The French Open - Keep your eye on the ball

The French Open at Roland Garros came to an end yesterday and I have learnt a few things while watching the players on court. I watched the tournament because I find the sport of tennis to be interesting, I have even played it myself. When playing, I like to find the determination within myself, I like having to fight for every single point. I find it exciting how just one service or one shot can change a match. However, tennis for the professionals is unforgiving, financially, physically and mentally. 

A tennis player like Sumit Nagal (currently the highest ranked in India) has revealed that as

of 20th September 2023 he had only around 900 euros in his bank account. He has publicly stated that he is “just breaking even” and this is the case for the majority of players who are looking to fight the gruelling battle towards the top of the rankings. Factoring in the cost of travel and hiring a good team, the ATP tour can be an expensive and risky venture for the average player. However, players who do manage to break into the top 10 or even the top 20 players in the world can find themselves making a large sum of money. Tennis is a sport for the rich and only the elite are rewarded with riches. The vast majority of players are stuck living from paycheck to paycheck.

During matches, players have a number of medical timeouts which they may opt to receive while on court. Timeouts are generally used for players to get rid of cramps or other minor injuries which they sustain during a match. However, a cramp is the least of a tennis player’s worries while playing a match. In the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 2022, Alexander Zverev rolled his ankle which led to the tearing of three ligaments. This injury resulted in Zverev requiring surgery and even had him questioning whether it would be the downfall of his career. In the French open this year, Novak Djokovic, one of the best players in the world, tore his medial meniscus, a ligament located in the knee. This injury could put an end to one of the greatest careers in tennis history. Even aside from career ending injuries, tennis is a physically demanding sport, it is a fight between two players both looking to defeat the other. Players are almost always on the move with the only relief coming between games where they are allowed to take a short break. 

The sport is also one of the most mentally demanding ones played professionally. It is an individual sport, there is no one to blame when things go wrong other than the player who is playing the sport. Each and every point is a battle and when a player fights the hardest they can and still come up just short it can be a serious challenge to get back up and continue onwards. An example of this is the Roland Garros final yesterday where Alexander Zverev lost to Carlos Alcaraz in 5 sets. The sport is gladiatorial in its very nature. It is hard-fought between two players, each trying to defeat the other with the best of their abilities. The players are isolated from the crowd on the court where they are alone, with no one else to help them. 

The French open is one of the most prestigious titles in tennis. It is one of the four coveted grand slams which are the tournaments which have the greatest reach and the widest audience in the sport. The slams provide an opportunity to win big with a large amount of prize money up for grabs. The French open in particular has a reputation for being the toughest slam due to the fact that the tournament is played on clay which has been proven to result in longer matches. Winning a tournament like this one is tough, only the best of the best are able. Rafael Nadal was a master on clay and at the French open and ended up amassing a total of fourteen titles. However, all good things must come to an end, and Rafael Nadal might have played his final French open this year after a long struggle with injuries. It was clear when watching him play that he had the mental toughness required to win the French open. Every year he came back hungry for more and his legacy will live on. 

The women's final also finished a couple of days ago when I watched Iga Swiatek win her fourth Roland Garros and her third in a row. After watching the final you could clearly see

how much it meant to her even though it was her fourth time winning. The same applies for Carlos Alcaraz, he has already won two other Grand Slams but triumph in this tournament was still an incredibly important goal for him. Tennis is not a sport where after winning once a player just quits while they are ahead. In tennis, after winning once you just grow hungry for more.