Pouille Winning The Mental Game

Much has been expected of Lucas Pouille on the ATP World Tour and for a while, that pressure took its toll on the young Frenchman. But in 2016, significant investment in managing his on-court mentality is paying off for the 22-year-old Pouille and with it has finally come a sense of belonging at the top of professional tennis.

With the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon close to or just past 30 years old, France has been looking for its next tennis star. The spotlight has been firmly focussed in Pouille’s direction for the past few years. But the endless comparisons with current stars and questions about his potential added extra pressure to Pouille during his early days on the ATP World Tour.

As such, 2016 has been as much about proving his own potential to himself as to proving it to the watching media and fans. Wise words from his coach, Emmanuel Planque, and former French Roland Garros champion, Yannick Noah, look to have set Pouille on the right path to realising his potential.

“We’ve been working on my mental strength,” Pouille told ATPWorldTour.com ahead of his third-round match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he made the most of his opportunity as a lucky loser to beat Ernests Gulbis in the second round.

“Sometimes I’m not able to play well because I put too much pressure on myself. I’m trying to be more relaxed and trying to focus on my game and trying to improve every day. Every time I’m on the court, I just think about my tennis and about improving. I think that’s made the difference between this year and last year. I’ve been working on it with my coach and Yannick Noah was working with us and is still helping us with this. I think it’s working well.

“When I want to talk to Yannick, or ask him a question, he’s always here to help me. He tells me to try to focus. He says, ‘You’re always going to miss a lot of shots, but carry yourself and every time try to improve on every shot and just think about what you’re doing at the moment and not what the consequences are going to be.’

“[The pressure] used to play on my mind, especially a year and a half ago when everyone was saying ‘You’re the next French player’. It was tough for me to deal with it. But now I just think about trying to play. The fact that I beat Richard (Gasquet, in Monte-Carlo) is a good thing. It means I’m one of the best players in France. I’m trying to focus on myself and my game and trying to work as hard as possible to get where I want to be.”

It hasn’t just been about the mental switch for Pouille, who also made the decision to move his training base to the warmer and sunnier climes of Dubai in August 2015, leaving behind his family and friends in France to give himself the best chance of improving his game.

A six-week training block in Dubai in the off-season quickly paid dividends for Pouille, who has recorded major milestone moments in the first four months of 2016. He claimed his first Top 10 win over No. 8 Ferrer to reach the fourth round in Miami, beat countrymen Nicolas Mahut and No. 10 Richard Gasquet to reach the third round in Monte-Carlo and a week later advanced to his first ATP World Tour final on clay in Bucharest, finishing runner-up to Fernando Verdasco in a rain-delayed Monday final.

“I have a lot of confidence right now,” said Pouille. “Making my first final in Bucharest was a great thing for me and qualifying in Madrid is proving to myself that now I’m playing great tennis and I’m part of the great players on the tour.”

His results this season have seen him jump almost 40 places from No. 91 in February to a career-high No. 52 in the Emirates ATP Rankings this week. The Top 50 is within Pouille’s grasp, but the Frenchman has set his sights much higher.

“Top 50 isn’t far away, but my goal is not to be Top 50. It’s to be much more. Top 50 is just one step. If you reach this ranking, you’re sure to be in all the tournaments and that’s a goal. If I’m 48 or 45 or 42, it’s the same. I want to be Top 10, Top 5, winning Grand Slams. Top 50 will be a good step, though.

“I think I need to improve physically, get stronger, play match after match. After the match with Ferrer (in Miami), I was a bit tired and it was tough against Gilles [Simon]. I need to be stronger and able to play two, three, four, five long matches if I want to be a potential Grand Slam winner. It will take a lot of work, but I can improve everything.”