The first Grand Slam of 2024 is over. Tennis is an unpredictable sport and during the last 2 weeks, we also had many unpredictable results in men’s and women’s draws. At the end, Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner lifted the trophies but their rivals in the finals can teach us really valuable things.
There is no doubt that Novak Djokovic was the biggest favorite to start the year with Grand Slam title and to make other people talk about his possibility to win all Grand Slams and Olympics in the same year. Novak was playing really well but against Italian player, as he said personally: “he played the worst match of his Grand Slam career”. Arena Sabalenka was also picked as a favorite to win the trophy but we know that it is much harder to bet on women than on men. She proved that her performance can be really stable and she won the title without even losing the set.
We all love to look at the winners, admire their work and the quality they deliver. It is even better to support them and feel these positive emotions when they beat their rivals and lift the trophy. However, many times players who lose are also worthy to analyze because their road to the final is based on specific steps that happen also in our careers. Understanding these nuances will allow us to make proper decisions and to have positive impact on the chances to get to the finals of the most important tournaments for us.
Daniil Medvedev and Zheng Qinwen didn’t win the trophies in Melbourne but they did something that is really valuable for all players who want to play more effectively. It is important to take a closer look at their game and road to the final to understand what really helps to achieve success on the court. Here are the lessons from the finals’ losers of Australian Open 2024:
Zheng Qinwen
A lot of experts picked Sabalenka to be in the final but probably nobody expected Chinese player to be on the other side of the net. Over the course of 2 weeks tournament, she played solid tennis and beat different types of players. However, to reach the final, she didn’t play anyone from top 50 in the world. This is a big mental lesson for all tennis players who don’t believe in big success if their rank is not around top 10. To win the tournament or to be in the final, you don’t have to be in top 10. Sometimes you don’t have to even beat anyone from top 10. You just have to beat the player on the other side of the net and this is what you have to focus on. Remember that you don’t have to be better than all other participants to fight for the trophy – every single time you have to be just better than one player who is currently competing against you.
Daniil Medvedev
What a pity. Daniil was 2 sets up against Jannik Sinner in the final and lost it. The same story happened to him 2 years ago while fighting against Rafa Nadal (read about the reasons of Rafa’s success here). He still has to wait for his maiden Australian Open trophy but his actions show us important lessons that we all should at least think of. During the tournament, 2 times Daniil was 2 sets down and was able to come back strong and give himself the chance to play in the final. He could give up or he could let emotions play the crucial role but instead of that, he fought till the end. The total time he spent on the court was an astonishing number: 24 hours and 17 minutes. It looks incredible but mentally he was ready to spend this time while fighting for the goal that is his priority. Additionally, he proved again that beautiful technique can be helpful but doesn’t decide about the chance to compete for the title. He is far away from the technical habits that we see on the tennis courts around the world but he manages to get all balls back in the spots that force opponents to take more risk and make more unforced errors. His shots are not spectacular but his effectiveness is and this is what counts in tennis.
After the first Grand Slam tournament in 2024, we already know that this year can be really interesting according to the results on ATP and WTA tours. Let’s see how champions will deal with this success as also what losers will do to challenge these players during the next encounters. Rivalry will bring the best quality performance and this is what should count for us if we want to analyze and learn what factors can help us to achieve big progress in the shortest possible time.
Marcin Bieniek is a professional tennis coach. You can contact Marcin through his personal coaching website http://marcinbieniek.info. Marcin has been working with USTA, top 50 ITF and WTA/ATP players. Author of tennis book “Tenisowy Olimp” and frequent contributor to TennisPro and TenisKlub magazines. He was a speaker at International Coaching Tennis Symposium 2016 and 2021 at Hilton Head Island, USA.
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