Why do tennis players let their opponent into a match?

In her second round match today against Vera Dushevina, Justine Henin rolled to 6-0, 3-1 ... and then let Dushevina into the match!

That isn't like Henin.

So, what does this mean? What can we learn from it?

The first thing to learn is that anyone can have a letdown. It's a HUMAN thing, not some moral failing in "weak" and "loser-type" people.

This is why letdowns happen.

First, notice WHEN they happen. They happen when pressure has been relieved. Most commonly letdowns happen at the beginning of a new set. The pressure of the final game of the previous set has been relieved.

This happens because pressure cranks up our nervous system into a state of hyperactivity and hypervigilance. A myriad of changes throughout the body occur. They include changes in our emotional state as well as our physical state. For example, digestion stops, and muscles get extra blood supply diverted from the gut. Adrenaline flows. Remarkable changes like this occur throughout the body.

In effect, the body and mind are operating in Emergency Mode now. Altogether the phenomenon is often called the "fight or flight" response. It is Nature's way of making an animal fit to deal with a life-threatening emergency.

Great. But if Emergency Mode persists as a permanent state, it does great damage to the body. Then you get stress related illnesses.

To prevent this, the nervous system has built in reflexes to dampen the fight or flight response the moment psychological pressure is relieved.

We can't help this. It's a reflex. It's automatic. It's for our own good. But it is a problem in a tennis match. You need to keep that intensity, that state of arousal, going till the match is over. That is very hard to do.

Especially when you are winning so easily as Justine. She has been sailing through her matches like a breeze and was doing so again today, against an opponent choking on top of it all. Who wouldn't have a letdown at 6-0, 3-1 under those conditions?

This doesn't mean you need to suffer the ill effects of letdowns on your play. There are things you can do to minimize them.

First, know when they are going to happen. At the beginning of every new game and every new set. Especially if you're ahead or have won the last one. They will happen when your opponent is beating herself for you, when everything you try works.

Learn to know when you are going to experience a letdown, and do things to combat it.

Often, your opponent will be having one at the same time, such as at the beginning of a new game or set. Capitalize on that. Points are cheap during letdowns. That's the time to get ahead.

If you have a letdown at the beginning of a game, before you know it, you have squandered two cheap points and are down 0-30. Now you have very little chance of winning that game. So start every new game firing yourself up, telling yourself not to go down 0-30, but to get up 30-0, while the points are cheap, before your opponent is really serious about the game.

You can't get too fired up about a set that's just beginning, so set a short term goal of getting up 2 games to none in the new set. Really fight to accomplish that goal.

Don't change your strategy for a second, but do tweak your tactics. Use percentage tactics to reduce your likelihood of error during a letdown. Because you WILL make more unforced errors during a letdown.

What happened today is that the crowd felt sorry for Vera and tried to encourage her by applauding her winners.

Well, eventually she strung together a few in a row, won a couple games, and started to become confident, playing much better.

Justine Henin wasn't right there to bar the door and close out the match. She let Vera into it.

Like I said, that isn't typical of Justine Henin. So, it goes to show that anyone can have a letdown and let an opponent into the match.

Henin still handled the situation better than many players, however. She didn't panic when she saw her opponent breathing down her neck.

The last few games were closely contested, but Justine still won the match and in straight sets. Didn't even need a tiebreaker. 6-4.

That's another lesson: no need to panic if your opponent comes roaring back. Don't get mad at yourself. Give THEM credit for rising to the occasion and making you have to beat them to win. Then, just do.


P.S.
Not that Henin shows the same common sense and wisdom in every department. She just can't keep her mouth shut about some things she thinks she should show off.

I’m not a great fan of England but everyone’s really nice here. In Paris, the public tens to warm to me a lot more and it’s like being at home.The US is the toughest. People seem to turn up to do anything except watch the actual tennis…

Woahhh! Poor England. Justine is not a great fan of England. My dear English friends, you have my deepest sympathy for failing to please Justine.

What's wrong with England? (Besides the lousy weather!) Oh, so Parisians are good just because they like French speaking Belgians? No matter how rude and even downright mean they are to players of other nationalities, right?

Clue: Cut the snooty Continental "we're-better-than-you" airs with their anti-Anglo/American geopolitics, and you might be liked more by the tennis fans in the countries you look down on.

You are not the fans' judge. They do not have to conform to your specifications. (New Yorkers get on our nerves too, you know.) What you think about England is irrelevant. Nobody cares to hear it.

You are the fans' servant. A perfomer they're paying to perform for them. Remember that.

And guess what, if you just stick to tennis, people won't be morally obliged to answer you in defense against your slur on their kind. Things are so much more pleasant that way.

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