Tennis is one of the most soliciting sports both physically and mentally, and all great players throughout its history agree that maintaining a clear and confident attitude and mind is a key element to the high performance.
Nevertheless, even the most rational and calculated players have their own deep seeded fears and superstitions, which have to be kept under control before interfering with their game. Here are some of the most common fears of some of the greatest players in the world.
Losing
The possibility of being defeated and losing a match stands at the very top of the list of things almost all tennis players fear. When playing practice matches, much like when playing a no deposit casino, most players manage to overcome the fear of losing relatively easy or do not even experience it at all. So, the trick in overcoming the fear of losing is to view every match as a practice one.
Slower Surfaces
Every player has a favorite surface, and either if it’s grass, clay, hard or carpet, it can give him the extra advantage needed for a win. In theory, every type of surface should act the same no matter in which part of the world you play. However, there are situations when the composition of the clay, for example, is slightly different and that makes the ball travel a lot slower than usual. And even though this might not sound like much, it can really affect a top tennis player that practices his moves and coordination up to the detail of every millimeter.
Other Players
There are a lot of situations in which, professional tennis can develop real phobias of other players. That has been the case for Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova, for example. It’s something about the opponent that makes one player to lose concentration and not function at 100%. Even though these fears can’t really be explained by specialists, they’re very real.
Birds
Although it may sound funny, this fear is as real as it gets for Sloane Stephens. In 2015 at Roland-Garros she was terrified when a pigeon flew too close to her in her first-round match against Venus Williams. Even though she doesn’t really have a bird phobia, she stated that everything that comes swooping from above scares her.
The Dark
No, we’re not making a reference to Iron Maiden’s hit song. It appears that Rafael Nadal really is afraid of the dark, as stated in his autobiography. Even though it might be hard to imagine that a well-established athlete like himself fears to be alone in the dark, is as real as it gets.
Snakes and Spiders
Roger Federer admitted that he has an unexplained fear of spiders and snakes. Asked if this fear has anything to do with an incident of any sort, Roger said that he doesn’t remember having any troubling experiences with any of these animals, but he just prefers to stay as far as possible from them
Fear of flying
Now, this is interesting, a professional tennis player that is afraid of flying. Quite odd considering that tournaments take place all over the world. But Serena Williams would rather choose to travel by car at any time. She manages to control her fear because flying is the only way she can get to all matches, however, it is something that really troubles her.
The Easter Bunny
Funny, right? Actually, it’s not so funny for Andy Roddick and one incident that happened in Houston where a big bunny mascot made him so agitated and nervous that he loudly requested that the character should be kept away from him at all times. We’re not sure if it’s the costumes he was terrified about or just rabbits in general, however, that’s one curious fear to have.
