Tennis, of late, has been a place for coronations. First it was domination of Roger Federer as the greatest player of all time. After that it was crowning Rafael Nadal as, only a little confusingly, the dominant player of his era. And then this year, the ascension of Novak Djokovic above both men, capped by his victory Monday at the U.S. Open. Djokovic is the boss now — nobody can argue otherwise. His season is probably impossible to repeat, Nadal told reporters after his 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 loss.
Here are three main reasons why he has is so dominating in 2011.
Self-Belief
Confident
Gluten-free diet.
1. Self-Belief
Self-belief is vital. How many things have you not done or tried because you lacked belief in yourself? Many fail to believe in themselves because others. But as Eleanor Roosevelt so deftly put it:
“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Yet self-doubts creep in, don’t they? Like unwelcome house guests that keep calling round simply because you played host to them before. Doubts such as:
•Can I really do this?
•Other people are better, smarter, more worthy than me.
•What will other people think if I do/say this?
•I can’t risk failure.
•Success is for others but not for the likes of me!
If you sometimes have trouble believing in yourself then read, absorb, enjoy, and practice these self-belief tips.
Here is how Djokovic told to reporters:
I think self-belief on the court,” Djokovic told reporters. “It’s true, especially in the big events and matches, (the) winner is decided by small margins, (by a) couple of points. I guess the winner is the one that believes in victory more than the other. That’s all there is.”
In some ways, that’s all there ever is. When you watch a tennis match in person, it becomes so much more clear how easy it is to miss, especially if you are hitting for the lines — when Federer, Nadal and Djokovic play, at some point you have to hit for the lines.
It’s an exercise of feel, of touch, of the muscle memory of the million swings that came before it. And all that being equal, it is confidence. It is not being afraid to miss.
“I guess it just clicked in my head,” Djokovic said Monday, citing a few cathartic losses, and breakthrough wins. “I think that throughout last couple of years I didn’t change my game in any major way. I think most of the strokes are the same that they were in (the) last two, three years. It’s just that I’m hitting the shots that I maybe wasn’t hitting in (the) last two, three years. Now, I’m going for it.”
