something I had in the back of my mind that I would like to try out when it comes down to the crunch?”,
“What is his weakness?”, “Do we massage that or do we go to the strength to then go to his weakness?”, “How
aggressive are we going to play, how much risk are we willing to take?”—and off you go. All that in 15-20 seconds,
let’s say, and you compress it very quickly. And then as the point is obviously going on, then the mind is also
racing—focusing on the geometry of the plays, which are crazy all the time. If you wait a split second more, you
would get more options or fewer options. As you know, tennis is quite a difficult sport and you’re always thinking,
“Just don’t make a mistake, just don’t miss” and if you can, try to play with controlled aggression. That was always
a type of play I used to employ, and, of course, you try not to beat your opponent with the biggest shot. Don’t be
silly. Don’t be the hero in the certain moments—but, on the other hand, I always tried to remind myself to be young
in the brain, be willing to take risks. Because as we get older, I felt, or as a player as in life, you start playing the
percentages too much. So, for example, do you go for the high backhand up the line, smashing it for a winner from
the baseline against a fast runner—you hit maybe one of ten. So, you think to yourself, is this the right moment to
take that chance, because why not, he will not expect it. Or is it too big of a risk? So, I think sometimes you just
have to weigh the options, be a bit stupid and do that, just to remind your opponent that variation is there. And my
thing has always been variation, variation, variation on the tennis court.
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
AND FORTITUDE
I definitely think you can build mental
toughness. How did I become one of the
most consistent athletes out there? It
came through hard work. I figured out why
I’m going to the gym and not the beach
and I knew what I needed to work on and
what it was going to bring me. And once
I understood that the hard work was
in the gym, I could then translate that
to on-court and then that gave me the
confidence to believe in myself. One of
the things that I thankfully missed out on
at the beginning of my career was social
media, something I’m very happy that I
didn’t have. And so I didn’t have to deal
with negative comments or the echochamber.
I was able to deal with the wins
and losses because of the good team that
I had built around myself. I was able to
surround myself with the right people early
on, because before you know it, you have
people on your team, whom you don’t know
what they’re doing, but they’re there. And
it’s not that they’re bad people—but just
not the right people.
WHAT GOES INTO BEING
A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE
It’s a full-time job. It’s not just when you walk out
onto the court. The match is the tip of the iceberg. But
everything that goes into it is beneath the surface, and
that’s what fills up your day. And I feel like sometimes
a lot of the athletes and the players, they think when
they come home they’re no longer a professional athlete,
no longer a role model —and they try to put it all away.
I agree we’ve got to put it on hold, but I still think you
have to be a professional 365 days a year, and I’m not
that crazy athlete that thought like this all the time: I
was a master at compartmentalizing and you have to be
quite extreme because if I’m always tense and always in
the moment, then I can’t relax, I’ll get tired throughout
a long two or three weeks, like here at Flushing Meadows
as an example. So, the key for a professional athlete
is being able to bounce in and out. Yet be aware that
he’s always a professional athlete. And not that you can
do whatever you want —and to behave like an animal.
Because you have to be able to maximize the moment.
And your career is short: You have to always remember
that, and somebody is willing to take your place. It’s
windy at the top, I always say, and I think when you’re
conscious of that, you also have respect and a duty
toward your sport as a professional—you know that
somebody else would love to be in your shoes. And by
virtue of that, you do it the right way.
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