I don’t often do this, but here are interesting lines from an article I read from Sarah Holt about the importance of the mental game in tennis: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/tennis/29384650
It reminds me of two things I write about often: the need for frequently taking the time for evaluation of your circumstances and the need to be intentional (going beyond just good intentions):
“A willingness to learn about the mental and intellectual demands of the game is being impressed on the rising stars of British tennis.
“It’s something we’re trying to work on with our juniors,” explains Newham. “To give them an idea of what type of attitude, characteristics and values they need to make it as a professional tennis player.
“Very few understand what it takes to be successful. Determination, focus and having the drive and ambition to always want to be the best are important.
“But other qualities, like a good level of self-awareness and understanding, are also incredibly important.
“Some tennis players are cool, calm and collected whereas for others, having a little bit of fire and passion works.”
It could just be that success in tennis is all in the mind. ”