3 Reasons Why A Tennis Qualifier Can Beat A Top Player
There were two recent shock defeats on the ATP tour in the last week.
First, Lleyton Hewitt lost to a qualifier Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga (France) in Queens and second, Richard Gasquet lost to a qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan).
How come these unknown qualifiers are able to beat experienced top players?
1. They are incredibly motivated. They haven’t achieved much yet; they have this burning desire not only to succeed but also to survive. It’s a slight exaggeration but consider the costs of flying all over the world, staying in hotels and other expenses.
Many of these players have only their prize money to cover the expenses.
Top players like Hewitt have millions of dollars and there is no big deal if they lose a match here and there. They are not interested in money any more (only in really big sums) and they will retain their top ranking even if they have some losses here and there.
So when you put an incredibly motivated qualifier against a slightly less motivated top player, a surprise win is not so surprising.
2. There is no pressure. If you are a qualifier playing a seed and you lose, it’s no big deal. Everyone expects that.
But if you are a seed playing a qualifier and everyone expects you to win, then you might get a little tense. There can be a lot of pressure. No so much about the money or rankings but just ego.
“How could you lose against a qualifier?”
And once a higher ranked player starts thinking about this, he becomes more tense and tentative.
Lleyton Hewitt double faulted at 5:5 in the tie-break. Could this be related? 
3. They go for their shots. This is of course related to the above – having no pressure. But there is another factor: a qualifier understands that a seed is a very good player and there is a reason why he / she is a top player.
So the qualifier decides to risk more, go for the shots since it’s very unlikely that they can win with their “ordinary” game. And since there is no pressure, the mind is emtpy and allows to body to perform to its maximum.
In other words: the balls go in.
A top player is under pressure and doesn’t want to risk too much. That way they don’t put enough pressure on the qualifier who is now able to control the point more and be more aggressive.
There are more reasons why a tennis qualifier is able to beat a top player and feel free to add some of your own tennis thoughts on this topic in the comments box below.
- Related posts:
June 15th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Hi Tomaz, One other reason to consider is skill on different surfaces. A lower ranked player who qualifies and is a good clay court player will often beat a higher ranked hard court player. This isn’t true for Gasquet and Hewitt but it often happens and some of the qualifiers at Queens Club have also played a challenger or two on grass.