You’ve got to have a psychiatrist / psychologist on your staff – full freaking time. Just as trainers and physios are now the norm from being totally non-existent in the past, maybe this is the new post about to get permanently etched on the player payroll.
Sure Murray must have been reminded of what Federer was trying to achieve – consciously or subconsciously – with his 150,000 remark – and everyone in his camp would have offered his / her own advice as to the best way to deal with it, but what actually was spilled on the court screams of professional help.
To me the culmination of that psychological job done on Murray was his admission of shame “It’s a shame I can cry like Federer but cannot play like him”. That came from the gut with honesty and candor written all over it, but what it achieved was even more startling: It rudely and forcefully dumped Murray with the sheep called Roddick, Hewitt and even Djokovic, instead of being with Nadal – a place he had been so far, although marginally.
That was the most blatant and crude admission of defeat made rich and real by the moments surrounding the blurt.
Can you imagine Nadal expressing that even in his dreams? Nadal may turn into a harmless goat after the match against Federer but when in it, he makes no secret of how much he DOESN’T fear him. He actually crosses the line with his racket in proclaiming how much he is really aiming to strike fear across the net. Most say he has succeeded beyond his dreams.
All this BS is psychological. It takes a special kind to go against the grind / tide etc. specially when the water has been gushing downstream with such force for almost six freaking years. Just that momentum sets you back even before the play starts.
All greats recognize and capitalize on that advantage to smother all comers with weak psyche. Once in a while someone will step up and challenge and consequently give birth to a rivalry that will resound through the ages.
You think Nadal’s camp holds a psychologist/psychiatrist? They may not hold degrees made of paper but what they possess may not be too far from it.
Bottom line: As players begin to pounce on every advantage they can secure on and off the court, that mental edge so openly ignored despite mountain of evidence for it, will produce a full-time professional equipped with relevant credentials as staple on the player’s roster – soon.