Game Face

WHEN PARENTS HAPPILY get their children involved in tennis, they have no idea what surprises lay waiting. As young players, around 8 to 10, they are fun to watch as they play their first competitions, but even from an early age, kids want to wear the same brand of clothes or use the same tennis racket as their idol. Putting on the “uniform” of a favorite player, a young player begins to feel like a little superhero and actively tries to imitate every habit of that star player, like Federer or Nadal—the way they walk, the way they act, the way they shout “Idemo!,” “Vamos!” or “Come on!” after winning a game.

As you get older, a funny shift starts to unfold. You go from following others to developing your own game rituals. “I washed in shower number 3 so I have to repeat that each time throughout the tournament” kind of thing. I knew one athlete who believed in the power of apricot jam and was ready to rip the kitchen apart if his jar was not at the buffet table. For me, during one tournament, I never ate pasta or rice. I would only eat a sandwich made of bread and cheese and drink the very important Coca-Cola before a match, whether it was at 10 a.m. or 10 p.m. I remember when I won the 2005 Open Gaz de France (now the Open GDF Suez), I had dinner in the same restaurant at 4 rue de Berri (it’s now called Le Carpaccio) and ate the same tortellini pasta throughout the entire tournament. Obviously, it worked!

I always had to sit to the left of the referee, and it was important to choose the side of the court before the match started. Some players believe that if they win a point, they have to continue serving with the same ball. So they wait until the ball boy or girl passes the ball, sometimes from the other side of the court. Other players serve with “only this ball” because they think it brings them luck.

Then there are the coaches and parents who sit in the box. For some players to win, it is important that all of them sit in the same order wearing the same clothes every game. Imagine a Grand Slam tournament when no one can change their clothes for two weeks. It can be amusing to see how players act on the court with all their ticks and superstitions, but when you are that player, it is not easy. It’s cool to have rituals to set you apart from the others, but it’s important not to let them control you. For what it’s worth, I would never shop before or during a tournament. It’s only years later when you think, “Wow, that was a pretty silly superstition!”

By Dinara Safina

Contributor

Dinara Safina is a former world No. 1 Russian tennis player and a Monaco resident. She was a singles runner-up at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and 2009 French Open, and won the 2007 US Open doubles title with Nathalie Dechy. Safina is a senior contributing writer covering sports for The Monegasque™ .