Matters of the mind make the difference for Swiatek, Podoroska

In a year that has obliterated every resident of the planet’s assumptions about how life will be led, it only made sense that the two women’s quarterfinal matches played Tuesday at Roland Garros yielded yet more of the remarkable results that have flavored the entire tournament.

More succinctly: wow.

The lineup featured an intriguing foursome: third-seeded Elina Svitolina versus 131st-ranked qualifier Nadia Podoroska, followed by 19-year-old Iga Swiatek and another qualifier, 159th-ranked Martina Trevisan.

Experience made Svitolina the favorite. After all, this was only the second time Podoroska had ever played the main draw of a major. Toss in the blustery conditions, and wouldn’t that hinder the underdog’s ability to swing boldly?

Not for a minute. It meant nothing that Svitolina broke Podoroska in the opening game. Quickly, Podoroska settled in and began to fire powerful groundstrokes—her forehand most crackling—into one corner after another with the relaxation of a veteran bludgeoning a junior. Podoroska swiftly won the first set, 6-2, propelled by 17 winners to a meager two for Svitolina.

There was little Svitolina could do, a testimony both to Podoroska’s effectiveness, but also to Svitolina’s profoundly (sadly?) narrow arsenal of tools and tactics. Other than run down balls, aim them fairly deep and occasionally try to hit harder, there was nothing more she brought with spin, pace, height, treks to the net, court positioning. As Svitolina struggled to keep up, it was hard to see anything other than nerves derailing Podoroska. The second set was nominally tighter, but still, it was all in Podoroska’s hands. On the third match point, she won the second set, 6-4. It made Podoroska the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam semi since Alexandra Stevenson had gone that far at Wimbledon in 1999.

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“I think it was just one of those days when you are really hard on yourself,” Svitolina said. “When you're really picking on all the bad stuff and the negative stuff. I think it's important to try to find something positive. I have been in this situation many times, but today unfortunately I was thinking of, like, so many stuff was going on, you know, with the wind and everything, and this really let my focus down.”

The impact of the pandemic and tennis’ five-month sabbatical is significant. Usually during this time, a player as high up the ranks as Svitolina generates traction and measures improvement by results—one WTA match after another, instilling a player with that ethereal concept known as confidence. But during those highly competitive times, how does a player of Svitolina’s level truly sharpen any skill other than her ability to win matches? And when unable to compete, what then nourishes self-belief? Judging at least by today, it’s difficult to determine if, during her months away from the tour, Svitolina did anything to broaden her array.

Meanwhile, a player down the ranks like Podoroska must improve if she hopes to consistently compete at the highest level. All of tennis is up for grabs—technique, tactics, execution and the X factor that propels everything, the mind. For more than a year, Podoroska has been working with a mental coach.

“With the mental coach, she's been working, trying to breathe, trying to visualize, trying to be more calm in that situations,” according to Juan Pablo Guzman, one of her tennis coaches.

Psychology played a role for both Trevisan and Swiatek. Trevisan has been a breath of fresh air, both with her upbeat manner and versatile lefty game. The 26-year-old Italian has also addressed her struggles with anorexia, the fallout from it all that kept her away from tennis for four years and what it took to at last return to the sport she so loved. Writing about her desire to come back to tennis, Trevisan said she was able to “make peace with my wounds.” In these times, those are pretty good words for all of us.

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Swiatek has traveled here with Daria Abramowicz, a sports psychologist she has been working with for nearly two years.

“I just believe that mental toughness is like probably the most important thing in tennis right now because everybody can play on the highest level,” said Swiatek after her brilliant fourth round win over first-seeded Simona Halep. “But the ones that are tough and that can handle the pressure are the biggest ones.”

Though early on in this match, Trevisant led 3-1, once Swiatek calmed down, she was thoroughly in control, winning 12 of the next 13 games. As was the case with Podoroska’s dismissal of Svitolina, Swiatek won this match with convincing power and accuracy. Also like Podoroska, Swiatek hasn’t competed on enough high-visibility stages yet to determine if her recent play—so smooth, so sure—is aberrational or merely the start of a major growth spurt.

Returning to the topic of psychology, the way it’s surfaced this year at Roland Garros is even more meaningful than usual. Over the years, when matters of the mind have surfaced, players employ familiar words—confidence, belief, process. We nod our heads and it seems so very obvious: This player now believes in herself more and can clear her mind for better tennis. Fancy that—emotion, pre-chewed and often commoditized.

But surely, during a year that has tilted the planet in its most unsettling direction ever, might we find new language to explore the psychology of tennis, of competition, even, if we may, of living? Who knows what dread any tennis player or person has felt these last seven months? Who knows how these women and men have pondered what it means to be a world class athlete? In normal times, the term “social network” confers a great many positive connections. But now, we hear of “contact tracing.”

Used to being self-reliant in the extreme, tennis players too have found themselves this year forced to face a whole new language of connection and vulnerability. With all that in mind, how meaningful is it to hold a ranking? As the surprising runs of Podoroska, Swiatek, and Trevisan have shown, the joy might well be less in the attaining and more in the pursuit.