Mental Moment-Grand Slam

Congrats Bartoli on winning Wimbledon.

Did you see the Lisicki/Bartoli match? It was a difficult match to watch. Clearly they both played well enough to be there but as I heard Martina say several times, you can’t win a grand slam without having played a grand slam. However in this match neither had played a grand slam yet someone was going to win. Bartoli, the victor, stayed consistent with her mental game and that is what made the difference.

Lisicki is known to have a slightly better serve and Bartoli is known for her quick returns particularly on the serve. Given a few differences, both women have similar ability. If you look at Lisicki’s draw to get to the finals you’ll see that she had much more difficult matches beating opponents like Serena Williams. So what happened?

Lisicki started the match with nerves and they stayed with her the entire time. It wasn’t Lisicki’s tennis skills that lost her the match as it was her lack of mental strength (although her nerves showed up in her skill). Her nerves caused her to be tight and when you are tight it’s hard to run or hit. Her nerves showed up in her ball toss. Her nerves lost her Wimbledon. Are you going to let your nerves lose you your Wimbledon?

Happy Tuesday!

Dr. Michelle

Photo credit: Scott Kilbourne