The biggest transformation I’ve (Brad) seen from 30 years ago to now, is when I interview Djokovic or Rafa in the tunnel before they’re going out, they’re coming right from the gym. They’re in a sweat. So, they’re mentally and physically much more ready to go than we were way back in the day. I always drank a cup of coffee before I walked on the court. It kind of helped getting a little bit of a sweat going and got you a little more alert. I do think that the most important thing is whatever you do, that you have a good understanding of when the match starts that you’re ready to go. Way too many juniors mentally aren’t prepared to start and they’re not ready to go. A lot of times you’re down 3–1 or 3–0. You got off to a bad start and sometimes it’s difficult to recover. So, it’s important to understand yourself and how you’re going to maximize being ready to start.

Lendl was one of the best that I played against at doing exactly that. He never gave you free points to start the match. By game 3 he would go from steady to being aggressive. A modern version of not giving you anything from the start of the match is Djokovic. You have got to earn the points and then all of a sudden, he starts taking up a level and that’s how he can just crush you. I do think consistency in the first couple of games is massive because way too many players miss too much from the start. They go for big winners to start the match and then maybe you get behind the 8 ball a little bit.

(Inspired by the podcast episode #77: “The Best Coaching is Done over Dinner” w. Brad Gilbert on The Adam Blicher Show — Dissecting High Performance in Tennis)

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