Mental pressure using the example of the US Open Final 2020 - an analysis by mental expert Philipp Heger

We tennis players feel and know mental pressure , whether in a training match, during the Meden round or in the LK or ranking tournament. But the fact that professionals often face exactly the same mental challenges as any of us during matches is surprising.

Philipp Heger, mental expert and author of the book "Mental Strength in Tennis" uses the example of the 2020 US Open Final between Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev to show specifically how mental pressure affects the course of a game, how a game can turn over the course of the game, what ups and downs there are. And one thing is for sure: you will definitely see many, many parallels to your own matches. Even if you don't play best of five matches.

Mental blocks in your head slow you down

It's the last matchday of the season and your team is top of the table and is playing against its direct competitor. Your match is the last singles of the day and if you win, promotion can no longer be taken away from you. You feel the expectations of the spectators and especially your teammates. The game is close and you and your opponent are playing good tennis. Everyone secures a set. The match tiebreak must decide. Your knees are shaking and you are very nervous. You want to go through with it, but you can't. You have strength and power, but your head tells you: “Now just keep the ball in play.” Just don’t make a mistake.” You tremble and your otherwise quick shots fly over the net as if in slow motion. But your opponent doesn't get any pressure behind the ball either. What's going on?

This situation sounds familiar to many players! Your own head plays tricks on you and slows down all the blows. A terrible feeling. Sometimes you win these bad games, but you're still not happy. Because it doesn't feel like a victory.

Zverev's trembling serve in the fifth set was symptomatic of maximum mental pressure

I would now like to use the US Open final and many numbers to show exactly how mental pressure affects performance. Let's start with the second match point for Dominic Thiem. Thiem has just carelessly missed his first match point at 6-4. Now at 6-5, he still has a match point for the US Open title. Zverev is now serving. Zverev opts for the safety option and hits the first serve as he would otherwise do a second one. But his first serve still misses its target. The speed of this first serve is only 138 km/h.

Zverev is now under immense pressure. Although he is only three paltry points away from the US Open triumph, if he doesn't place this second serve in the service court, it won't be him, but Dominic Thiem who will be the new US Open champion! What happens now? Zverev shakes his second serve into the field at just 109 km/h! And the strange thing is, he gets away with it. Because Thiem is just as nervous and tense. Instead of punishing this throw-in, Thiem plays a slow slice return to the middle. The rally begins and ends shortly afterwards with another unforced error from Thiem. So far so good. Now let's look at the whole thing from the beginning.

The history

Both Zverev and Thiem are playing a good tournament, Thiem in particular is in excellent shape these days. He only gave up one set during the tournament. That's why Thiem goes into the match as the favorite. In addition, he has already been to three Grand Slam finals and is therefore more experienced than Zverev, who is in a Grand Slam final for the first time.

But Zverev starts outstandingly. The first serve that Zverev plays in this match is 217 km/h. He consistently serves at over 200 km/h in the first set and has an average of 202.5 km/h for his first serves at a rate of almost 70%. Every third serve from Zverev in the first set cannot be returned by Thiem. Zverev also only makes a double mistake.

Thiem is completely different, as he seems totally nervous and doesn't seem to be able to cope with the situation at all. Zverev plays his best set of the tournament, while Thiem probably plays his worst.

The same style continues in sentence two. Zverev dominates, applies consistent pressure, comes to the net at the right moment and literally shoots the far too passive Thiem off the field. But at 5-1, Zverev shows nerves for the first time. Up until then he had barely made any minor mistakes in almost two sentences, but now he's wobbling. Misplaced a slight volley on set ball, threw in two double faults at 5-2 and another double fault at 5-4. But somehow he shakes his way to winning the set. The first serve on set point to make it 6-4 is by far the slowest first serve to date (140 km/h).

Already at this point they both feel the enormous pressure. Thiem is now in the match and can now increasingly perform at his usual level. Zverev is still playing well and a match is developing at eye level, in which Thiem can finally equalize after sets.

With victory in mind, the “mental brake” hits

It goes into the all-important fifth sentence. Both have their chances, but Zverev is the one who can break away first with two games. He breaks Thiem to 5-3 and can now serve for the US Open title. Zverev had an average first serve speed of 201.5 km/h in the first four sets. In no set was the average speed below 200 km/h.

Up to this point, Zverev had scored 36 direct service points, including 15 aces. 36 free points. From 5-3 until the end of the match, Zverev didn't score a single direct service point. The average speed of the first serves when he opened the match at 5-3 was only 185 km/h. This can be seen even more drastically with Zverev's second serve, as he only hit it at an average speed of 126 km/h by the end of the match, almost 30 km/h slower than before.

Thiem was able to realize the re-break and equalize to 5-5 with courageous play. The Austrian was then able to break again. But Thiem was also tense and by no means certain of victory. While Zverev's tension was primarily reflected in a much poorer service performance, Thiem was almost no longer able to follow through with the backhand when he served for the match.

In that game, when he was serving for the US Open title, Thiem had eight balls hit on his backhand. He answered all eight with an undercut ball. One could of course say that this was done from a tactical point of view. But why should Thiem change his strategy when he is on the verge of victory? Especially since this “tactic” didn’t work at all because Thiem lost his serve because he was far too passive with the slice.

Tiebreak fifth set - climax of the mental dramaturgy

Now, of course, what had to come came. The final tiebreak had to decide the match between the two friends. Both were unable to break their deadlocks in this crucial tiebreak. Zverev's service problems now reached their peak. The first serve also had an average speed of 185 km/h in the tiebreak. The second only averages 124 km/h. There were also two double errors on Zverev's part. Thiem, on the other hand, got stuck with his slice and didn't find the courage to follow through with the backhand again until the penultimate point.

It is also interesting that Thiem only won 52% of his service points from 3-4 in the fifth set and Zverev only won an abysmal 42%. The serve was more of a disadvantage than an advantage for these two top players in the final phase of the match.

Of course, I don't want to denigrate these two fantastic players in any way, but rather show that such top athletes are just people who feel immense pressure and cannot always perform at their best under it.

But what can we all learn from this match?

My analysis of the whole thing is that Zverev didn't trust his strength at the crucial moment, namely the first serve. But often played it like a second serve. Deep down he doubted and distrusted his first serve.

Zverev dominated the game with his serve, especially in the first two sets, and was courageous and aggressive. But even in sets three and four, and even in the early stages of the fifth set, his serve was very solid and stable. Of course there were one or two double faults, but he put a lot of pressure on Thiem with his serve. Of course the head speaks up at such an important moment, especially for someone as young as Zverev.

However, I see it as extremely important to trust your own strengths, especially in phases like this. At the same time, banishing the negative voices in your head and replacing them with positive ones. Especially at the top level, players with a wait-and-see attitude, which both players showed in the decisive phase of the US Open final, no longer win a flowerpot.

Stay mentally strong, stay calm and play courageously

Like most amateur players, seasoned professionals' nerves sometimes play tricks and ensure that even top players cannot perform at their best. In the case of Zverev and Thiem, Zverev had big problems with his otherwise strong serve towards the end and Thiem could only slice passively with his backhand. The pressure on both players was too great and too many thoughts ran through the minds of these two great athletes. They couldn't control these thoughts.

My advice to amateur players for comparable situations is to look at the whole thing as rationally as possible, push negative thoughts aside and replace them with positive, better thoughts. Also, play bravely and use your own strengths. Believe and trust your strengths and play to them even when you are nervous and tense.  

//Philipp Heger

Would you like to find out more about mental strength in tennis?

We really recommend reading the book “Mental Strength in Tennis”. A very good overview of the complex mental cosmos with lots of data and facts, practical tips and concrete exercises. Maybe you want to read our detailed book review in advance?

for book review

Or you can buy the book straight away - here are all the facts and figures:

//Photo credit: New sports publisher