Normally at this time of season, the Tour heads to Madrid. Sadly, the tournament this year was suspended due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, but fans can still celebrate the 30th anniversary of ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. This week, ATPTour.com reflects on the Mutua Madrid Open.

First held in 2002 on hard courts, the tournament switched to clay and a new venue, La Caja Magica, in 2009. ATPTour.com looks back on memorable moments from Madrid.

2002: The First Edition
In the Casa de Campo, just minutes from the city centre, the Madrid Arena hosted the first edition of the Mutua Madrid Open, replacing a Masters 1000 tournament held in Stuttgart. Built for the unsuccessful Madrid 2012 Olympic bid, the indoor hard-court tournament concluded with then 32-year-old Andre Agassi capturing a then-record 15th Masters 1000 title without hitting a ball. His opponent in the final, Jiri Novak, had torn a groin muscle the day before, towards the end of his semi-final victory over Fabrice Santoro, who had beaten Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.

2004: Model Ball Girls
The Masters 1000 tournament replaced traditional ball boys and girls with female models for the third edition. Given two weeks training, the professional models, aged 19 to 28, were selected from Spanish agencies. Marat Safin, who beat David Nalbandian for the 2004 title, said, “The models mean people are still talking about tennis. Good publicity, bad publicity. It doesn’t matter.” Agassi, the inaugural champion, had initially joked, “It was difficult, to say the least, to concentrate on the ball. But I suppose I had an advantage, I’m used to playing with my wife [former WTA World No. 1 Steffi Graf].”

2005: Nadal Edges Ljubicic For First Of Five Crowns
It was one of the best matches in Mutua Madrid Open history: 19-year-old Rafael Nadal, already a winner of 10 tour-level titles in 2005, coming up against Ivan Ljubicic, who was having one of the best seasons of his career. At a time when Masters 1000 finals were contested over the best-of-five sets, Ljubicic quickly took the opening two sets before Nadal showed great grit and determination to fight back for victory over more than four hours of play. “It is one of the best memories I have of this tournament,” said Nadal, looking back on his 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) triumph. “I remember that largely because of the support from the public, I was able to turn the match around and eventually win a final.” Now aged 33, Nadal has won a tournament record five titles (2005, 2010, 2013-14, 2017) from eight finals (2005, 2009-11, 2013-15, 2017).

2009: Under New Ownership, Venue & Date Switch
Ion Tiriac, a former player turned billionaire businessman, became the new owner of the tournament in 2009, coinciding with a switch from hard courts to a clay-court event; to La Caja Magica, a multi-purpose stadium with three courts in the Manzanares Park Tennis Center, and a calendar switch from October to May. Ten years on, Tiriac told his native Romanian press that holding the combined event now benefits the city of Madrid in excess of €107 million.

2012: Blue Clay
Keen for innovation, Tiriac proposed to turn Madrid’s red clay to blue for the 2012 edition, benefitting television viewers around the world. While a single outside blue court had been available for player testing in 2011, with capacity crowds inside the three show courts the following year, the blue clay proved to be too slippery and the consistency of the bounce was uneven. Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic were skeptical, and both lost early, while Federer went on to lift the trophy with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Tomas Berdych. The Madrid tournament organisers returned to red clay in 2013.

2013: In Memory Of Brad
Two days after the passing of Brad Drewett, the ATP Executive Chairman and President, aged 54, due to Motor Neuron Disease (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), stars of the ATP and WTA Tours took to the stadium court for a minute’s silence. Drewett, the former Australian player, had been involved in the sport for more than 40 years. Djokovic said, “It’s devastating news for not just us tennis players, but the tennis world. He was a very brave man with the courage to stand up and try to change some things in our sport for the better. We remember him as a very calm, composed and intelligent man, who loved this sport with all his heart, while he was playing, coaching and then as the President of ATP.”

2018: Santana Hands Over The Reigns
Manuel Santana, a winner of four Grand Slam singles titles, who helped Madrid become a world-class event as Tournament Director, had an assistant in the shape of Feliciano Lopez in 2018. Lopez, who had played in all 16 editions of the tournament, learned the ropes of event management before taking over in 2019. At the time, Lopez was the second active player to be named Tournament Director after Tommy Haas, the former No. 2, was named to the same position for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in June 2016. Santana, now the Madrid tournament’s Honorary President. said: “The Mutua Madrid Open is and always will be my home. It took us a lot of hard work to make this tournament happen and I will always be working to help it grow.”

2019: Djokovic Wins Third Madrid Title
Djokovic arrived at the Mutua Madrid Open last year looking to rekindle the kind of form that took him to the 2019 Australian Open title. With one quarter-final appearance in his past three tournaments, the World No. 1 beat two-time finalist Dominic Thiem 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in the semi-finals before overcoming Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 for a then record-tying 33rd Masters 1000 title (with Nadal). “These are the best tournaments, biggest tournaments we have in our sport, in the ATP, of course alongside the Grand Slams,” said Djokovic, who also won the Madrid title in 2011 and 2016. “This is as important and as good as it gets.”

Taylor Fritz earned a massive payday for his chosen charity on Sunday without having to leave his living room. The American and Addison Rae defeated Kei Nishikori and Steve Aoki 6-4 in the final of the Stay at Home Slam, a live virtual tennis tournament on Nintendo Switch’s Mario Tennis Aces that featured celebrities and pro tennis players teaming up to raise money for charity.

The one-day event was streamed exclusively via Facebook Gaming and the IMG Tennis Facebook page. Former World No. 1 John McEnroe provided commentary for each match with popular YouTube personality iJustine (Justine Ezarik).

Competing Tennis/Celebrity Partnerships
Taylor Fritz and Addison Rae
Kei Nishikori and Steve Aoki
Kevin Anderson and Ryan Tannehill
Serena Williams and Gigi Hadid
Naomi Osaka and Hailey Bieber
Venus Williams and DeAndre Hopkins
Maria Sharapova and Karlie Kloss
Madison Keys and Seal

Fritz/Rae will donate their $1 million winner’s prize to No Kid Hungry, which works to end child hunger in the United States. All of the participants, who played the video game from their homes, each received $25,000 to be donated to the charity of their choice.

“I was more nervous there than in any of my real matches,” Fritz joked. “This was so much fun. Addison absolutely carried the team.”

What a finals match ??

It was a close one, but @Taylor_Fritz97 and @whoisaddison beat @keinishikori and @steveaoki for a $1M donation to @nokidhungry! ?: @FacebookGaming pic.twitter.com/NgIBTrHxr9

— IMG Tennis (@IMGTennis) May 3, 2020

Fritz/Rae broke Aoki in the opening game off four winners from Rae and maintained their slight advantage the rest of the way. Nishikori/Aoki held five break points with Fritz serving for the championship at 5-4, but the American erased all of them with aces and fired another ace to wrap up the match.

“I play a lot of video games and recently got back into it because there’s been a lot of virtual athlete tournaments,” Fritz said before the event. “I’ve never played Mario Tennis, but I want to win this really bad.”

We were lucky to get out of that one ?? Thank you Kei…… still trying to repay you for 2016 Memphis & 2020 Barcelona/Rome ?. #0-3 https://t.co/GxBWMiL61D

— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) May 3, 2020

Kevin Anderson and Ryan Tannehill scored a 6-3 win in their opening match against Maria Sharapova and Karlie Kloss, while Nishikori/Aoki defeated Naomi Osaka and Hailey Bieber. In the semi-finals, Nishikori/Aoki cruised past Anderson/Tannehill with a convincing 6-1 victory.

“I’m going to have to hang up my controller,” Anderson joked. “That was too good for us. I’ll guess we’ll have to train harder and come back next year.”

In Mario Tennis Aces for Nintendo Switch, Mario steps onto the court for matches against a variety of Mushroom Kingdom characters including Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong and Bowser.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of distance run in the first two sets of matches by the current Top 10 in the FedEx ATP Rankings from 2018-2020 identifies that almost all run less in the second set than the first. Rafael Nadal leads the pack by running 10 per cent less in set two than set one.

And then there is the curious case of Roger Federer, who was the only Top 10 player in the data set to run more in the second set.

The data set is comprised of matches at ATP events on Hawk-Eye courts.

Overall, Nadal ran more in the first set than any other player in the Top 10, at an average of 3512 feet. That is right at 30 per cent more than Matteo Berrettini, who ran the least of the Top 10 in set one at an average of 2478 feet. But once set two began, Nadal was the master at running less compared to his opening set.

The Spaniard averaged running just 89.7 percent of his set one distance in set two, which can be attributed to several factors. Perhaps he wore his opponent out in the first set and they didn’t have the stamina to stay with him in set two. It could also be Nadal cleverly formulated a strategic edge in set one that bore fruit in set two. Another possibility is that he simply loosened up and dictated more in set two after taking the opening set.

Daniil Medvedev was second best at reducing his work rate in set two, running 89.8 per cent of the set one distance. The other players who covered significantly less court in set two than set one were Novak Djokovic (91.9%), Dominic Thiem (92.1%), Alexander Zverev (93.0%) and Matteo Berrettini (95.4%). Stefanos Tsitsipas and Gael Monfils were almost identical with distance run between sets, with both being within one percentage point of their set totals.

Federer ran 104.2 per cent more in set two compared to set one. Possibilities why include opponents being able to play more baseline to baseline points in set two compared to the marauding net game Federer typically likes to employ right out of the gate in the first set. It could also have to do with the fact Federer is already on the low end of the spectrum, running just 72 per cent of the distance Nadal did in the first set.

Of all players, Gilles Simon took the honors with the highest average of distance run in set one (4165 feet) and set two (3904 feet), while Nick Kyrgios ran the least in set one (2081 feet) and set two (2024 feet).

Overall, the dynamic of player movement highlights various game styles and the willingness to either try and force errors early in the point or extract them later by wearing down an opponent both physically and mentally.

2018-20: Top 10 Set 1 vs Set 2 Player Movement (in feet)

Your favourite players are all at home, but that doesn’t mean their days have become dull. From Roberto Bautista Agut’s exciting family news, to Daniil Medvedev’s quality time with his dog, find out how the biggest names in tennis are keeping busy.

Bautista Agut and his wife, Ana Bodi Tortosa, revealed that they’re expecting their first child.

????⁣⁣
Feliz Día de la Madre⁣⁣
⁣⁣#RobertoBautistaAgut pic.twitter.com/x89Uuc6ROb

— Roberto BautistaAgut (@BautistaAgut) May 3, 2020

Medvedev and his dog are both missing tennis equally.

Missing tennis like…….. pic.twitter.com/DuJJy1I2ci

— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) May 2, 2020

Stefanos Tsitsipas spent some quality time with his sister.

Look at the smiles & the laughs ?

?: @StefTsitsipas | #tennisathome pic.twitter.com/zfLqQe3mSo

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 3, 2020

Novak Djokovic released another episode of his Instagram series ‘The Self-Mastery Project’.

 

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Wim Hoff ”Iceman” shares with us his amazing journey and experience which motivated him to develop a method that inspires millions of people to regain the power and control of their own health. Truly inspiring talk ? ? Thank you Wim. Please share this video. Empower yourself and others. YOU are POWERFUL and you hold the keys ? of your health in your hands! Idemooo

A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on May 1, 2020 at 10:08am PDT

Feliciano Lopez carved out time to work on his fitness.

 

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Que ganas de tenis y de ☀️!!! Pero ahora es el momento de seguir apoyando a nuestros héroes sanitarios y si salimos a pasear o entrenar, hacerlo bien protegidos #ganasdesol #isdin

A post shared by Feliciano Lopez (@felilopezoficial) on May 2, 2020 at 3:06am PDT

Robert Farah received a wake-up call from his two dogs.

 

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Cuarenteando andamos… ? @tacoandroma

A post shared by robertfarah (@robertfarah) on May 2, 2020 at 12:11pm PDT

Andy Murray celebrated winning the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro title.

 

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Going to get ‘virtually’ legless celebrating my win online @mutuamadridopen Hope anyone who watched got some sort of enjoyment out of it in these tough times. I’ll be donating half of the 45 thousand dollars prize money to the NHS and the other half to the tennis player relief fund. #tennis #castore #nhs #stayhome

A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray) on Apr 30, 2020 at 12:52pm PDT

Hugo Dellien shared the exciting news of his first child.

 

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Mi vida entera en esta foto!! Estuve pensando todos estos días que poner en esta foto y realmente no me salen las palabras solo sonrío y sonrío. La felicidad que tengo es inmensa, gracias @camigiangrecocampiz por darme el regalo mas grande que tengo, UNA FAMILIA. Mi bebe quiero contarte de que estamos pasando un momento difícil, el mundo esta pasando momentos muy difíciles, es por eso que papi no pudo estar el día que viniste al mundo. Duele y la estoy sufriendo mucho no te lo voy a negar, pero sabes que? esto que estoy pasando lo volvería a pasar una y mil veces, con tal de que todo haya salido como salió, tu mami bien, vos llena de amor, salud y una hermosura única. Eso es lo que me llena el ❤️ y me hace aguantar el no estar durmiendo contigo y con tu mami, poder besarlas, abrazarlas, hacer todas esas cosas nuevas que nos enseñas al ser tus papas, poder compartir momentos, pero no importa mi vida porque vamos a tener toda una vida para compartir esos momentos, me enseñaras a ser un gran padre y te enseñáremos a ser una gran Mujer, por ahora espérame junto con tu mami,tu hermanito panther, tus tíos y tus abuelos que te van a cuidar muchooo, sobre todo tu hermanito PANTHER? ya hable con el. Te extraño mucho y quiero que sepas que el amor que te tiene papa es el mas grande del mundo, cambiaste la vida de papa por completo y eso es lo mas hermoso que me paso en la vida. Gracias Dios, gracias por enviarme este angelito hermoso!! ❤️

A post shared by Hugo Dellien (@hugodellien) on May 1, 2020 at 3:46pm PDT

Stan Wawrinka showed that he isn’t letting lockdown dampen his spirits.

 

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Who’s the most smiley ? Me or the monkey? ???? #KeepSmiling #mondaymotivation #StaySafe #StanTheMan #StayHome #MondayMood

A post shared by Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka85) on Apr 27, 2020 at 9:42am PDT

Alexander Zverev is the No. 7 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings and has lifted 11 trophies from 18 ATP Tour championship matches since 2016.

ATPTour.com looks at five things you should know about the 6’6” German.

1) His Biggest Success Came In London
At the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals, Zverev produced back-to-back straight-sets wins against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to become the youngest champion at the elite eight-man event in a decade. The 11-time ATP Tour titlist advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-1 round-robin record and found his best level to become the first man to beat Federer and Djokovic at the same edition of the event.

“It’s quite astonishing, winning this title, beating two such players back-to-back, Roger and Novak, in semi-finals and final,” said Zverev. “It means so much. I’m incredibly happy and incredibly proud of this moment right now.”

2) He Is In Great ATP Masters 1000 Company
Zverev is the only active player outside the Big Four of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Federer and Andy Murray to own three Masters 1000 trophies. The German captured his first Masters 1000 crown at the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, beating Djokovic in straight sets in the final.

Zverev doubled his trophy count at the level at his next available opportunity with a straight-sets victory against Federer in the 2017 Coupe Rogers final. In one of the greatest weeks of his career, Zverev added a third Masters 1000 title to his collection after cruising through the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open draw without dropping serve.

3) He Has A Familiar Quarantine Buddy
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zverev has been quarantining in Florida with a familiar face: Marcelo Melo. The pair has been good friends since 2015 and are often seen together when competing at the same tournaments on the ATP Tour.

During an Instagram live session last month, Zverev jokingly reflected on their first meeting at the 2015 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

“He was in the locker room by himself. He’s always in the locker room by himself. He never had that many friends. I was this new guy, I was 18. Everybody kept warning me [about] him. I was like, ‘Nah, he looks like he’s okay,’” said Zverev. “I was like, ‘Hey buddy, you want to have lunch?’ He was so happy, because finally somebody wanted to become friends with him, and I took him on. Every stranded puppy needs a home, so I take care of him.”

4) He Is A Big Fan Of Basketball
When Zverev is not busy on the tennis court, his eyes may be focussed on a basketball court. The 23-year-old is a keen follower of the Miami Heat and had the chance to meet the NBA team’s former shooting guard Dwyane Wade during the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itau.

When Wade retired from the sport last year, Zverev paid tribute to the three-time NBA champion on Instagram and named the American his ‘favourite athlete of all time’.

Introducing new @MiamiHEAT power forward, Alexander #Zverev

What do you think, @DwyaneWade? ??#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/P7EkeUyAvm

— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 22, 2018

5) He Is A Dog Lover
In the age-old debate between cats and dogs, Zverev stands firmly on the side of dogs. Despite already owning a canine companion, Lovik, Zverev adopted a second dog at the 2019 Miami Open presented by Itau following a visit to the Humane Society of Greater Miami.

Later in the year, Zverev’s collection of dogs expanded even further. The German took to Twitter to proudly show off his ‘grandchildren’ after Lovik became a father.

I’m a grandpa? #lovikfam pic.twitter.com/z5fTfsUl8j

— Alexander Zverev (@AlexZverev) September 6, 2019

Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 4 May 2015. 

Andy Murray captured his first clay-court ATP Tour title at the 2015 BMW Open by FWU.

Then the World No. 3, he won a rain-interrupted Munich final, carried over from Sunday to Monday due to rain, with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(4) victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in three hours and four minutes. The German has since won a record third title at the event.

Murray, who at the time improved to 32-16 in tour-level finals, received €80,000 in prize money and earned 250 FedEx ATP Ranking points. He became the first British player to win a clay-court singles title since Buster Mottram at 1976 Palma.

“It means a lot to have won,” said Murray. “It was my first final on the clay, having lost a few semi-finals at Roland Garros, Rome and Monte-Carlo. We played a very high standard match. I just managed to hang on at the end.

“He served unbelievably well. I had very few chances when I was returning. We may even play one another in Madrid, in a few days’ time [this week]. Philipp is a superb competitor and fought right to the end. It is nice to have won my first clay title and I hope to win another one soon.”

Murray’s clay breakthrough proved to just be the start of an impressive stretch on the surface for him. The following week, he won the Mutua Madrid Open with the loss of only one set. Murray claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title with a run that included victories against Kohlschreiber, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Rafael Nadal. 

The momentum he carried into Madrid could be attributed to the confidence he earned in a tense Munich final against Kohlschreiber.

There were no break points for Murray or Kohlschreiber in the 58-minute opener, which resumed with top-seeded Brit serving at 2-3. Overall, Murray won 24 of his 28 first service points, while fifth seed Kohlschreiber won 21 of 23 in the first set.

In the second set, Murray saved two break points in a 16-point third game. Murray and Kohlschreiber then exchanged service breaks, prior to Kohlschreiber bouncing back from 0/40 at 3-4.

Kohlschreiber broke Murray to 15 for a 6-5 lead, as the match edged closer to the two-hour mark. One hour later, in a tense tie-break, the duo remained locked until Murray won four straight points from 2/3. Murray hit 17 aces to Kohlschreiber’s 11 during their fourth ATP Head2Head meeting. He moved to 5-0 lifetime in ATP Tour finals that have deciding-set tie-breaks.

“It was a great atmosphere and a great crowd,” Kohlschreiber told ATPTour.com. “We both gave everything. It was so close, but at the end there has to be one winner. Unfortunately, for me, it was Andy. It was a fantastic game.

“It was a very special moment for me, in front of a home crowd… I think I pushed Andy to the limit. We had some unbelievable points. I think, for the spectators who came, it was one of the best Munich finals.

“Munich is always very special. It is my best tournament on the tour. I love playing here and on the clay. I don’t want to watch the match tomorrow, but I enjoy playing clay-court tournaments. This gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”

For the first time since they each turned pro, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies find themselves in one place for an extended stretch. The reigning Roland Garros doubles champions are at their respective homes in Germany, but a sedentary lifestyle didn’t sit well with the normally globetrotting duo.

The German pair suddenly had a wealth of free time at their disposal and were eager to use it productively. While Krawietz began to cook more and Mies enjoyed quality time with his family, they also began to think about how they could be of service to their communities.

“We’re in a very privileged position to play tennis and make a living out of our passion since we were little kids. We were able to take our hobby and turn it into a job,” Mies said in an upcoming episode of Tennis United. “Sometimes it’s hard to give back when we’re traveling so much for tournaments, so now was the time to think about what we can do to help.”

Krawietz learned from a friend who manages a few stores in Munich that they needed workers. Three days after offering to help, the 28-year-old clocked in at 5:30am for his first day of work at Lidl, a German supermarket chain. Krawietz has done everything from stocking shelves to disinfecting shopping carts and working security at the front entrance to ensure there are no more than 40 customers inside.

“I was doing security at the front door from 3:00-8:30pm and had to stand the whole time. I was already looking at my watch after 30 minutes and thought it was like a fitness session,” Krawietz joked. “After that, I was thinking that I’m very lucky to have a job where I get to play tennis and travel so much. But even though getting up at 5:00am hurts a bit, it’s been a new experience and fun to talk with my other colleagues.”

The World No. 13 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings hasn’t received any special treatment on the job. He attempted to work at the store anonymously until a German magazine broke the story. But once Krawietz’s boss discovered that his shelf stocker was a professional athlete, he wasn’t exactly compelled to offer a promotion.

“I need five minutes to find the right aisle for everything,” Krawietz said, laughing. “My boss would point at me and my friend, who also used to play professional tennis, and joke about how slow we are.”

Mies opted to lend a hand by teaming up with German football player Bastian Oczipca to deliver fruit to essential workers and the special needs community. The two athletes, who currently serve as ambassadors for the Special Olympics, recently delivered apples to the employees and residents of Lebenshilfe, a non-profit organisation that enables people with intellectual disabilities to lead a more independent life.

Mies and Oczipica were not able to visit the residents personally because they are considered a high-risk population during the pandemic, so they also wrote cards for them. They are encouraging others to do the same through Lebenshilfe’s website and believe that small gestures can still have a meaningful impact.

“We just wanted to make them smile and do our part to help the community,” Mies said. “It doesn’t have to be much. It’s nice to see a lot of players doing things to make people happy and help out their communities.”

 

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Gemeinsam mit Bastian Oczipka habe ich der Lebenshilfe leckere Äpfel vorbeigebracht, die unter den Mitarbeitern und Bewohnern verteilt werden. Das Ziel der Lebenshilfe ist es, Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung ein selbstbestimmtes Leben zu ermöglichen. Basti war zu Besuch bei der Lebenshilfe Gelsenkirchen und ich bin bei der Lebenshilfe NRW vorbeigefahren. Wir möchten uns damit bei den Mitarbeitern der Lebenshilfe bedanken und den geistig behinderten Bewohnern eine kleine Freude machen. Leider dürfen wir aktuell nicht persönlich zu den Bewohnern, weil sie zur Risikogruppe gehören und in der momentanen Situation sozial stark isoliert leben. Deshalb haben wir noch jeweils eine Karte an die Bewohner geschrieben, damit sie sich weniger einsam fühlen. Ihr könnt das auch gerne machen! Über die Internetseite lebenshilfe.de/standorte könnt ihr bundesweit sehen, welche Lebenshilfe-Einrichtung bei euch in der Nähe ist und dort ein paar nette Zeilen hinschicken. Die Bewohner freuen sich 🙂 #PostkartengegendieEinsamkeit @lebenshilfenrw @bastianoczipka @specialolympicsnrw #lebenshilfe

A post shared by Andreas Mies (@andreas_mies) on Apr 17, 2020 at 1:03pm PDT

In the newest episode of his Instagram series, “The Self-Mastery Project”, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic went on Instagram Live with extreme athlete Wim Hof to discuss the importance of the mind.

For much of the episode, Djokovic listened to what Hof — who owns the Guinness World Record for fastest half marathon barefoot on ice/snow — had to say. But Djokovic related the Dutchman’s thoughts to the tennis world.

“On the tennis court I can instantly notice the difference in my own perception of this simple experience… when I make the transformation from being in a doubtful state of mind — when I allow maybe some distractions and some environmental factors to affect my focus, my presence — [to] when I’m completely aligned and I basically am present and everything flows. I’m not thinking because it’s automatic, because I already have it inside of me.”

Djokovic noted that he brings to the court confidence that he has put in all the physical and mental training he needs in order to believe he is ready to win the match. That helps him mentally on court.

“I go out and then I know exactly the distinction and when I make this transformation from good to bad or bad to good, whatever direction,” Djokovic said. “It’s really interesting what you’re talking about because I can feel it on the court. It’s the same court, it’s the same opponent, and the level of the quality of tennis doesn’t change much. It’s more or less at the same level. But I control how I feel and how I act in these situations.

“[I control how I feel by] having in a way a consciousness and awareness of this inner conversation of what is going on, the thoughts, ‘Oh, I’m not good enough, he’s great, I’m not feeling well, sun is in my eyes, someone is screaming something from the crowd’. If you start going that route and you have no control over your thoughts and it completely floods you, you’ve lost focus and that’s why you feel completely inferior towards your opponent.”

Under the same circumstances, Djokovic feels maintaining focus and controlling those thoughts could make a big difference in a match.

“Nothing externally has changed, but internally you say to yourself, ‘I trained myself, I know I’m good, I believe in myself, I have confidence in myself, I’m going to execute these shots in the best possible way. Whatever happens, I accept it, I recover, I go to the next one.” And then all of a sudden the whole game, the momentum shifts to your side. It’s really interesting because it all boils down to the power of mind,” Djokovic said. “The power of mind is something that we have, that we possess. We can’t expect someone else to grant us or to give us a gift or present or something that is going to be a cure or a secret of success. We’ve got to do that work ourselves.”