One battle at a time.

As I watched Andy Murray plummet from a 6-1 4-3(and serving) lead to a 6-1 5-7 3-6 loss to Djokovic, I couldnt help but feel for him. Until Andy reached that fork in the road, when he lost his serve at 4-3 much to his dismay, he could do no wrong and equally importantly Djokovic was hitting all over the place. Its a mental thing really...Andy could have done two things from there. Shrug it off like an inconspicuous bug on his shoulder or treat it like a mammoth chewing his leg off. The choice selected is instinctive and a great deal of conscious effort is required to override it and even then success is not guaranteed. Andy's instincts made a choice and you could see him fighting consciously to go the other way. From there on Andy was battling two opponents. Thats all Djokovic needed to capitalize and minutes later was a break up in the third set. Serving well when you are ahead cannot be over-emphasized and the manner in which Djokovic served out the match is testament to his attitude and self belief.

Here is the other side of the story though. Djokovic also ran into that fork in the road and more than once at that. To his credit he stuck to his guns and made the right choice each time. His diligence saw him through. Confidence however intangible it may be can dictate your world by its mere presence or otherwise; it bridges two disparate worlds seperated by a deep chasm and the cross over is almost inadvertant. The ball which you have otherwise side stepped effortlessly and creamed cross court with an inside out forehand suddenly becomes a looming menace which has to be precariously poked across the net. I have experienced exactly this in the past few days and relate to it well. There is no quick fix .... trust me I have looked around. The best advice is to practise and focus and back yourself. This link tells of a technique that may help. Other than that try gulping down a couple of beers and then playing....but i didnt tell you that.

This is where Federer stands out. The feeling of inevitability that prevails after the match is proof that he not only gets into the head of his opponent but also of anyone who may be watching. The thing is Federer has already won the battle in his head and is facing only one opponent when on the court. Two things we (me, you and Andy) can learn from the great man. Self-belief and one battle at a time and you will be well on the road to your best.