In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:
Tennis Acumen: Yeah, let me ask one more question. watching Evan King play yesterday, he was obviously not 100 percent.
Aleks Vukic: Mentally or physically?
Tennis Acumen: His body. He could not move. He could not get there. He was sharp, clear and he was asking his body to do certain things. And the body was just saying: “No, please stop.”
Aleks Vukic: Yeah, that’s tough when it feels like that.
Tennis Acumen: I asked him about that and I told him it was agonizing to watch. I mean, he got down a set, down a break, and instead of going to the bench, he just sat on a little stool in the back corner, on the baseline. I asked what was going through his mind.? He says: “Just trying to find some clarity. I was trying to simplify things.” We made a distinction between playing when you're hurt, which means you're injured and you shouldn't be on court and playing where you're hurting. How do you deal with playing when you're hurting?
Aleks Vukic: It's very tough, because you obviously you feel it. But he had the perfect mindset. That pain will end up going away. If you're hurt, you should stop because it can affect you. But if you're hurting, it's one of those. It's a temporary pain. It's just another obstacle that you have to go through. You see the guys that are doing really well, going deep in the tournament, they are, for sure, hurting mentally. And physically, they're not fresh. They have played more matches. I think it’s just trying to push through, trying to find a way to pump yourself up.
Tennis Acumen: Did you have any training or work with a sports psychologist on that issue?
Aleks Vukic: No, I haven't. But that is something that would definitely interest me. My coach is not here this week, but he's very good with that stuff. We talk about a lot about the mental game rather than the technical part of it, because people say it's 80 percent mental. I do believe it's around 90 to 95 percent, to be honest. Unless you're extremely talented, you need the hard work and need the mental capacity. And that's where you see a lot of guys make a career, just because they're mentally tough. They make a living purely because of that. And that's my goal is to do that as well.
More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.
Tags: aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23
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