The title may seem strange as we all know who are the winners and then logic tells you who are the losers. However, today I'm going to analyze who were the winners and losers from mental strength point of view. This is a recurring topic for me as I truly believe that's the reason why some players can win and also the reason why others lose.
Each tournament is different, you can't compare them, even if they are of the same category and if you had bad luck at one of them, the memories can haunt you and maybe influence your performance next year. But then again, each player is different, some are tough, while others are more fragile.
Winners
WTA is not my cup of tea, I don't follow any of the competitions, but this time at the US Open it happened three or four times to watch Simona Halep playing. Because of the time differences, at 6 pm (my time), Eurosport decided to air the matches she was playing. She was back for a very serious injury, which has caused her to miss the majority of the season, so I wasn't expecting much for her honestly. Plus she has a bad track record at the US Open so far as her best performance was the semi-finals in 2015 and nothing since then.
Coming back from an injury is never easy, but she was able to control three of her games and overcome every obstacle, mental and physical. I saw an interview with her before the tournament, in which she said she has become more patient, more stable emotionally and that was clearly visible at the US Open as she has managed to reach round of 16 for the fourth time in her career. She's heading toward the end of her career, so you can't expect her to win every grand slam tournament, but she did extremely well, considering the circumstances. That means mental strength.
The other surprise was obviously the winner, Ema Raducanu, who's an exotic presence on the court. She has Chinese mother and Romanian father and both Canadian and British citizenship.
We met her at Wimbledon, where she had to retire in the middle of the fourth round, accusing breathing difficulties. It may have been a panic attack, who knows, in any case, she's also a winner in my eyes, for being able to overcome the pressure a tournament of this magnitude means and being able to win a Grand Slam tournament at only 18.
The other winner is Félix Auger-Aliassime, who after a series of bad performances was finally able to show the world what he's capable and all this happened at the US Open this year. I've mentioned him several times in my posts, hoping to see a change in his behavior, a shift towards a better performance, especially after he got a new trainer, Toni Nadal. The change has come, we've been able to see him defeating a lot of good players and reaching the semi-finals. I hope he can continue his evolution, without interruptions. I'm really happy for him.
Losers
The biggest loser in my eyes is Novak Djokovic and I'm telling this without any intent to disrespect him or what he's been able to achieve. Actually I'm telling you this with great sadness. I was hoping to see him achieve what no man could so far, but it wasn't meant to be. He could have won the Golden Slam title but it wasn't meant to be.
He finished the Olympics the worst way possible. I bet he went to Tokyo to win the gold medal and came back with no medal at all, not even a bronze. Then at the US Open he lost in the final, to Medvedev, who seems unstoppable. I truly hope it was just fatigue as he's been playing all the matches for years now, but after such a disappointment, I can't stop thinking it was a mental blockage as well. Anyway, I hope he can recover and come back fresh next year.
The other loser is Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost in the third round and what is even worse, his name is tied to the toilet brake scandal forever. I'm not sure why he needed those breaks, don't even care but I hope it worse it as he paid a high price for it. I personally could not seen any benefits.
The other loser who I need to mention is Andrei Rublev. He lost in he third round to a player not many know. What a shame. He's evolution has always been fluctuating and it costs him a lot. Sometimes he's able to defeat top level players, other times it happens what it happened at the US Open. Maybe in time he can get stronger.
Naomi Osaka is next, who's been struggling with with mental health issues for awhile and it looks like the US Open was too much for her. At this point I don't see a great future in front of her, honestly. She wants the world to be the way she would feel safe, eliminating what she doesn't like, but it doesn't work that way. You have to get strong and face the problems, which, at this point she's not capable of.
At the 2021 US Open, Osaka failed to defend her title, losing her composure and the match to the eventual tournament runner-up, Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the third round, despite serving for the match in the second set. During the match Osaka threw her racket and received a code violation for firing a ball into the stands. In her post-match press conference, Osaka announced another hiatus from the sport "for a while", revealing that winning does not make her happy anymore. source
Even though he did not participate at the US Open, I need to mention Dominic Tiem, who was the title holder and could not participate due to injuries and mental health issues. I'm really sorry and hope to see him getting well as he's a valuable player.
