Over the past 16 years, Michael Berrer has called the ATP World Tour his home, traversing the globe while performing his dream job at the highest level. After 620 matches in more than 100 cities, the German has hung up his racquet for the final time, announcing his retirement at the age of 36.

The gregarious left-hander has had a burgeoning affinity for the game, ever since he first picked up a racquet as a young boy in Stuttgart. A genuine and charismatic personality, Berrer was a dogged competitor between the lines, exuding passion and energy that made him an instant fan favourite. For those fortunate to compete on the ATP World Tour and call it their profession, it is privilege, a sentiment echoed by Berrer as he looks back on his time between the lines.

“It’s a new situation for me now, but I feel pretty good about it now,” Berrer told ATPWorldTour.com. “For me, being on tour was something I always enjoyed. I liked to spend time with the ATP employees and the players. It was always a good time and never a stressful one. Even when you are traveling, you meet so many people and interact with so many characters. From the check-in and security at the airport and the tournament personnel, I loved it.

“There are many moments I will never forget. My victory over Rafael Nadal (in Doha) was special and playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon in 2008 too. Those were moments that I always enjoyed. Playing in the United States too, especially reaching the third round in Indian Wells. The crowd gives you a great reception there and they really appreciate athletes.”

While Berrer has certainly left his mark on the court, ascending to a career-high World No. 42 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, reaching consecutive finals on the indoor hard courts of Zagreb in 2010 and 2011, as well as posting a 235-152 record on the ATP Challenger Tour, including 11 titles, it is his achievements off the court that have prepared him for a fruitful career outside the lines.

Berrer took part in the ATP’s scholarship program, which gives players the opportunity to further pursue their intellectual interests via online college courses at the University of Phoenix. While competing full-time and raising his now four-year-old daughter Mia-Marie with wife Nadine, Berrer worked towards a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from 2011-15 and is in the process of completing his Master’s thesis in sports psychology. His focus? An issue that he believes plagues many professional athletes: Fear of success.

“It’s a common thing that many players have,” said Berrer. “There are many limiting factors that players display. That’s why I chose this topic. It’s very interesting, but it’s not a weakness. Even the best players in the world have that, but they have a way of overcoming these feelings and that’s why they are the best. You need to have coping strategies. It’s not a secret. If you watch it from the outside perspective, obviously it’s difficult to understand, but everyone is human.

“The biggest strength is that you are resilient. I first came to the Top 100 when I was 27. Most people are younger. Even if you are older, you can always improve. This must be your driving engine to always want to improve. If you don’t want to improve and get better, then you should try to find a different occupation. And you need to surround yourself with people that encourage this desire to grow.

“I needed the help of a sports psychologist myself. It’s hard to use all these theoretical frameworks on yourself because it doesn’t really work so much. You have some mechanisms, but it’s not easy to self-analyse. I’ve worked with really good people and it gives you a lot of positive energy.”

MICHAEL’S FIVE BIGGEST LESSONS LEARNED

A wealth of knowledge from countless hours on court and behind the scenes at tournaments provided a distinct opportunity in Berrer’s studies. With such a unique perspective, as the only player with his pedigree to pursue such a degree, he greatly drew upon his experience. Exclusive access to players and coaches, in particular, enhanced this angle and yielded more comprehensive research in constructing his thesis.

“I was doing questionnaires with a lot of coaches,” said Berrer, who also served on the ATP Player Council from 2008-09. “I approached coaches more, but I used my personal experience with players. If I can’t use my personal experience as a player, I don’t know who can. There isn’t one person doing a psychology thesis that’s better than me in tennis, so I’m pretty hopeful that it will be accepted.

“The ATP and University of Phoenix provided the perfect program and it was really challenging to do. Instead of going out, I was studying and working hard. You have to be online every other day and submit substantial posts that are evaluated by the instructor. There are a lot of written assignments. Writing skills are very important, so you also become even more fluent in English. Getting my certificate is just a piece of paper but it’s an important one. It’s good to have it. There aren’t a lot of former athletes who can say they have a degree right after finishing their career.”

Berrer played his last match at the inaugural European Open in Antwerp in late October, nearly two years after initially deciding to announce his retirement. The German had entered the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the start of the 2015 season, having decided to call it a career by year’s end, but his campaign got off to quite the auspicious start. He would notch the biggest win of his career in the Doha first round, storming back to stun World No. 3 Rafael Nadal 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. His first win over a Top 5 opponent in 14 tries drove Berrer to one of his best seasons on tour and he would delay retirement for one more year.

A run to the third round at the BNP Paribas Open and first ATP World Tour semi-final in more than three years, in Bogota, would ensue, and he began climbing the Emirates ATP Rankings once again. As the calendar flipped to 2016, the 36-year-old would become the oldest Challenger winner this year, when he battled to the title in Leon, Mexico.

“I was still able to do some damage on tour and end it on my terms.”

With his playing career in the books and his studies wrapping up, Berrer has created a strong foundation to tackle his many prospective endeavors. He is already looking forward to a position with the German Tennis Federation in marketing and sponsorship, while also developing a plan with a consultant to go into motivational speaking.

“I’m feeling pretty happy actually. During the year I was nervous about what is coming up after my career and was under some pressure. But I have so many opportunities now and I decided to test a few things to see what will fit my personality the most. I will also get the chance to spend some time with good players in my regional federation to see how coaching works out for me. It’s some amazing things that I’m trying to develop. I’m really feeling good about it.”

The ATP World Tour announced the final list with the participants in the main draw for Garanti Koza Sofia Open’s second edition. The tournament will be held in “Arena Armeec” in the Bulgarian capital 5-12 February 2017.

The hosts and organisers are expecting extremely strong competition in February. The Sofia field includes 11 players in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings: Dominic Thiem (No. 8), David Goffin (No. 11), Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 14), Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov (No. 17), Viktor Troicki (No. 29), Philipp Kohlschreiber (No. 32), Gilles Muller (No. 34), Martin Klizan (No. 35), Marcos Baghdatis (No. 36), Nicolas Almagro (No. 44) and Andrey Kuznetsov (No. 46).

“It will be a really world-class tournament and the fans will enjoy great tennis throughout the whole week in Sofia,” said the tournament director Paul McNamee.

The draw will include 21 direct entries, along with three wild cards and four qualifiers. Included in this field are the four semi-finalists from last year’s inaugural tournament: champion Bautista Agut, runner-up Troicki, and semi-finalists Muller and Klizan.

Two former Top 10 players – Marcos Baghdatis and Nicolas Almagro, will make their debut in Sofia in 2017.

Baghdatis reached a career-high No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in August 2006, the same year he reached the Australian Open final (l. to Federer). The 31-years old owns four ATP World Tour trophies from 13 finals. The Spaniard Almagro climbed to No. 9 in the rankings in May 2011. He owns 13 titles.

Here is the Official Garanti Koza Sofia Open 2017 entry list:

1. Dominic Thiem (AUT)
2. David Goffin (BEL)
3. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
4. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
5. Viktor Troicki (SRB)
6. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)
7. Gilles Muller (LUX)
8. Martin Klizan (SVK)
9. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
10. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
11. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)
12. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
13. Robin Haase (NED)
14. Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
15. Damir Dzumhur (BIH)
16. John Millman (AUS)
17. Steve Darcis (BEL)
18. Andreas Seppi (ITA)
19. Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
20. Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
21. Dudi Sela (ISR)

The scoring system in tennis produces a powerful paradox where you can improve on a successful season even by winning fewer points per match on average.

Players want to win every point, but only a slim majority is needed for victory. The stats sheets suggest that just a handful of points make a real difference in a match.

Take for example Grigor Dimitrov’s resurgence this season.

The 25-year-old Bulgarian had his second best year on the ATP World Tour, going 39-27 to improve his year-end Emirates ATP Ranking from No. 28 in 2015, to No. 17 in 2016. Surely, winning more points per match propelled this jump in the rankings. The answer? Yes and no.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Dimitrov’s return to the Top 20 by 2016’s end makes you do a double-take when you look at his key metrics. The following table compares his 2015 and 2016 seasons, which shows improvement in all areas except average points won:

These numbers produce three main take-aways for players at all levels of the game on how to improve their own performance:

1. Razor-Thin Margins

In 2016, Dimitrov tipped a 50-50 battle with his opponents a mere 1.2 percentage points in his favor. When you look at the flip side of this dynamic, he averaged losing 49 of every 100 points in regaining a coveted spot in the Top 20. An analysis of the ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS shows the Bulgarian clinching those key points in his return game.

Total Service Points Won
2015 = 66.3 per cent
2016 = 65.2 per cent

Total Return Points Won
2015 = 37.1 per cent
2016 = 37.7 per cent

2. All Points Do Not Weigh The Same

Saving break points was a key metric for the Bulgarian in adding six more matches to his win column in 2016 over 2015. Making more first serves in the Ad court on break point, where they occur at about a 3:1 ratio to the Deuce court, was a significant contributor.

3. Head vs Heart

Your heart says try to win every point you play, so your head needs to understand the reality of a stats sheet, which says the opposite. We play a game of percentages, not perfection. Losing is going to happen a lot, and staying positive against the natural forces of adversity and disappointment is as important as any dynamic in a match.

Just weeks away from his return, Roger Federer said on Friday that he’s feeling rejuvenated and is eager to come back to tour-level competition after missing half of the 2016 season.

Federer, speaking with reporters on a conference call, said he’s played “very well” in practice matches with fellow ATP World Tour pros Lucas Pouille of France, Borna Coric of Croatia and Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Federer also said he doesn’t regret sitting out six months of the season. The Swiss legend last played in July at the Wimbledon semi-finals (l. to Raonic).

“I do believe it could be very beneficial for the future of my tennis career that I’ve had this six-month layoff,” Federer said. “I feel rejuvenated, refreshed. Maybe mentally I needed this rest more than I thought I would. Maybe also my body needed a rest more than I thought I would.”

The 88-time tour-level titlist had never taken off so much as few weeks in a season before this year. But 2016 was far from a regular campaign for the 35-year-old father of four.

In February, for the first time in Federer’s career, he had to undergo surgery. A day after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals, Federer tore a meniscus in his left knee while preparing a bath for his twin girls. The right-hander returned to competition two months later, in Monte-Carlo, and, the following month, played the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

But Federer then missed another month of the season before making his return on the grass in Stuttgart. He’d play only two more tournaments, including Wimbledon, before later announcing he wouldn’t play again until 2017.

“It was really about taking a tough decision to say, ‘I give myself time, I deserve to give myself time.’ I take six months off in a 20-year career, it’s OK. If you look at six months off in a 12-month season it sounds like there’s no chance I’m ever going to take six months off,” Federer said. “But I tried to look at the big picture. At least one thing I know now, let’s say the knee won’t be good, I have no regrets. I feel I did everything this year to get my body back in shape and now only time can tell.”

Resting for so long assured Federer that he wouldn’t need a second surgery on his left knee. “That for me was No. 1 and crucial. I just needed it to rest really,” he said.

After Wimbledon, he tried to play again in August but decided against seriously testing his knee. “I played again, very quick. There was a bit of a reaction in the knee and that’s when you realize … we knew it was too early,” he said.

Last month, Federer took a couple weeks off before resuming training for 2017. “The last six weeks for me have been crucial and obviously the last two weeks in November when I came back from vacation were really important for me to see how much load I could put on the leg,” Federer said. “Very quickly we realized at the end of November, early December, I was not at 100 per cent yet, let’s be honest, because you always need more time, more reassurance. But things went very well. I didn’t have any setbacks. In the end it all worked out according to plan.”

The time off had upsides as well. “It was great to spend more quality time with the kids, or me with more energy rather than having to worry, ‘Careful, I have a match tomorrow’ or ‘I need to go to bed’ or in the morning ‘Don’t wake me up’ kind of thing because daddy needs to sleep a little bit,” Federer said.

Federer, who has won 24 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and 17 Grand Slam crowns, said he thinks his 18^th Grand Slam title could come next season. He will make his return to tour-level competition at the Australian Open, which starts 16 January.

“I think I’ve been awfully close the last few years but that doesn’t count because it wasn’t winning,” Federer said. “Time will tell if it’s going to be possible or not.”

Watch me practice #RFLive https://t.co/KroGaKUtJ8

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) December 22, 2016

Former Wimbledon doubles champion Horia Tecau is now a published author. The Romanian wrote a children’s book titled, ‘Viata in ritm de tenis’, translated in English to ‘Life in the rhythm of tennis’, to show children the importance of sports and reading.

The 110-page book encourages children to pursue their dreams through hard work and how to persevere through life’s challenges. “It’s full of lessons that I’ve learned through my tennis experiences,” Tecau said.

Buy The Book

Tecau provided space in the book for children to write their own dreams as well. He launched the book with about 300 kids on 12 December in Bucharest.

The 31-year-old Tecau has won 29 tour-level doubles titles, including 2015 Wimbledon, 2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments (Cincinnati, 2012; Madrid, 2016). He and Jean-Julien Rojer finished as the 2015 year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.