{"id":8295,"date":"2026-07-29T12:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8295"},"modified":"2026-07-29T12:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:08:06","slug":"what-do-tennis-pros-think-about-between-points-inside-those-25-pivotal-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8295","title":{"rendered":"What do tennis pros think about between points? Inside those 25 pivotal seconds."},"content":{"rendered":"

During hours-long matches, the moment before serving can feel enormous.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Tennis stars like Ben Shelton spend more time thinking about their game than playing. (Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Emma Navarro looked toward the blue sky, fully prepared to use all 25 seconds before her next serve, after falling behind in the second set of her opening match Monday at the DC Open.<\/p>

Read more Graham Platner still hangs over the Maine Senate race<\/a><\/p>\n

After her moment of Zen concluded, she turned and paced toward the south wall of the Rock Creek Tennis Center\u2019s stadium. With 15 seconds left, the women\u2019s world No. 26<\/a> traced back and placed her foot along the baseline. Then, a heavy breath, her eyes closed. And before her toss, a mental note.<\/p>\n

See the ball on contact.<\/i><\/p>\n

More so than almost any other professional sport, tennis is a game of intricacy and boredom. Play occurs for only roughly 20 minutes of a two-hour match. The 25 seconds between each moments-long point are spent in a mental world of consistency. Every breath appears weighed, each step follows a mapped route. No muscle shifts without a calculus of its impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can kind of be psychos,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cBut you want to make sure you\u2019re as present as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does one achieve that?<\/p>\n

\u201cWho honestly knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

What tennis players think about in the 25 seconds between the end of one rally and the echoing slap that commences the next ranges dramatically. The goal for each is the same: an ever-allusive feeling of sheer rhythm, unmitigated by the break in play. The path to achieving such a feeling, though, can bring some to obscure places.<\/p>\n

For a star like Taylor Fritz<\/a>, the men\u2019s world No. 10, these moments are spent shrugging off the weight of the crowd. When he turns from facing the net to walk toward his baseline, more eyes in the nearest square mile are trained on him than any other coordinate. The DC Open only amplifies that feeling, as every player walks through the general public to and from their matches. Albeit, you grow accustomed to walking among the lights and cameras and whatnot, Fritz said. But you can feel it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I try to breathe,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s a moment for me to settle down, calm myself, focus on what I have to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

He deploys breathing exercises, which have become favorites among tennis and golf athletes who spend more time thinking about what they\u2019ll do than actually doing it. Navarro also said she\u2019s partaken in the exercises. Her issue: \u201cYou spend more time thinking about the breathing than the actual play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whew.<\/i> Here lies the central vortex that wraps up tennis players tighter than the stringing on their rackets.<\/p>\n

In short: If the sole objective is to find this abstruse state known among athletes as \u201cflow,\u201d then the mind could venture to one of two places.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Emma Navarro serves Monday at the DC Open. (Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The first school of thought is that a player should be present and interactive with what\u2019s occurring in the game. In that space, they can come to terms with success and failure, adapt and move forward.<\/p>\n

The second line of thinking demands that a player do everything they can to focus on something that isn\u2019t what\u2019s occurring. Multiple studies<\/a> have found that the easiest way to suffocate a stress loop is to focus elsewhere or find someone to confide in. On the court, you\u2019re alone. So allowing one\u2019s mind to float away could be the best option.<\/p>

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\u201cI tend to think you want to know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Ashlyn Krueger said. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be consumed by it, but recognizing what\u2019s happening is what lets you change things.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Krueger was 17, her parents told her she could give professional tennis a run \u2014 but if she hadn\u2019t found success in two years, she\u2019d find herself in a college dorm instead. In the five years since, she\u2019s risen through the professional rankings enough to redirect their concerns, entering this week at No. 67.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of my background, I think I can see the bigger picture,\u201d she said. \u201cEach point only means so much as long as you stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

To accomplish that, she talks to herself. Nearly every player at the DC Open, no matter their mental philosophy, carries a personal dialogue. Krueger likes to tell herself \u201cgood shot.\u201d Navarro has calming mantras she sets before each match, which she\u2019ll say before every point to conjure a sense of regularity.<\/p>\n

World No. 8 Ben Shelton takes a different approach. \u201cI\u2019ll kick myself,\u201d he said, \u201cand then laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-doubt is a regular attendee in these 25 glorious seconds. Coming to terms with it is how those like Shelton survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just need to be able to move on,\u201d he said. Krueger agreed: \u201cIt\u2019s all self-confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some think of family members and coaches they associate with joy and success. Others choose objects around venues to focus on. Surely, someone spends those valuable paces debating what, among the capital\u2019s plentiful options, they want for dinner. (Note: The Washington Post was unable to source any confessions.)<\/p>\n

After her self-command Monday, Navarro won the next four games and finished Sofia Kenin, 6-0, 7-5. Nearly half of her victories this year have required three sets, so the 1:39 match was a nice change of pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes from consistency,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever you can achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navarro alternates what she says to herself between points, depending on the opponent and style she\u2019ll need to play. Reiterating what she\u2019s trained can\u2019t hurt, she figured.<\/p>

Read more Fauci set to face Rand Paul, Senate GOP after release of his covid \u2018diary\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

But recently, one message has become a staple of her serve-receive routine.<\/p>\n

Commit to it, and trust it.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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