Tennis News

'Breathe, think clearly’: ATP stars share Best Speech Ever

Tennis players often engage in self-talk as a way to stay focused, motivated or mentally reset during matches. Whether it is a few quiet words under their breath or more animated expressions, this habit helps these world-class athletes navigate through high-pressure moments.

“It allows me to breathe. It allows me to think clearly. It allows me to take the right steps to reassert myself into the match,” said one Top 15 star in our latest feature, ‘Best Speech Ever’.

Take a look into the mental side of tennis as Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, Holger Rune and Felix Auger-Aliassime reveal how they psyche themselves up before and during matches.

One player recalled his exact thought process in one of his biggest career wins while another player reflected on a match at the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals, where he mounted a comeback by finding “the best tennis of my life”.

Curious about what these top players tell themselves when they are just one game away from suffering defeat? Watch the full video above to find out and don’t miss the “money maker” mindset Dimitrov reveals at the end.

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My Influences: Shang on Alcaraz experience & parents' support

Shang Juncheng has become one of the breakout stars on the ATP Tour this year. The Chinese lefty won his first ATP Tour title in Chengdu, reached two more tour-level semi-finals and the third round at the US Open and Australian Open.

Speaking to ATPTour.com as part of our Next Gen ‘My Influences’ series, the 19-year-old recalled his memories of playing against Carlos Alcaraz in Melbourne, the support his former-professional athlete parents have had on him, and much more.

Which former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion did you enjoy watching most when growing up?
I think definitely Carlos Alcaraz. There were some insane shots and because Next Gen, there are only singles lines and there’s no doubles lines and the net is really close, it helps with around-the-net shots. With Carlos, he is one of the quickest players, so I think that helps him a little bit hit the exciting shots.

Last year, Hamad Medjedovic was cruising through, very powerful. He was playing very well and just [I enjoy] the tournament and all the players are really fun.

Which former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion do you most identify with?
[Hyeon] Chung won the first year and I think he kind of plays like Novak. He said his idol was Novak and he tries to play like him. It is kind of similar to me as well. Try to be flexible on the court, kind of counter-punching. Chung is a lot stronger [than me], but maybe I’m a little bit quicker on the court. I would say he is the most similar to me.

Who out of the former champions is your biggest idol and do you remember your first encounter with them?
I played Alcaraz at the Australian Open. Unfortunately, I had to retire after two sets, but that was such a fun experience to play him on Rod Laver and to see someone just two years older than me competing at the highest level. He’s one of or the best player in the world at the moment, so that was just really fun.

Who have been your other biggest influences?
I think my parents. They were both athletes and dad played football. Mom was a professional table tennis player as well, so I think they have some connection to tennis. With sports, they’re all kind of related. My dad has been with me every day — in practise, day in, day out, to tournaments since I started playing tennis. We just grew up together as a family and as a team to learn the sport.

What have you learned this past year on Tour?
I would say I have learnt about time. Time is difficult sometimes. You don’t have too much time to think about other things. Sometimes it’s just in a few seconds that you have to make a decision. Some decisions are tough. You lose some and then sometimes you win. I think it’s just [important] to keep a calm head and have a good attitude towards everything.

What sort of attributes do you look for when bringing people into your team?
I think first of all, in a team you have to get along. It doesn’t matter the ability of the person or how well they work. You need to have a fun environment that everybody is used to. Also maybe the coach, the physio, the fitness coach, they need to like the environment so they can work 100 per cent and be 100 per cent focused. I think it’s like a family that you’re building. You have to give it a try and sometimes some people you just don’t connect [with] too well. For me, it’s just connecting and having fun. That is the most important thing. 

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Why Alcaraz’s personality resonates with Chinese fans

Carlos Alcaraz may be making only his second appearance at the Rolex Shanghai Masters this week, but the Spaniard has already forged a strong connection with Chinese fans.

“They are very passionate. The energy that they bring to me, to the matches, is insane. I like it,” Alcaraz told ATP Media. “I feel like they like when someone tries different shots or the match is becoming crazy in a certain way. It fits pretty well for my style, my personality on the court.”

The 21-year-old demonstrated that manner of fearless hitting and exciting shotmaking most recently in China’s capital city Beijing, where Alcaraz won an epic three-set final against rival Jannik Sinner on Wednesday. Fans will be looking ahead to a potential sequel, looming in the Shanghai semi-finals.

“I always think that when we play against each other, we put the level to the top. We bring a really high level of tennis,” Alcaraz said of his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Sinner. “I think that’s good for tennis, to bring some fans to tennis who have probably never watched tennis before…

“I always try to enjoy playing against Jannik. He pushes me to the limit every time. He makes me be a better player on court and try to find solutions. I think that’s the beauty of tennis.”

Alcaraz, who last year fell to Grigor Dimitrov in the Shanghai fourth round, boasts a 48-9 season record, according to the Infosys ATP Stats Win-Loss Index, with four titles: Indian Wells, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Beijing. After a shocking second-round exit at the US Open, the 16-time tour-level titlist quickly regrouped. Alcaraz is on a nine-match winning streak entering the season’s eighth ATP Masters 1000 event.

“I’m enjoying when I’m playing. I wanted to travel again, play tournaments. I’m excited for what’s next… After [the American hard-court swing], I had my days off and put myself on the [court] again, working hard again for the next tournaments and try to be healthy, to be ready, strong physically, mentally,” Alcaraz said.

“I think I did pretty well. The last month has been a really good month for me with my team. When I’m feeling great off the court and travelling, I enjoy playing on court and I can show my best tennis.”

Seeded third, Alcaraz faces a tough test in his opening match. The five-time ATP Masters 1000 champion meets home favourite and #NextGenATP Shang Juncheng, who recently won his first tour-level title in Chengdu. The 19-year-old lefty is at a career-high No. 51 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Alcaraz and Shang met in the third round of this year’s Australian Open, but the Chinese teenager was forced to retire due to injury in the third set.

Should Alcaraz win the Shanghai title, he would become the youngest champion in tournament history and first Spaniard to lift the trophy.

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Gauff overcomes setback to reach China Open semis

Coco Gauff fought back from a set down to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva.

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Sinner doping case not helping tennis – Djokovic

24-time men’s Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic says Jannik Sinner’s doping case “is not helping tennis at all”.
Sinner, the men’s world number one, was cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for low levels of clostebol – a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass – during the Indian Wells tournament in March.
The World Anti-Doping Agency have appealed against the decision which said Sinner bore ‘no fault or negligence’ for the substance being in his system.

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Berrettini's body holds up in tight Shanghai win over O'Connell

Former Top 10 Italian Matteo Berrettini has set a second-round showdown with Holger Rune at the Rolex Shanghai Masters after edging Australian Christopher O’Connell in two tight sets in China on Thursday.

Berrettini clipped 33 winners, including 11 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in a 7-6(9), 7-6(6) win over World No. 71 O’Connell to claim his first win of the season at ATP Masters 1000 level. The match lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

No. 45 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Berrettini said that he felt confident in his body after withdrawing in the Tokyo second round against Arthur Fils with an abdominal issue.

“I’m happy to be back here and healthy. I’ve never played him so didn’t know what to expect,” said Berrettini, who fought off two sets points in the first-set tie-break.

“Mentally it’s been tough… Too often I have been thinking about how to be healthy and it’s something I’ve grown a bit tired of. I’ve been working hard to be able to think as less as possible about this.

“It was one of the goals of the match. Not to think about my condition, just to enjoy the match, enjoy the atmosphere, which I did.”

Back with a bang 💥

Matteo Berrettini defeats O’Connell 7-6(9) 7-6(6) to record his first ATP Masters 1000 win of the season.@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/mqUkXFJcDu

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 3, 2024

Berrettini trails Rune 1-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The Dane rallied from a set down in Cincinnati in August to claim their most recent meeting.

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Kecmanovic hits ATP Masters 1000 milestone with opening Shanghai win

Miomir Kecmanovic completed his box set of at least one match win at each of the nine ATP Masters 1000s with his opening victory at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Thursday. The Serbian defeated Rinky Hijikata 6-2 6-2 to record his first hard-court win in more than a year, since last August in Toronto.

Kecmanovic, who hit a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 27 in January 2023, could re-enter the Top 50 with a deep run in Shanghai. He will next meet another Aussie in 20th seed Alexei Popyrin, who is competing in his second event since upsetting Novak Djokovic during a breakthrough run to the US Open fourth round.

The 25-year-old Kecmanovic did not face a break point in the 79-minute match. He took advantage of five Hijikata double faults, including one on match point, to break serve six times on 10 chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Also in early action, 19-year-old Chinese wild card Yi Zhou advanced past Yoshihito Nishioka when the Japanese player retired with a back injury after building a 4-2 lead. The home favourite, who is up to 25th in the PIF Live Race To Jeddah, will next meet 13th seed Frances Tiafoe.

All class 🫶

Yi Zhou’s message for Yoshihito Nishioka after his opponent was forced to retire due to injury at 4-2. @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/m41K6o9LES

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 3, 2024

David Goffin advanced past James Duckworth with a 6-4, 6-2 win to open play on Grandstand 2. The 33-year-old Belgian saved three of four break points to see home the straight-sets result. Jaume Munar was a 6-3, 6-3 winner against Hugo Gaston, but not before the Frenchman produced an early contender for shot of the tournament with a half-volley tweener to start the second set.

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Was an umbrella what motivated Butvilas to achieve pro dream?

The players were awarded their trophies, one for the champion and one for the runner-up.
Then came an additional prize: a big box of juice, reserved for the titlist, and an umbrella for the finalist. For a pair of eight-year-olds, this was a drastic difference.

Edas Butvilas was brought to tears when he received the umbrella. It was a punch to the gut while his close friend, Vilius Gaubas, left the Lithuanian city of Palanga with the bigger trophy and coveted juice.

Years later, that moment stands out as both Butvilas and Gaubas are now rising #NextGenATP stars who are enjoying promising starts on the ATP Challenger Tour.

“I lost the final and I remember exactly. I cried for a long time because I wanted the big box of juice and at that time I didn’t care about the umbrella at all, I gave it away to my parents,” Butvilas told ATPTour.com.

“The loss wasn’t that painful, but I saw what he got for the prizes, it was really sad. I still remember it. I talk about it sometimes with Vilius.”

Entering the 2024 season, there had only been two Lithuanian winners in Challenger history (since 1978): Ricardas Berankis and Laurynas Grigelis. Butvilas, who won last week’s Charleston Challenger, and Gaubas have each secured their maiden title at that level in the past two months.

Gaubas is ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, five spots ahead of Butvilas. They are both aiming for maiden qualification for the 20-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

For Lithuania, a country with a relatively small imprint in tennis history, the future is bright.

“This is one of the best things that can happen, that we dreamed of,” Butvilas said of his rise alongside Gaubas. “We grew up together. We are the same age so we were dreaming together, playing together and now rising up like this, it’s just a dream come true.”

Butvilas, who grew up in Klaipeda, began playing tennis aged two alongside his father Tomas, who is a tennis coach. When Butvilas was around age 11, his mother, Dana, began taking him to international tournaments.

“I remember going with my mom in the car and we were driving a lot of kilometres together, just playing many tournaments,” Butvilas said. “Around Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, really close. Poland, sometimes Germany, Austria. Sometimes going to Iceland, I’ve been there two times, I think to play Tennis Europe.”

Butvilas grew up idolising Roger Federer and former World No. 50 Berankis, whose 15 Challenger titles leads Lithuanians. “He showed that even from a small country like Lithuania, we can do really good in tennis,” Butvilas said.

At age 15, Butvilas moved to Alicante, Spain to begin training at the Club Atlético Montemar. Butvilas met coach Ivan Navarro, who has been travelling with the Lithuanian for roughly two years.

Butvilas last week earned a milestone victory when he claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on the hard courts of Charleston, South Carolina. It was just his ninth outing at the Challenger level.

<img alt=”Edas Butvilas wins his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Charleston, South Carolina.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/09/30/16/59/butvilas-charlestonch-2024.jpg” />
^{Edas Butvilas triumphs at the Challenger 75 event in Charleston. Credit: LTP Challenger}

Butvilas, now at a career-high World No. 261 in the PIF ATP Rankings, became the first lucky loser Challenger champion since February 2023.

“It is still tough to believe it because I was so close to being out of the tournament,” Butvilas said. “I lost in qualies and I got the lucky-loser spot and then everything went my way.

“It was really tough conditions there, so hot and humid. In the second round of qualies, I cramped in the last set and almost threw up. I was feeling really bad. Then I got the lucky-loser spot and I had to play the next day again and I won 7-5 in the third. Mentally, I fought a lot that week.”

Still early in his career, Butvilas has already learned an important lesson: the tide will turn in your favour if you remain resilient.

“I lost many close matches this year. My coach always told me that tennis can change really fast at any point,” Butvilas said. “I just was thinking, ‘Why not this time?’”

Did You Know?
Butvilas is a two-time junior Slam doubles champion. He won the 2021 Wimbledon boys’ doubles event alongside Alejandro Manzanera Pertusa and the 2022 Roland Garros boys’ doubles title with Mili Poljicak.

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