This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger. They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Tennis Acumen: How do you deal with the daily grind? I lived next door to a guy who played in a Super Bowl. I asked him: “What's the hardest part about playing in the NFL?” I expected, he’d say it was fourth down and inches to go in a big game. He said: “No, it's the drills. It's the summer camp where you just get up every day and do it over and over again.” You're pretty experienced at getting up every day and doing it over and over. What is that like? Where does the discipline come from?
Nick Chappell: It's easy to feel like you're doing the same thing every day, which you are. You have to be creative and keep things interesting. That's the most important thing, because it's really easy to get in a rut, especially if you're losing. If you're winning, you're probably feeling good no matter what. Especially when you're losing, it is hard to keep being motivated and find things to work on. I guess that's normally what a coach would do. But if you're traveling by yourself, it's even more important that you find ways to engage yourself in practice. That’s really where matches are won.
Tennis Acumen: What is the most important aspect on tour, practicing before the tournament, or finding ways to practice once you've lost in the tournament.
Nick Chappell: During a tournament, you have to taper a little bit and manage your body. But when you have weeks off or you've lost early, it's really important to really hit it hard and work on things and get better. So, the hardest part is finding ways to do that. Finding ways to work on things and get better while also keeping it fresh and interesting because otherwise it's going to get boring.
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