Tennis players have just gone through their first tournament starts after the break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have spoken with Karol Drzewiecki, currently the 159th doubles player in the world. After the resumption of the competition, Karol has already played in several ATP Challenger Tour tournaments, and shared his feelings regarding the events with Top Level Tennis.
One of the aspects that are always mentioned while talking about champions is confidence. This mental ability has a big influence on physical performance and the level of confidence is responsible for the good or bad quality of their own game. However, is it possible to build self-confidence, or is it a skill that only a few people were born with?
It has long been known that tennis players, when preparing for the season, set a goal for themselves to have the best form in four particular periods. These are the times when the Grand Slam tournaments are played - the events where the players can get the most, whether it is about the ATP and WTA ranking points, or the big money that lies on the court. The situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic caused the current season to be turned upside down. In the end, however, the US Open is to be played, which in many aspects will not resemble the event we used to watch before.
For every tennis player, the upcoming tournament is a big event. Athletes train hard, invest a lot of money and sacrifice many things to fight for the win to proceed to the next round. To increase your chances of a brilliant performance, you should prepare thoroughly for this special event. But when should you start preparing for the competition?
Looking at the tennis match, we can easily notice which areas of the performance are most apparent. Powerful strokes, quick movement, or balanced position are the factors that top players possess at the highest level, but these are not the only skills that decide about their ability to play effectively against the more advanced opponents. The whole process starts with a little jump, which is a split step.
The last tournaments of ATP Challenger Tour rank, which have successfully started, took place at the beginning of March, more precisely in its second week, and were played in the Potchefststroom and Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, in both cases, the event was not finalized, and the competition was finished in the second round. The organizers of the event had no other option as the coronavirus pandemic was taking its toll all around the world, and nobody wanted the tennis players to get stuck in one of the countries for several days.
Tennis consists of many single points. To win the game, we have to win at least four points. To win the set, we have to win at least six games. To win the match, we have to win at least two sets. It all looks simple, but the more we play tennis, the more we understand that during some points, we feel different than during the other points. So, does every point count the same?
Without any doubt, all of us tennis fans regret the fact that tennis games to which we have been used to for over a decade are now suspended. The tournaments that all tennis enthusiasts grieve the most is, of course, the Grand Slam. In the end, it is no secret that the tournament that gathers the largest number of supporters is Wimbledon - an event which, due to its environment and attachment to tradition, is extremely awaited by everyone. This year, as we already know, the championship in London will not take place.
Top players use their unique weapons all the time. Roger Federer uses his forehand to dominate rivals, while Serena Williams is the champion of the baseline, and she feels the best in this area of the court. Rafa Nadal is known as the king of clay, and his consistency is marvelous. What about you? Are you aware of your weapons? No matter the answer, you should consider the powerful potential of the weapon called topspin.
At the time of the pandemic, many athletes found themselves in a difficult situation. However, most of them have signed contracts, so in the end, some (although less than in the usual circumstances) money goes to their bank accounts. This allows them to survive the times when they can't do their regular job. On the other hand, there are tennis players who make their money only when they go out on the court. At this point, not counting the individual sparring tournaments, it is simply impossible to work for them.
Tennis players can use any strokes they want to increase own chance for winning the battle. There are no limitations according to technical and tactical executions. It simply creates a possibility for everyone to put pressure on the rival and force opponent to make more mistakes. One of the aspects that especially female competitors struggle with is responding to slice.
It’s been another week… another week when our life is totally different and lacks daily routine. Tennis players are also strongly affected by the lockdown. Those who competed on different tournament levels, starting from the highest ranked ATP tournaments, ending with ITF events, cannot practice as they used to anymore. How has the life of tennis players changed since the pandemic broke out?
Practice sessions have different goals. Some sessions are focused on improving technical aspects while others pay more attention to developing tactical skills in specific situations on the court. Individual approach is needed to let players improve at the fastest possible pace so it should also include the first part of the session. The warm up.
Tennis is a beautiful sport because it doesn’t put age limit on players. It doesn’t matter if you are 6 years old or you already have own family and business you can always start the journey with racket in hand. Even at the beginning stages of tennis development players want to start competing as soon as possible so they have to practice skills that will allow them to win tennis matches. It is important to understand the most common mistakes that players make at the beginning level to avoid them and increase own chances for positive result.
One of the most difficult strokes in tennis to learn is the serve. Players start every point with serve so it should make all of us aware that this aspect is of crucial importance for being able to compete at any level. It doesn’t matter if we just start the journey with tennis or we already have few trophies on the shelf because we should always strive to improve serving aspect to achieve better results.
