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Thursday November 28, 2024

No room for shyness on tennis tour

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won 31 Grand Slams between them and agree there is no room for shyness on court if you want to make it big on the professional tennis tour.Swiss great Federer said being outgoing on court helped make it easier to face the pressure

By our correspondents
January 21, 2015
MELBOURNE: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won 31 Grand Slams between them and agree there is no room for shyness on court if you want to make it big on the professional tennis tour.
Swiss great Federer said being outgoing on court helped make it easier to face the pressure points, compared to an introvert who might have to work a bit harder to succeed.
“It is a good question,” he said.
“You would think an introvert is not ready to take huge risks, but then again he might be very thoughtful and play very well-constructed points, won’t go for the silly shot.
“But I like the idea when you’re young and you’re fearless,”
Nadal confesses to being shy as a youngster but said he quickly learned that when in front of the crowd there was no room to be meek.
“I was really shy when I was a kid. I started on the tour very early, at 16, and I was very shy,” he said.
“Well, I was not shy playing on court. That’s the most important thing. You can be shy in life, but obviously when you are going on court, when you are competing, you compete. You cannot be shy.”