Berrettini describes pre-Wimbledon final emotional breakdown

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
"I had knots in my stomach. I tried to force myself to eat, but it was hard to deal with pressure. I was in the locker room, and there were only Novak and me. He had already played over 30 Major finals and was more used to it than me; he could surely feel the tension. He was relaxing with music in his headphones, and I was there like, 'I can not even eat some rice. How am I supposed to play?' I remember my hands were sweating, I could not eat, and my head started spinning when I talked to my team."


NextGen is providing some stiff competition, would you agree?

PGzX9ru.gif
 

urban

Legend
First Wim final is always hard to play. With the exception of Becker (and Borg), many top players felt the pressure. I don't think, that Novak was so relaxed, going into the USO final, with The Grand Slam on the line. Maybe he heard on this headphone the old Elvis hit "Its now or never".
 
Tell us smth we don't know. Players are not actors and their nervousness is usually clear in facial expressions, certain ticks, even the way they walk for some. And most athletes, even the most elite ones, get nervous quite often. What matters is whether you're able to overcome the nerves.
 

Swingmaster

Hall of Fame
Uh, and yet he still won the first set.
Yeah, given that he won the first set, maybe he's exaggerating a bit. Plus, these are pretty standard nervous symptoms. The best way to deal with them is to put on some headphones and listen to your favorite music.
 

Blahovic

Professional
Not wimby, but I've played in dozens of singles finals juniors through college, so not a stranger to competitive tennis.

I'm going to assume he was exaggerating.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the Wimbledon final is bit different to college tennis mate.

Everyone feels pressure before their first slam final. Djokovic himself choked away 2 sets in his first slam final. Berrettini didn't even play badly anyway, he just lost because Djokovic is simply a much more complete player than him.
 

Booger

Hall of Fame
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the Wimbledon final is bit different to college tennis mate.

Everyone feels pressure before their first slam final. Djokovic himself choked away 2 sets in his first slam final. Berrettini didn't even play badly anyway, he just lost because Djokovic is simply a much more complete player than him.


He would have been way cooler if he said he couldn't wait to get out there and give old man Novak a free tennis lesson. Not "too scared to eat rice" lol.

I want these young guns to have some confidence for crying out loud. The old Big 3 have been on top of the game for 20 years.
 

bjsnider

Hall of Fame
Berrettini had every right to be nervous. He still played a good match, but was beaten by superior talent. At least he didn't quit.
 

onlytheball

New User
Nerves are entirely natural in the lead up to any big match let alone a huge, career-defining match. By recounting his nerves Berrettini is not demonstrating any kind of fatal mental fragility. It is normal even for top champions to become overcome with nerves. Actors face the same thing when they take to the stage and there is not always a correlation between a person's level of pre-match, pre-show or pre-whatever nerves and their ability to perform under pressure. Not everyone is made like Sampras and serenely sleep before stepping onto court. Furthermore, you can be as confident as you like but when you find yourself in the locker room, pre-match, nerves may get you. Berrettini won the first set, anyhow, at which point it becomes about skill, match management, fitness and the ability to find inner resources and resilience when dealing with the ebbs and flows of a match. In my, admittedly, light years from ATP standard tennis, I've seen how being too relaxed can be detrimental to my game. I've also seen how nerves have helped me be switched on, adrenalized and focused at the right moments. Was Berrettini particularly tight in the first set?
 

Novichok

Professional
Nerves are entirely natural in the lead up to any big match let alone a huge, career-defining match. By recounting his nerves Berrettini is not demonstrating any kind of fatal mental fragility. It is normal even for top champions to become overcome with nerves. Actors face the same thing when they take to the stage and there is not always a correlation between a person's level of pre-match, pre-show or pre-whatever nerves and their ability to perform under pressure. Not everyone is made like Sampras and serenely sleep before stepping onto court. Furthermore, you can be as confident as you like but when you find yourself in the locker room, pre-match, nerves may get you. Berrettini won the first set, anyhow, at which point it becomes about skill, match management, fitness and the ability to find inner resources and resilience when dealing with the ebbs and flows of a match. In my, admittedly, light years from ATP standard tennis, I've seen how being too relaxed can be detrimental to my game. I've also seen how nerves have helped me be switched on, adrenalized and focused at the right moments. Was Berrettini particularly tight in the first set?
Even Sampras was not immune. He wrote in his autobiography about the nerves he felt before his first Wimbledon final.
https://tennis-buzz.com/1993-wimbledon-pete-sampras-defeats-jim-courier/
 
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onyxrose81

Hall of Fame
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the Wimbledon final is bit different to college tennis mate.

Everyone feels pressure before their first slam final. Djokovic himself choked away 2 sets in his first slam final. Berrettini didn't even play badly anyway, he just lost because Djokovic is simply a much more complete player than him.
Yep. Those two sets should have been Novak’s but inexperience and nerves got the better of him. It’s normal.
 

goldengate14

Professional
"I had knots in my stomach. I tried to force myself to eat, but it was hard to deal with pressure. I was in the locker room, and there were only Novak and me. He had already played over 30 Major finals and was more used to it than me; he could surely feel the tension. He was relaxing with music in his headphones, and I was there like, 'I can not even eat some rice. How am I supposed to play?' I remember my hands were sweating, I could not eat, and my head started spinning when I talked to my team."


NextGen is providing some stiff competition, would you agree?

PGzX9ru.gif
There is a reason Fedal and murray and warwinka have all not retired even after serious injuries well into their 30s. This Next Gen mentality is why.
 

goldengate14

Professional
Let's hear the Wimbledon champs of TTW talk about their experience :-D:X3::censored:
Sorry but all of us in life in our careers have big pressure moments. be it exams job interviews seccurimg a big deal, beig a broker onnhe markets, you name it, to be successful you have to deal with pressure.
Berretini is a professional tennis player. He has been in major semi fina before. His comments are embarrassing and frankly pathetic and an illustration of the mental weakness of the younger generation. Of course he woukd have nerves. But to say his head was spinning and he could not eat is utterly unacceptable for a professional.
 

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
This is the one thing I won’t use against Berrettini, really. And at the end of the day, he didn’t choke that Wimbledon final - he’s just an inferior tennis player. Wasn’t his mental strength that let him down (on the contrary, he won the first set and was strong in the TB - if anyone showed nerves it was Novak).

But more than that, how many GOAT tier athletes in tennis and other sports have never been nervous before the biggest match of their lives? I can think of at least 6 stories like this, from far better players.

Hell, how many of you have never been nervous before an interview or a final exam or getting test results back?
 

goldengate14

Professional
This is the one thing I won’t use against Berrettini, really. And at the end of the day, he didn’t choke that Wimbledon final - he’s just an inferior tennis player. Wasn’t his mental strength that let him down (on the contrary, he won the first set and was strong in the TB - if anyone showed nerves it was Novak.

But more than that, how many GOAT tier athletes in tennis and other sports have never been nervous before the biggest match of their lives? I can think of at least 6 stories like this, from far better players.

Hell, how many of you have never been nervous before an interview or a final exam or getting test results back?
Last paragraph is key. Everyone gets nervous. But not eatimg and head spinning is not normal at all as thats an inability to deal with pressure.
40 years agobcomments like that would have seen him.mocked in the locker room by male players.
 

TheAssassin

Legend
Didn't Wawrinka mention he was shaking and crying before the US Open final, which wasn't his first, and he even won? We can criticise Next Gen for some valid reasons, but having pre-final jitters is certainly not one of them, it has happened to every prior gen too. Although it's very easy doing that from the couch or some local club with lol stakes.
 

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
Last paragraph is key. Everyone gets nervous. But not eatimg and head spinning is not normal at all as thats an inability to deal with pressure.
40 years agobcomments like that would have seen him.mocked in the locker room by male players.
Ok, I still disagree dude.

how about the fact that Boris “Beckerserve” who was the most macho man on tour was so nervous before the ‘90 final that he took too many sleeping pills and could barely warm up? Or maybe Ivan Lendl, one of the most intimidating players ever, choking vs. Connors in 1983 USO? Pete and Agassi also documented nervous episodes in their books. Open is a great read and look into the psyche of a pro player.

I’m not even thinking tennis here even, the first example my basketball coach taught me is that Bill Russell (most successful NBA player ever) threw up before nearly every big game. Sports biographies are littered with stories like “I didn’t get a wink of sleep before the final” or the like.

Overall I just think if there’s anything to hate on Berrettini about, it’s nothing to do with his mentality. It’s his lack of game. He’s actually shown pretty good mental strength in every Slam meeting with Djokovic this year, imo. Just isn’t good enough.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
"I had knots in my stomach. I tried to force myself to eat, but it was hard to deal with pressure. I was in the locker room, and there were only Novak and me. He had already played over 30 Major finals and was more used to it than me; he could surely feel the tension. He was relaxing with music in his headphones, and I was there like, 'I can not even eat some rice. How am I supposed to play?' I remember my hands were sweating, I could not eat, and my head started spinning when I talked to my team."


NextGen is providing some stiff competition, would you agree?

PGzX9ru.gif

Wow, Chris slayed that meme :D
 

maratha_warrior

Hall of Fame
Djokovic was so nervous ,he didn't eat anything before Wimbledon 2019 Finals , Wawrinka cried before start of US 2016 Finals .

Being nervous is normal .

Fans switch off television when they can't handle nerves anymore .
Fans on TTW are so nervous during Semis and Finals , and same fans are surprised that Players are Nervous while playing actual matches ????

Beautiful Hypocrisy !
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
This is the one thing I won’t use against Berrettini, really. And at the end of the day, he didn’t choke that Wimbledon final - he’s just an inferior tennis player. Wasn’t his mental strength that let him down (on the contrary, he won the first set and was strong in the TB - if anyone showed nerves it was Novak).

But more than that, how many GOAT tier athletes in tennis and other sports have never been nervous before the biggest match of their lives? I can think of at least 6 stories like this, from far better players.

Hell, how many of you have never been nervous before an interview or a final exam or getting test results back?

Yeah Berr is a mug because he moves like a fish out of water and has not backhand or ROS not because he was nervous before his first Wimbledon final.
 

ND-13

Hall of Fame
Djokovic was so nervous ,he didn't eat anything before Wimbledon 2019 Finals , Wawrinka cried before start of US 2016 Finals .

Being nervous is normal .

Fans switch off television when they can't handle nerves anymore .
Fans on TTW are so nervous during Semis and Finals , and same fans are surprised that Players are Nervous while playing actual matches ????

Beautiful Hypocrisy !

LOL, you are comparing fans with top 10 tennis player ??
 

ND-13

Hall of Fame
Berretini is not in a million years beating Djokovic in a Wimb final.

His backhand is a joke, Now we know his mentality is also the same.

I wouldnt fault Berretini alone. Tsitsipas, Zverev, Medvedev have all shown the same muggery.
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
I don't think Berr mentally unperformed in the final at all. He was just overmatched and has too many holes in his game.

Now you could say Shapo folded mentally, he matched Novak in terms of movement and intensity in baseline rallies but made silly errors in crunchtime. Berr was just completely outclassed, it's a different thing.
 

junior74

Talk Tennis Guru
Berrettini had every right to be nervous. He still played a good match, but was beaten by superior talent. At least he didn't quit.

Berrettini playing "a good match" doesn't mean much. He has an absent backhand, and I can't recall ever seing so many unforced errors from a player in a slam final.

That said, Djokovic' mental breakdown at the US Open was next level
 

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
Berrettini playing "a good match" doesn't mean much. He has an absent backhand, and I can't recall ever seing so many unforced errors from a player in a slam final.

That said, Djokovic' mental breakdown at the US Open was next level

Yep. That was one for the ages

novak-djokovic-crying.jpg




Same energy :giggle:
 
Djokovic was so nervous ,he didn't eat anything before Wimbledon 2019 Finals , Wawrinka cried before start of US 2016 Finals .

Being nervous is normal .

Fans switch off television when they can't handle nerves anymore .
Fans on TTW are so nervous during Semis and Finals , and same fans are surprised that Players are Nervous while playing actual matches ????

Beautiful Hypocrisy !
I've thought about how in top matches when a non-favorite player goes down in the score at basically any point of a match, quite often there'a wave of posters declaring that 'this is it', 'we all knew how it was gonna go'. So if just sitting and watching the match we're quick to lose belief once something goes wrong, how do players who really trying out there must feel? Completely on their own, when the stakes are high. It's really hard psychologically.
 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
You can go through the decades and find any player feeling this way in their 1st Slam final, especially Wimbledon. It's not about how nervous you felt before the match but how well you played during the match and Berrettini played a really good final.
 

maratha_warrior

Hall of Fame
I've thought about how in top matches when a non-favorite player goes down in the score at basically any point of a match, quite often there'a wave of posters declaring that 'this is it', 'we all knew how it was gonna go'. So if just sitting and watching the match we're quick to lose belief once something goes wrong, how do players who really trying out there must feel? Completely on their own, when the stakes are high. It's really hard psychologically.

Well , I can just talk about myself .
I was nervous for almost all my semester exams in college .

So its easy for me to expect that these athletes might be nervous while playing the biggest match of their lives in front of 20000 people , while fighting all alone without any team support .

Maybe these TTW posters who are laughing at players's nerves and anxiety are some of the greatest champions on planet , and elites in their respective fields .
 
Well , I can just talk about myself .
I was nervous for almost all my semester exams in college .

So its easy for me to expect that these athletes might be nervous while playing the biggest match of their lives in front of 20000 people , while fighting all alone without any team support .

Maybe these TTW posters who are laughing at players's nerves and anxiety are some of the greatest champions on planet , and elites in their respective fields .
Exams are the bane of human existence. :sick: Wimbledon final can't compare

On a serious note, self-awareness is not the strongest point of posters of TTW. I'm 100% guilty myself. Couldn't even drink water during the AO17 final, nerves making me feel sick, but I sure can chastise world class athletes for choking, lol.
 

RS

Bionic Poster
You can go through the decades and find any player feeling this way in their 1st Slam final, especially Wimbledon. It's not about how nervous you felt before the match but how well you played during the match and Berrettini played a really good final.
I think very good is at least a 7/10.
 

RS

Bionic Poster
I wouldn't say Nadal in 2006 played a very good final for example and I think he was clearly better than Berrettini...
What is your standard for very good like 8/10? I would put 2006 Nadal at 7.5/10 personally.
 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
I think very good is at least a 7/10.

Very good is how I would describe Federer in 2015 or Murray in 2012.

Except I didn't say very good. I said really good. :laughing: Berrettini took the first set from Djokovic and pushed him to other tight sets, and hit 57 winners to 48 unforced errors. Won 31% of return points although he's not that great of a returner. That's really good however you want to slice it. Lol
 

RS

Bionic Poster
Except I didn't say very good. I said really good. :laughing: Berrettin took the first set from Djokovic and pushed him to other tight sets, and hit 57 winners to 48 unforced errors. Won 31% of return points although he's not that great of a returner. That's really good however you want to slice it. Lol
You did really good which made me think very good. Not that I mind if you do think it was really good :D
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
What is your standard for very good like 8/10? I would put 2006 Nadal at 7.5/10 personally.

Probably 7.5+, Nadal was exceptional for sets two and three but below bad in set one and below par in set four. Would put him in the 7'ish range myself.
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
Except I didn't say very good. I said really good. :laughing: Berrettin took the first set from Djokovic and pushed him to other tight sets, and hit 57 winners to 48 unforced errors. Won 31% of return points although he's not that great of a returner. That's really good however you want to slice it. Lol

What's the difference between really good and very good? lol. In 2021 that's really good, would have been straight setted by a prime ATG though.
 

RS

Bionic Poster
Probably 7.5+, Nadal was exceptional for sets two and three but below bad in set one and below par in set four. Would put him in the 7'ish range myself.
I could see a 7/10 as well tbh.

Where would you put Murray of the Wim 09 SF on the scale? :D
 
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