{"id":400198,"date":"2025-09-05T14:31:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400198\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:31:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:31:12","slug":"the-body-language-of-tennis-takes-center-stage-in-a-u-s-open-semifinal-of-the-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400198\/","title":{"rendered":"The body language of tennis takes center stage in a U.S. Open semifinal of the mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 U.S. Open men\u2019s semifinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. \u2014 When Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> walks onto Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday afternoon for his U.S. Open<\/a> semifinal, his every move will be under the microscope. Not from the 24,000 fans in the stands, or the millions watching at home, but from the man on the other side of the net.<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic<\/a> studies his opponents like a criminologist poring over forensic evidence. \u201cEven though there is no physical contact in tennis, there\u2019s still a lot of eye contact,\u201d he said in an interview with 60 Minutes a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we are changing ends, when we\u2019re sitting on the bench, and then the big screen shows how he drinks his water. And then I\u2019m looking at him. How is he drinking water? Is he sweating more than usual?<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he breathing deeply or not deeply? And then I look at how he\u2019s communicating with his team. You have all these different elements that are in play that really affect the performance and the game itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz is intimately familiar with this process. At January\u2019s Australian Open, it dragged him to one of his most painful Grand Slam defeats. Alcaraz and Djokovic met in the quarterfinals, with Alcaraz outplaying Djokovic in the first set before and after the 24-time Grand Slam champion tore his hamstring.<\/p>\n

But once the second set began, Alcaraz let Djokovic\u2019s injury \u2014 and his body language associated with it \u2014 scramble his brain. He stopped focusing on his own body language and became obsessed with his opponent\u2019s. A tennis clich\u00e9 that players love is that they always focus on themselves, but when it comes to body language, masters of the art do the opposite \u2014 just not as much as Alcaraz did that night.<\/p>\n

After he had lost in four sets, Alcaraz admitted that he had become distracted by his opponent\u2019s physical state, while Djokovic noticed how preoccupied Alcaraz was with what he was doing. \u201cI felt that he was looking at me more than he was looking at himself,\u201d Djokovic said.<\/p>\n

Body language is a factor in every tennis match, whether or not one of the players involved is managing an injury. Fist pumps<\/a> and slumped shoulders; shadow swings and lowered heads. A player\u2019s demeanour and movements communicate what they are feeling to their opponent, but also to themselves, offering positive reinforcement and pep or adding to the already heavy weight of an important tennis match.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s working in two directions. It\u2019s working externally towards your opponent but also internally towards yourself in order to take control and take charge of how you feel in any given moment,\u201d Dan Abrahams, a sports psychologist, said during a phone interview.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz has developed his mastery of this dynamic since his loss to Djokovic. Once almost always upbeat with a puppy-dog smile, or looking confused by a downturn in form, he now mixes the exuberant with the hyper-focused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing two kind of matches at the same time,\u201d he said in his news conference after beating Ji\u0159\u00ed Lehe\u010dka to set up a possible semifinal against Djokovic, who later beat Taylor Fritz to confirm their ninth meeting. \u201cIt is the match of playing, the points and whatever, and the match behind the scenes, let\u2019s say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter if you feel exhausted, you feel really tired, you feel like you cannot keep it going. If you show the opponent you\u2019re fresh, you\u2019re able to play two, three, more hours, to play long rallies, it\u2019s giving him the mindset of this is going to be really tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for me the way that I walk between points \u2014 with attitude, like I\u2019m fresh, I\u2019m really good physically \u2014 I think it\u2019s really important to show the opponent that they are going to sweat a lot, and they are going to have to run a lot if they want to beat me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This felt like the battle lines being drawn for his match with Djokovic Friday. It was reminiscent of Andre Agassi<\/a> saying in an interview last year that \u201cas far apart as you are on a tennis court, you can actually feel the other one very intimately.\u201d Agassi was an even keener reader of his opponents than Djokovic, picking up on little tells, like Boris Becker\u2019s sticking his tongue out inadvertently revealing where he was going to serve.<\/p>\n

From Alcaraz\u2019s comments, to Amanda Anisimova focusing on positive affirmations in turning her 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon final defeat to Iga \u015awi\u0105tek into a quarterfinal win, to Naomi Osaka staying focused while her quarterfinal opponent, Karol\u00edna Muchov\u00e1, dealt with a left thigh injury, the past few days of the U.S. Open have seen those \u201ctwo matches\u201d that Alcaraz describes play out on one of the sport\u2019s biggest stages.<\/p>\n

After beating \u015awi\u0105tek Wednesday, Anisimova went straight to body language to explain what she had improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was something I was really lacking in the Wimbledon final,\u201d she said in her news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really showing much, or my attitude and my presence wasn\u2019t really there. So I think that\u2019s also something that I learned that I need to do better at.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Today) I feel like I was really supporting myself, which in turn, also helped me play better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Showing the outward emotion required to intensify positive reinforcement is not natural for every player. As Alcaraz and Anisimova\u2019s active focus on it shows, positive and negative body language \u2014 something which is so personal that it can appear instinctive \u2014 is also something that can be exaggerated to meet a certain situation, or even taught.<\/p>\n

Brad Gilbert, a commentator for ESPN, noticed that Taylor Fritz was fist-pumping more than he had \u201cever seen\u201d during the third and fourth sets of his quarterfinal against Djokovic. Fritz, playing in front of his home crowd, sought to harness the energy, but he is not disposed to doing it constrantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he could have done that from the beginning. But obviously, if it\u2019s not in your DNA, it\u2019s hard,\u201d Gilbert said.<\/p>\n

Kevin Anderson, the naturally reserved former U.S. Open and Wimbledon finalist, practiced fist pumps with his sports psychologist to try and help energize himself on court. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve played a good point, sort of acknowledging that also has a lot of positive effects that increases your confidence level,\u201d he said after reaching the 2017 U.S. Open final.<\/p>\n

A day after the Fritz vs. Djokovic match, Lorenzo Musetti was jumping and down while 5-0 down in the first set against a merciless Jannik Sinner. Iga \u015awi\u0105tek, who has worked with a sports psychologist for many years, has recently made a conscious shift toward expressing more emotion on court rather than holding it in.<\/p>\n

And Djokovic, who vents to the umpire, whips up the crowd and jaws with his box one moment, often with expressions of disbelief or rage mixed in, before blowing kisses and pumping his arms the next, always seems to remain in control.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Positive body language can influence production of performance hormones like testosterone and adrenaline, while negative or angry body language can increase production of cortisol, the stress hormone. \u201cBut anger and the expression of anger can be helpful on the tennis court,\u201d Abrahams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnger, when you express it, can really focus the mind. It can raise your feelings of energy and subsequently intensity and it can heighten the sense of purposefulness, proactivity, and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s team follows this principle. The world No. 1 is one of the most demonstrative players on tour, every emotional contour of a match etched on her face and in her body language. Instead of suppressing this instinct, her team developed a mantra: \u201cdon\u2019t fight it, don\u2019t feed it.\u201d Sabalenka often expresses anger or frustration even after hitting absurdly good shots, especially if she is down on the scoreboard or coming back from a break of serve, but she also does it when winning.<\/p>\n

One legend of recent tennis history is held up as the body-language gold standard: Rafael Nadal.<\/p>\n

Gilbert remembers being at the 2006 French Open final, sat next to Nadal\u2019s support team, and seeing the Spaniard aim a fist pump in their direction. He was 5-0 down in the first set. \u201cThat attitude is literally the rarest of rare,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cBecause more often than not, when you watch tennis you absolutely know who\u2019s winning and who\u2019s losing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also the intimidation factor. In the 2022 French Open final, which Nadal played with one foot numbed with injections, he faced Casper Ruud. In the bowels of Court Philippe-Chatrier, Ruud stared ahead, asking how long it was until they started. Nadal was jumping around and running, shadow-swinging with fury. The match looked over before it had even begun, and Nadal duly won in straight sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a nightmare before you played him,\u201d Nick Kyrgios said on talkSPORT this year. \u201cHe would get his racket and swing it really hard in front of you and try really hard to intimidate you. And it did work. You\u2019re sitting there maybe listening to music, and you just hear this racket zooming and he\u2019s jumping around. He did make you feel a bit nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abrahams shows his clients, even ones from other sports, footage of Nadal.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s using his physicality to mentally dominate himself and his opponent so in that respect he\u2019s just this wonderful model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nadal extended this routine to the coin toss. Mental training coach Rob Polishook wrote in his paper, \u201cThe Mental Game: Broken Rackets \u2013 Bad Body Language\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cRafael Nadal\u2019s pre-match ritual during the coin toss is the ultimate example of positive body language. Nadal bounces around feverishly before sprinting back to the baseline, making it clear to all that he is eager to begin the match.\u201d<\/p>\n

After winning the 2017 U.S. Open, Nadal said in a news conference: \u201cNo, I was not calm. I was nervous, but all the body language that is not in a positive way is stupid to make it, because it\u2019s going against you.\u201d While playing at the Laver Cup a couple of years later, Nadal shouted \u201cNot one negative face\u201d at team-mate Alexander Zverev.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one of the things that I tried to do all my life, that the body language helps me, not go against me. Because it is one of the things that depends just on me, not on the opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all players try to be totally impervious to what is happening at the other end. Sam Querrey, a former world No. 11 and ESPN analyst at the U.S. Open, said that his focus on himself against his opponent was about 80 against 20 per cent. He tried to avoid looking at Djokovic, who he beat in a famous Wimbledon upset nine years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cNovak\u2019s got good body language,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s intimidating. I don\u2019t need to look, I know that\u2019s what he brought every single time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it was the same with Nadal and Federer, who was generally undemonstrative but would occasionally let out a roar of celebration, and a fist pump. The rarity of it gave it even more impact, but sports psychologists tend to focus on consistency of demeanor \u2014 exactly what Djokovic didn\u2019t do against Alcaraz in Melbourne earlier this year, which is why it so flummoxed the Spaniard.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing consistent in your responses to winning and losing points can be helpful, as changes in your demeanor are often quite revealing about your psychology,\u201d said sports psychologist Marc Sagal, via text message.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there are times when it\u2019s smart to purposely project a kind of energy or aggressiveness to signal your competitive spirit and readiness. Managing even the smaller signals that you might be giving off, like how you drink water, how you look over at your coach, how you cool off, are all potential tells and so it\u2019s smart to keep these as consistent as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019ve gained control over these aspects, you can then be more strategic in how you strategically manipulate your own behavior to psych out your opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this manipulation of which Djokovic is a master. He tends to be more effective when he is demonstrative with his irritations than when he tries to get the crowd onside. Against Fritz on Tuesday, he relished blowing kisses towards some of the more hostile American fans. And from the moment he had won that match, he went into provocateur mode ahead of facing Alcaraz.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that they are the two best players in the world,\u201d he said in his news conference, referring to Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is probably expecting and anticipating the finals between the two of them,\u201d he said. Then, stroking his beard, he added: \u201cI\u2019m going to try to mess up the plans of most of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz knows what that feels like, having lost four of his last five meetings with the 24-time Grand Slam champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I played a lot of times against him,\u201d Alcaraz said. \u201cI really want revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Clive Brunskill \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 U.S. Open men\u2019s semifinals. FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. \u2014 When Carlos…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[131080,79,25711,1068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-400198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-peak","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-sports-business","11":"tag-tennis","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115152177418252889","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}