The mindset of a finalist: Sinner, Pegula and Zverev on what gives them a mental edge

The physical toll exacted upon players over an 11-month tennis season cannot be understated. Especially if those players have qualified for their tours' season-ending championships. Since January, they've been swinging, grinding and traveling around the globe, following the sun in their chase for ranking points. The glories are great, but it's undoubtedly exhausting.

But the mental toll could be even greater. In a sport where it's just you out there, the stress of competition—against both an opponent and yourself—is heavily taxing.

On streaming broadcasts and social media, fans are often privy to their favorite players' training regimens, practice sessions and methods to build strength. But how to do they amass their mental muscles?

That's why we created Matchup Mindset—a 17-episode series that gives you the answers from the players themselves. (Stream them all, here, on TennisChannel.com)

In this article, we get into the mindsets that helped three players not only withstand, but thrive, all the way to November and the upcoming ATP and WTA Finals.

Alexander Zverev: Head to Head

At the ATP Finals, Zverev will be facing players he's extremely familiar with—opponents he often sees in later rounds of tournaments. Here's his record against the three players currently ranked above, and below, him in the Race to Turin:

• vs. Carlos Alcaraz: 6-6
• vs. Jannik Sinner: 4-4
• vs. Novak Djokovic: 5-9
• vs. Taylor Fritz: 5-9
• vs. Ben Shelton: 4-0
• vs. Alex de Minaur: 8-3

"Sometimes, when I lose against certain guys, I want to play them again," Zverev says. "Especially before Grand Slams, before big tournaments."

READ MORE: The ATP and WTA Finals are the ultimate showdowns in professional tennis

That's a total of 32 wins and 31 losses. How does the German handle the rollercoaster?

"There's opponents that are comfortable for you, and there's opponents that are a bit more uncomfortable for you," he says. "At the end of the day, I'm a big guy with a big game, when I play well. When I focus on myself and I'm playing the right way, I can compete with anybody."

👉 Stream the full episode of Matchup Mindset with Alexander Zverev here, on the Tennis Channel app.

Jessica Pegula: Game Plan

Pegula has reached the final four in Flushing Meadows each of the last two seasons. But before that, she was 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. How did she help snap the skid?

Part of the solution was remaining calm and resisting frustration, one of the cerebral American's best qualities.

"If you're trying to execute a game plan and you're executing it and it's just not working, I think you have to switch it up and go for feel," Pegula tells us. "I think you kind of have to gauge that."

Before her victory over Iga Swiatek in the 2024 US Open quarterfinals, Pegula was 3-6 against the pesky Pole. They met again this past summer, in the Bad Homburg final—where Pegula again prevailed in straight sets.

In discussing head-to-head matchups—even lopsided ones—Pegula noted that you must embrace the battle.

"I acknowledge it—I don't like to not know," says Pegula of H2Hs. "I think you always know the players you play well, and maybe don't play well against. I try to take it as a challenge, especially if it's someone I don't have a good head-to-head against."

👉 Stream the full episode of Matchup Mindset with Jessica Pegula here, on the Tennis Channel app.

Jannik Sinner: Stats & Analytics

"I do have some data in my mind," Sinner says, when asked about his analytic prep for a particular matchup.

What is the importance of stats in professional tennis? We asked that very question in October, and the answer varies from player to player. Some pros, along with their coaches, deem them a silver bullet; others not so much.

"We prepare it in the best possible way—depends also if you won or lost the last match," according to Sinner. "If you lost, obviously you aim to change something, tactically. But at the same time, you have to understand what's working well, and what's not."

👉 Stream the full episode of Matchup Mindset with Jannik Sinner here, on the Tennis Channel app