We’ve come to the end of April, International Stress Awareness Month (and my birthday month!)—so let’s talk about one of the main things that directly affects our performance: stress.
Imagine you’re one match away from what feels like securing your future. Or at least, your next big paycheck.
Knutson (ranked 216) versus Justina Mikulskyte (ranked 227)
It’s the 2024 Midland, Michigan WTA 125 first-round main draw match. Winner gets 15 ranking points and, we thought at the time, secures a spot in the 2025 Australian Open qualifiers.
I fly out of the gates, playing lights-out tennis that even surprises myself, while Mikulskyte is having a slow start. 6–0 for me.
I keep dominating early in the second set, but I start to lose steam. Mikulskyte adjusts, handling my pace better and relaxing into the match. She keeps pushing harder and harder, while I get tighter and tighter. 5–3 for me. I get so nervous—and lose the set 5–7.
The third set turns into a battle. I fight back, kicking myself that I let that second set go like that. It’s 5–3 for her. 5–4—Mikulskyte serves for the match. She gets nervous too—and can’t close it out, just like I couldn’t earlier. 7–5 for me.
The relief, joy, and happiness I felt after that match are the reasons why I play this sport. I wholeheartedly believed I’d secured a spot in the Australian Open qualifiers. I felt on top of the world—until the entry list came out. I had underestimated the cutoffs. I was the 6th player out.
That brutal match? All that stress? It wouldn’t have made a difference either way; neither of us would have qualified. We should have just played a regular match.
A vicious cycle of stress
Post the US Open last fall, I needed to have just one semi-deep run in a tournament to make the Australian Open. JUST ONE! Instead, I lost in the second or third round nine times in a row. Why? Because of stress.
In professional tennis, how we handle pressure directly determines how well we perform—and, therefore, how much money we make. Your job security depends on your emotional well-being, and your emotional well-being depends on your job security. It’s a ruthless, relentless loop. (Especially on the women’s side, but that’s a rabbit hole for another day.)
A flawed system
The way the professional tennis tour is structured puts enormous stress on its athletes.
We’re all fighting tooth and nail to make it into the Grand Slams – the real tipping point of a professional career. Reaching a top 220 ranking is sometimes the main goal and can make the difference between earning a minimum additional $60,000 in prize money that year.
$15,000 for a first-round loss in Slam qualifying × 4 Slams = $60,000 a year. (That’s pre-tax and expenses, but you get the point. And hey, if you win a round at a Slam, that is always an extra $10,000 for each qualifying round.)
“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” (Malcolm Gladwell, “The Tipping Point”)
In tennis, the tipping point is that invisible line where everything changes, when years of dedicated work finally pay off.
An even bigger tipping point is breaking into the top 100, which brings main draws at Slams, playing a full schedule of main draw WTA events, lucrative sponsorship deals, and high-end management agencies chasing you. That’s when the real money starts flowing in…. and out. (Expenses get crazy high, too.)
(There’s more stress to come right before that tipping point too.Yay! It never ends. But at least then I’m already consistently in the Slams. I’d take fighting for this tipping point over mine any day.)
This system puts a lot of pressure on our mental health, emotional well-being, and, of course, job performance. And maybe, I might add, love for the sport. Think back to how we must have been feeling in the match with Mikulskyte… Were we enjoying that? Probably not.
Of course, professional sport is about handling pressure and overcoming challenges, but this is not the stress Djokovic feels against Alcaraz in the final of a Grand Slam.
There is a particularly targeted, venomous stress that gets to you when you are literally fighting for your livelihood. Playing under that pressure makes anyone question whether this emotional pain is genuinely worth it.
If you are the 250th best tennis player in the world, tough luck; you will make only marginally more than someone ranked 500. At 250 and below, you’re just about breaking even, without travelling with a coach.
The tipping point
The tipping point comes at 230. Staying consistently under 230 means you can:
A) travel with a coach
B) upgrade your travel experience, aka be okay with booking a nicer hotel room
C) save some money for yourself
D) a mix of all of the above.
I found a full-time training base with a fantastic coach and and took my brother with me on tour in the summer (kind of A), didn’t have a breakdown at the airport when they charged me extra for my bag (B), and bought a car (okay, a Skoda Fabia, but still!) (C).
The difference in quality of life, both on and off the court, is huge.
Now, maybe you can see why I couldn’t win a second- or third-round match last fall. When I was playing with this massive weight on my shoulders? Those matches were rough. (I am learning to handle it better, as everyone in this industry has to.)
If you want proof? Look at the tournaments 4–6 weeks before any Grand Slam. You will see some wild results from players ranked around 215–260. Those are the athletes fighting to stay in or get into the closest Slam.
If the prize money distribution did not have such a steep drop-off outside of the Grand Slams, much of this panic and emotional turmoil could be alleviated.
But on the other hand, it’s incredible when you finally make it. That tipping point – and that paycheck – feels freaking awesome.
How I try to reduce stress on tour
The most crucial part is reducing stress on the professional tennis tour.
- Having a positive and uplifting support network
- Developing self-worth and confidence outside of your sport
- Spending time with people outside of the tennis bubble
- Creating “easy” hobbies that regulate your nervous system, such as reading or listening to music
- Building a coaching team you can depend on and that genuinely believes in you
- Therapy and mental coaching
- Mental health breaks
- Work really hard, so I know I did everything I could
P.S. If you’re struggling with pressure or stress on or off the tour, I highly recommend my psychologist, mental coach and good friend, Sara Kane. She’s based in Florida and has been with me for my entire career. As a former player and coach, she gets it.
Email: unlockedmhp@gmail.com
Website: www.unlockedmhp.com