How to cope with the fear of losing in tennis
It’s a vicious circle: the more you fear losing, the more it can affect your play, and the more likely you are lose. In fact, the fear of losing - and of being seen to lose by your peers - can put you off enjoying competitive tennis. But it doesn’t need to be like that. Here are some practical mental strategies for coping…
Tennis is a mental sport. I know what it feels like to let nerves get in the way of your best tennis.
Sometimes these posts can feel a little rich coming from a division 1 college player. Well I’m nowhere near that level. I may coach tennis but my level is around NTRP 4.0/UTR 7.0.
Basically I’m an above-average club player.
So I really can relate. I can hit some decent shots but those decent shots don’t come to the fore in matches often enough. I was too afraid of losing and always scolded myself for not playing my best tennis. Sometimes I still let my fear of controlling the outcome of the match get the better of me.
But I’m getting a lot better at coping with that fear… A lot better.
The actual results of my matches aside, I feel a lot healthier than I used to on court and I’d like you to feel the same way.
Here are four shifts in my mindset that have helped me cope with the fear of losing tennis matches… and have more importantly helped me enjoy competitive tennis again.
1. Don’t focus on winning and losing
“If only it were that easy” I hear you saying out loud…
The problem is people take this advice the wrong way.
Of course you care if you win or lose. You can’t just turn off the desire to win. You can’t trick your brain into thinking you don’t give a hoot about the result. Caring about winning and losing is entirely normal and fundamental to creating a fun, competitive environment.
I’m just suggesting you shift your focus.
Try not to focus on the end goal. Try to focus on what you can do right here, right now. For me, the present objective - almost a mantra - has become:
“My job is to find out how good my opponent can play tennis today.”
This advice was given to me by Dave Sammel, the coach of Liam Broady, and I’ve channelled it extensively in my matches. If I can really push my opponent to the extent of their skills, I’ve achieved what I set out to do.
Tennis is such a multi-faceted sport. The level of you and your opponent can shift; day by day; point by point; depending on the score; depending on what you ate; depending on what you drank; due to how much sleep you got; due to how nervy you are etc. Maybe it’s windy, maybe it’s rainy, maybe they’re incredibly upset, maybe you’re immensely happy. Etc. etc. etc.
Never underestimate your opponent. Never overestimate them. Just do your best to find out just how good they are right here, right now.
It’s a mindset shift that’s helped me immensely.
It won’t work in isolation though. You may still get in your own way, trying to bring out the best in your opponents. So…
2. Accept your level on the day
Here’s the kicker.
Can’t get your serve in under pressure? Missing 50% of your forehands when you made 99% of them in practice? Fluffing easy volleys and overheads over and over again?
Then, on that day, that’s your level.
“I should never be losing to that guy.”
Well, you did lose and, frankly, you probably deserved to lose.
And that’s okay.
As an example, I think there’s a real stigma around losing to ‘pushers’ - folk that don’t take any risks and just get every ball back. You’ll tell yourself you should be beating them. If you couldn’t find the answers to that style of tennis on the day - if your nerves stopped you playing your best tennis - however, then the other player absolutely deserved to win. Period.
And again, that’s okay.
Congratulate and respect your opponent and come up with an actual game plan to defeat them. (This article might help: How to beat a pusher – 5 practical tennis tips for dealing with moonballers, junkballers and other annoying opponents).
Then work on executing that in a match situation.
Acceptance that your level wasn’t high enough to bring out the best in your opponent on any given day - and that nerves are a part of the game - will gradually take your ego out of the equation.
It will push you to give yourself a better chance of winning next time, not to expect a win next time you play them.
3. Understand the nature of the sport
Let’s breakdown how to win a tennis match.
To win a match, you need to win two sets out of three.
To win a set, you need to win six games, with a margin of at least two games over your opponent (or win in a tiebreak).
To win a game, you need to win at least four points with a margin of at least two points over your opponent.
The beauty of the tennis scoring system means winning the most points doesn’t necessarily win you the match.
Novak Djokovic famously defeated Roger Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final losing 14 more points than the Swiss.
Djokovic also lost one-sidedly to Nadal 6-0 6-2 7-5 in the French Open final in 2020. Despite the lopsided scoreline, that day he won a fairly respectable 42% of the points played.
Throughout his career in fact, Djokovic has only won 54.5% of his total points played, about 11 in every 20!
You’ve probably heard the margins in tennis are super tight before but really let those stats sink in. Changing the outcome of 1 in every 20 points could be enough for you to change the entire result.
Every point matters. That’s why it’s so important you make your opponent play their best tennis.
RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. THIS POINT.
The margins are too slim to take your foot off the gas.
4. Recover if you lose your focus
The best players in the world stay focussed for the longest.
Note the word ‘longest’ though.
Even the very best in the world will have moments in which they drop their focus.
Novak Djokovic, indisputably one of the best players ever at maintaining his focus, put it in very human terms:
“If you lose your focus, you’re not in the present and things start to go the wrong way for you, it’s fine. Accept it and come back. I think that recovery, of how long you stay in that emotion, is what differentiates you from maybe others. The recovery is more important than actually working hard to stay in the present because it’s almost impossible to stay in the present.”
Staying focussed will make a difference. It will allow you to execute your best tennis when it matters most. It will keep your clear-headed in moments of doubt and will help you to make the right decisions under pressure.
But you will lose that focus. You may miss an easy shot or lose a tight set and there will be an emotional reaction. As Novak said though, that’s fine. You’re allowed to feel those emotions. It’s just important you bring yourself back as soon as you can, regardless of how long you’ve been unfocussed.
If you lose your focus, allow yourself to feel those emotions, to react naturally.
But bring yourself back as soon as you can!
Summary
Okay, a lot to take in there. Here are my four shifts in mindset that have helped me to cope with my fear of losing matches…
Don’t focus on winning and losing. Find out how well your opponent can play on the day.
Accept your level on the day. Anyone can beat you. Nobody is unbeatable.
Understand the small margins involved in winning a tennis match.
You will lose your focus. Recover as quickly as you can.
As always, any questions or thoughts, tweet me @ontheline_jack. Happy hitting!
Jack Edward is a tennis analyst and host of the On The Line podcast, which takes regular deep dives into ATP and WTA tour matches. He’s also a qualified LTA coach and on Talking Tennis he brings his unique analytical insights to help club and recreational players to be more effective on the court.
See also:
Tennis tactics: 4 simple, effective singles strategies for club players
How to beat someone who is better than you at tennis
How to return FAST serves effectively – five practical tips
Tips for playing smart tennis in bad weather and tricky conditions
Tennis tactics: 5 simple, effective doubles strategies for club players
