The Miami 2009 tennis tournament proved to be very exciting and Victoria Azarenka, Juan Martin Del Potro, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray did very well here.
What do these great tennis players have in common in their mental game that enabled them such success?
It’s the power of belief.
They all believed (or just started to believe) that they CAN win and beat the higher ranked opponent.
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| Juan Martin Del Potro Celebrating His First Win Against Nadal (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) |
Juan Martin Del Potro really believed that he could beat Nadal this time. He played Nadal 4 times before and always lost in straight sets.
When I watched Del Potro in Indian Wells two weeks before when he lost to Nadal 4-6, 2-6, he really didn’t seem to believe he could win.
He seemed intimidated by Nadal, had too much respect for him and really didn’t attack Nadal as he should.
But Del Potro learned something very important from this loss.
He learned that when he plays his own game well, Nadal will not just blast him off the court.
He realized that Nadal is just a human, that he can be neutralized by consistently playing to his backhand, that he can be attacked to the forehand side and will often just defend and that with smart tactics, it is possible to outplay Nadal.
That’s why the Miami match was completely different: Del Potro played the ball. He didn’t play the “big name”. He focused on his game plan and didn’t even falter in the final set tie-break. (more…)