What You Can Learn From Dinara Safina’s Loss
Dinara Safina lost her third Grand Slam final, this time at Roland Garros 2009 against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Safina had been under immense pressure when she played Azarenka and even in semifinals against Cibulkova. Dinara was for example leading 6-3, 4-2 against Cibulkova, made an unforced error and berated herself.
In today’s final, she was very tense and I could see that because:
- Her shots did not flow
- She was missing for just a little bit
- She made many double faults (serve is the most affected shot by nerves)
- Her screams when hitting the ball were really tight and stronger than in previous matches
- Her facial expression was most of the time worried, unhappy and very afraid
- She constantly looked to her coach for help and encouragement
See the pictures below of Dinara Safina in this Roland Garros final and see what I mean… (All photos Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Here’s what one needs to do in order to be good in tennis (and most likely everything else):
You need to become a winner in your MIND first and ONLY THEN you will become a winner in the real world!
Remember this. This is the key to your success in tennis.
Most players WAIT for wins and actual proof in order to BELIEVE that they are good. But this may take very long and may not happen at all.
Instead, you must become a CHAMPION in your mind first without ANY PROOF (since you haven’t won yet). You must rely on some realistic factors of course and for Dinara that should not have been a problem.
She is ranked #1, had reached Grand Slam finals before and it was perfectly possible for her to win the Roland Garros 2009. Once she knew that it was realistically possible, she would need to become the winner of the match in her mind many many times.
But she was just constantly worrying that she wouldn’t lose another final and this fear of pain created tension in her body and her mind and she was simply incapable of playing top level tennis today even though she tried hard.
Dinara NEVER looked like a champion in this final…
When Andre Agassi was asked in 1992 when he won Wimbledon as his first Grand Slam, how he felt by winning Wimbledon for the first time, he replied that he has in fact won it 10,000 times in his mind before winning it in reality.
That’s what Dinara has to do. She has to become a Grand Slam champion in her mind (by VISUALIZING it), behave like a champion and ONLY THEN the championship titles will follow in reality.
That’s what YOU must also do in order to reach higher level in tennis. Do not wait for outside proof to convince you that you are better.
Create that vision in your mind, believe firmly in it, cast away all doubts and the reality will follow…
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June 7th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
You must ENJOY and welcome the challenge! Dinara does not appear to be having fun out there. Her game is based on extreme precision and if he is not having fun out there she will be too consumed in the negatives to be able to execute with such precision!
June 8th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
It was uncomfortable watching Safina constantly look to her coach for answers. Putting aside the fact that “coaching” during a match is against the rules, it shows a scary dependency. She should be thinking about her strategy, strokes, opponent weakness, etc, etc. …not wasting time and thoughts uselessly looking at her coach sitting in the stands.
It was so pleading, her looks, it kind of weirded me out. It amazes me she has had the success she has with this “style” for lack of a better word. I enjoy watching her tennis, but really dislike that aspect of her match play.
June 12th, 2009 at 10:31 am
all the matches kuzenetsova played before finals were three sets and shown tremondrous fighting spirit. her face was absolutely blank and her inner feelings were absolutely invisible to the opponents. every victory made her strong and her serve and forehand was got better with each and every match. in the finals safina choked and her serve was never a threatning factor. morever there was no bite even in her ground strokes. a worried finalist never a threat to a gutsy and determined kuzentsova.