Avoiding The Mental Trap: Lessons From Djokovic’s Match Versus Istomin At AO

After watching the first two sets of Djokovic’s match against Istomin at the Australian Open, I was struck by Djokovic’s frustration with how well his opponent was playing, which reflects a match mindset that many players at all levels fall into the trap off, and I want to point out why it happens, how players can guard against it, and solutions that can be implemented to enhance performance.

What Happened: To me, Djokovic was unable to accept the reality of the situation that he found himself in, particularly after the 16 minute-long first game and the intense battle that ensued for every game thereafter. He is a multiple Grand Slam champion, this was the 2nd round of a Slam and against an opponent he has dominated the last 5 times they played. All in all, this was simply not supposed to happen — at least in his mind, which is the mental trap he fell into. Not to be critical of Djokovic, he is after all human like all of us, and it’s so easy for this thought, i.e. “this should not be happening to me” to creep into our minds. All it takes is this one thought to creep in, and the more we entertain it and create a story around it, the more it begins to impede our mindset and performance. As the first two sets progressed, one could see Djokovic complaining more and more about the fact that Istomin was “hitting so many lines”, you could see him nodding his head in disbelief. As a result, he was not able to lift his game and found himself down a set and 2 set points to go down 2 sets to love. It was his genius and brilliance that ultimately helped him pull off the 2nd set.

How Do We Guard Against Falling Into the Mental Trap & Solutions We Can Implement To Come Out?

1. Let go of the past. No matter what your win/loss record is against an opponent, it could be 5–0 in your favor or 10–0, the sooner you move past this backward-looking statistic, the sooner you will be able to focus your attention on the task at hand, which is to get yourself ready to perform at your best in the upcoming match.
2. Be mindful of your preparation. When we are playing someone we feel confident of beating, it is easy to start slipping up a bit in our preparation prior to the match. Be aware and catch yourself if you find yourself wanting to stay up an additional half hour at night (than you usually do before matches) or you wake up half hour later or you skip the warm-up that you usually do to prepare. These are all signs that you may be getting complacent with your preparation and falling into the mental trap.
3. Get ready for a tough match. When you are playing someone whom you have a winning record against, it’s easy to think that you will beat them again. However, get ready for a tough match and expect your opponent to play their best. Expect that they have learned from the past matches and will make some changes to their strategy, meaning you will have to find new ways to beat them. When you approach the match expecting your opponent to play great and for it to be a tough encounter, you will be less likely to be surprised by their great shots.
4. Focus on your game and performance, not on theirs. In Djokovic’s case against Istomin, he got caught up in how well the latter was playing, instead of focusing his energy on trying to raise his level. Similarly, if your opponent is playing great and putting up a strong fight, accept the reality of the situation and focus on how you can bring the best out of yourself to overcome the challenge.
5. Play every match to the best of your ability. Regardless of whether you are playing a local event or Grand Slam; or whether it is the 2nd round or final, play every match to your best potential. Would Djokovic have complained about Istomin’s great tennis if it were a semi-final or final instead of a 2nd round? Likely not. He would have expected an opponent who has reached the latter stages of a Slam to be playing great tennis. Therefore, the fact that is was only the 2nd round, did play into his falling into the mental trap. The optimal competitive mindset is to simply play every match to best of your ability and let go of all the other noise around type of event, round of play, etc. that can impede your performance.
6. Replace “should” statements with “I am”. Whenever you catch your mind making a “should” statement such as “I should win this match now that I am up 5–1 in the 3rd set”, replace it immediately with “I am up 5–1 in the 3rd set and I will play the next point to the best of my ability.” In life as is in sport, there is no “should”, there is only what is, and players that stay present to the reality of “what is” and do their best in every moment, will give themselves the best opportunity to succeed.

You will see from the above match example that the best and greatest tennis players, from time to time fall into the “mental trap”. We as humans are all prone to falling into the trap on basis of our past record, expectations of the future, and inability to accept the reality we find ourselves in. Through practical solutions shared in this article, my hope is that you will catch yourselves at the earliest of signs of falling into the mental trap or prevent yourself from going deeper into its tentacles and jump out quickly to enhance your performance and give yourself the best opportunity to succeed.

Sincerely,

Harsh