It really is a clean slate right now for the year.. but it is not clear about how the year is going to play out. Are we going to see all four grand slams played this year? Are we going to see them played in their normal date range? Are we going to see more players travel around from tournament to tournament this year as the vaccine is being distributed……or are we going to see players still stay home and choose a reduced schedule due to worries about border closures, quarantine measures, being away from family, contracting the virus etc? Will we see the Olympics in Japan go ahead this year as planned? Which players will adapt best to this new normal? Which players will not be able to handle it and implode?
Soo so many questions and surely these have been the discussions that players have had with their teams and psychologists all through 2020. Contingency plans and mechanisms to cope with the constant change surely must be huge parts of each players planning these days. Even with these plans in place it must be stressful, and huge amounts of anxiety involved. Nadal being such a perfectionist seems to have dealt with these changes quite well. He was honest last year when he talked about how hard it was in lockdown as well as not having fans at the French Open… despite this, he seems to have developed and worked on good coping mechanisms to get through these tough times which are way outside of the controlled routine and schedule he was used to.
In the last few years we were already starting to see the more holistic approach to the game that players were taking. Lots of players are embracing and integrating mindfulness into their games. Djokovic and Azarenka to name a few have been quite open about this. Bianca Andresscu discussed after her 2019 US Open win how how meditation helps her through touch mental battles and helps her overcome competitors due to her tough mental edge. One wonders though, how do the lower ranked players get access to all of these needed resources without breaking the bank? One would assume that they get sponsors which help pay for everything…. as well as winning small titles and working their way up. I’ll have to look into this more! Reflecting on 2020, it must have been a really hard time particularly for lower ranked Tennis players trying to break into main draws etc and travelling around. Borders were opening and closing, tournaments were being cancelled very last minute ( ie Indian Wells), prize money was lower, there were much less tournaments to complete in.. I just wonder how many younger and upcoming Tennis players had to give up their battle with pro Tennis due to the challenges, mental and financial of 2020.. I hope it was not many.
Summing up.. 2021 will be a ride for us all.. It will be fun to watch…. and no one really knows what to expect. At the beginning of 2020 we all hoped that things would be back to “normal” by 2021.. but when a pandemic happens… it’s very hard to reset the whole world and go back to normal.. The new “normal” for us might never be the same as what we were living up until the end of the Australian Open of 2020. One thing is certain though, there are many players who want to play pro Tennis and keep entertaining, there are also millions if not billions of Tennis fans who love the sport and the joy it brings them… given these two elements, it would seem pro Tennis is safe!
Lights, Camera, Actions! lets get this show on the way!