LONDON: For almost two hours Jack Sock battled to win one of the biggest matches of his career at The O2 Arena. The performance delighted the crowd, but it was the mindsets of both players that has resurrected an all too familiar subject.
Entering his press conference, the disappointment on the face Sock’s conquest, Alexander Zverev, was clear. The German was eager to complete his breakthrough season, featuring five ATP titles, on a high. Bidding to become the youngest person to reach the semifinals of the ATP Finals since Rafael Nadal in 2006. It wasn’t to be. Physically, he was fine in the match, but mentally he was anything but.
“This one from a tennis perspective was okay until the third set. I think there I started to play really bad.” Zverev reflected about his performance.
“But that has nothing to do with tennis. That is more myself and nerves, what I put in my head.”
The 20-year-old has illustrated his potential as a future star of the sport by rising to third in the world. Yet, it is in the major tournaments where he has come undone. Zverev is yet to reach the second week at any grand slam with his highlight of 2017 being a run to the Wimbledon fourth round.
Previously, he has been upbeat about his grand slam losses, with the exception of his defeat to Borna Coric at the US Open. In contrast, at The O2 he was blunt about what his weakness was.
“This one was okay tennis-wise. It was just nerves, nerves getting in the way. They got the better of me.”
Sock’s own demons
Ironically Zverev’s ordeal also happened to Sock earlier in the year. In his first six tournaments of the season, the American won 17 out of the 20 matches he played on the tour. Then after Indian Wells, he fell apart. Winning back-to-back matches in two out of six tournaments over a two-month period.
Sock’s decline was in one way due to injury, but an invisible one. Rising up the ranks, he raised his own expectations and in the process wore himself out.
“You’re going to lose some matches, you’re going to have some bad weeks. It’s part of sport.” Explained Sock.
“I think I let that get me down a lot through the year. Mentally, I wasn’t in the place that I was the beginning of the year for the middle and second half of the year.”
So how did Sock managed to turn it around? Winning his maiden Masters title in Paris and now reaching the last four in London. The answer is his coach Jay Berger and the advice he gave him. Berger is a former top 10 player who won a trio of tour titles during the 1980s.
“I talked to my coach at home. We kind of said, Screw it, take that pressure off yourself, go have fun on court again.” Sock revealed.
Berger’s advice is something the 25-year-old continues to follow. It is inevitable that he will be under the media spotlight more frequently the deeper he goes in the season-ending finale. Although he isn’t too bothered by the prospect.
“Whether there’s media 24/7 or there’s no media at all, I’m still the same guy. It doesn’t change me whether my ranking is 1 or 592. I’m still the same guy.”
Zverev’s and Sock’s mental woes are ones that many other players can relate to. Jimmy Connors once said that tennis is ‘90% mental.’ When the public watch players battle it out on the court, a lot of attention is played to their physical ability. But in reality, it is the power of their minds that can make or break a champion in the sport.
