Is tennis mentally, the toughest sport?

Sport in general is cruel – at least for the runner up. But to my mind, tennis is the cruelest of them all. Tennis is like a gladiator-esque sport that leaves the loser heartbroken, physically drained and emotionally vulnerable. You don’t have your team mates, caddy or your support staff to console you after you lose a tennis game. All you have is a winner who is right there celebrating and adding salt to your wounds. A lot of people wouldn’t have had the courage to become a tennis player. It is in fact a cruel, cruel sport.

When John Terry missed that spot kick in the 2008 Champions League finals, it was truly a sad moment in the history of Chelsea FC. The man they call Mr. Chelsea could have brought home the European Cup – the greatest prize in football, but he slipped and missed the shot. Terry broke down in front of millions of people but there were people who could console him. Frank Lampard did his best, Avram Grant, the coach was with Terry the whole time and even the opponent Gary Neville came over to Terry and spoke with him.

At least he had people to console him

Similar is the case with any other team sport. When you get hit for 25 runs in your last over and lose the game for your team, you are obviously blamed, but your team is always there for you. Despite the fact that they may hate you for the moment, they are still there for you. When you car breaks down two laps before Checkered Flag, you can always vent your anger on to your support staff. They are always there for you.

Tennis is different. When Andy Roddick achingly lost that 2009 Wimbledon finals 16-14 in the fifth set, he was visibly upset. But, there was very little he could do about it. In the whole match, Federer broke Roddick’s serve only once and that was his match point. That is how cruel this sport can get. Roddick led 6-2 in the second set tiebreak but two bad shots cost him that set and eventually the match. Even Federer exclaimed that “Tennis is cruel” during the ceremony.

Who Would have thought that a 1st round game would last 12 hours?

In any other sport, you know when it’s going to get over. No matter how badly you lose, you always know that you are going to be in your dressing room taking a shower after 90 minutes during a football game, a little longer in cricket. But in tennis, it is not like that. Which spectator would have thought, at the start of the 2012 Australian Open men’s final, that they would leave Rod Laver Arena at 3.00 a.m on Monday morning after having entered the stadium at 7.00 p.m Sunday night?

Tennis is so brutal that even after battling for 12 hours and 3 days, you can still go on to lose the next round match 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 (I’m talking, of course, of John Isner’s loss in the 2010 Wimbledon 2nd round after his marathon 1st round match against Nicolas Mahut).

When Roger Federer broke down at the 2009 Australian Open stating “God, its killing me”, there were million others crying at their houses and at the court but no one could do anything about it. Federer stood there – all alone. In a world where sports are full of mind games, tennis is straightforward, and that hurts even more. After winning that very game, Rafael Nadal came over to the microphone and said

“Well, first of all, sorry for today,” he said, turning to face Federer. “I really know how you feel right now. It’s really tough. Remember, you’re a great champion. You’re one of the best in history.”

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Nadal deserved to take the spotlight that night but getting appreciated by the person who just defeated you doesn’t really help in any way.

He stood there, without anyone to lend a shoulder

Tennis is a true gentleman’s game – a pure battle of wills – and that is also why it hurts so much. You either do or die on a tennis court and that is why it means so much. Your fate rests only in your hands on a tennis court. Tennis is cruel but sadly, there is nothing we can do about it.