09/03/2017
Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about Diva Tennis players...
Enter the Diva
Some people have asked me whether I think a certain (Jr.) player will “make it” or not. This is a difficult question to answer. Too many variables to be sure of any outcome. There are a few thoughts that come to mind when I get asked this type of question. One thought that prevails and that I need to get out of my head is the following:
In the same way that people have subjective levels of players (I have some FB friends that catalogue subjectively RF as God), I have a subjective classification for a player’s behaviour.
We have the Diva player. A player is a Diva when the size of his or her Ego dwarfs the size of his accomplishments and toolkit*.
*A player’s toolkit will differ from person to person, but here we will make pair it to a wide range of qualities such as: playing ability (shots, talent, or the ability to learn quickly), coachability, work ethic, how the player deals with pressure, whether the player does things the right way or not, etc., and the conditions the player brings: financial support, good coach, good team, plays the right amount of tournaments, etc.
What is a Diva? The word Diva ranges in meaning depending on the context where it is used. In the straightest sense, (according to Wikipedia) a Diva is a celebrated female singer. Going down to a less literal definition we have the Urban Dictionary’s version of diva: “a bitchy woman that must have her way exactly, or no way at all. Often rude and belittles people, believes that everyone is beneath her and thinks that she is so much more loved than what she really is. (A Diva is) selfish, spoiled, and overly dramatic”.
This is more precise to our understanding of a “Diva” tennis player.
The Diva tennis player has a big ego. Having such a big ego becomes a burden to anyone because the ego needs constant attention to feel in control. Constant attention to non-essential things translate into energy drain, which often makes people behave in unacceptable ways. So, whenever you see a player that is very insecure (seeking attention and approval from others), that cheats when the pressure starts to build up, or that outright tanks a match when he or she cannot cope with the pressure, then you have found a Diva tennis player.
How to identify a Diva player?
There are many ways in which a Diva player expresses his or her condition, but the top four are:
1. Diva players are very insecure.
Diva players are very insecure pathological attention and approval seekers.
2. Diva players cheat.
When the pressure starts building up, they resort to cheating to try and stay in control of the situation.
3. Diva players tank.
Once they can’t cope with the pressure, diva players will outright tank a match and then
4. It’s never their fault.
When Diva players lose it’s never their fault. It was the wind, the balls, the opponent cheated, the racquet was too loose, they haven’t trained enough, they have trained too much and are burned out, they are sore from working out, etc., but never their fault.
How are Diva players created?
Most Diva specimens have a single or a few good characteristics that in their own right attract attention from other people. The characteristics may come in the shape of a great shot, a great result, a great skill or even an external characteristic like having money or a good coach.
Constant reminders from external people about these characteristics are what start nourishing the ego into the insatiable and abominable beast it becomes after years of attention and adulation. The player, who enjoys the extra attention, starts developing thanks to his or her good characteristics but at the same time, starts displaying Diva behaviours that become as predictable as a monkey that performs tricks to get a banana.
So, to answer the original question, I would say NO. The diva player is not going to make it as a professional tennis player. The reason is that there are thousands of very talented players putting many hours of quality training and/or living in places where either the competition doesn’t allow them to become Divas in the first place, or where the situation is so bad that the environment doesn’t allow them to become Divas. Granted, most tennis players in the world have an ego, but successful players with big egos have somehow evolved into getting the ego to work for them rather than to hurt them.
This is not to say that the subject in question is doomed to mediocrity, but it means that the subject will have to become something else. He or she will have to either face the ego or let go of it to become something better. Evolution is the key to this problem. An easy analogy to help understand this phenomenon is the journey that a caterpillar takes to become a butterfly. In a similar manner, a Diva player can evolve into a Warrior through awareness and introspection.
Players that come out from the Diva caterpillar are dangerous in the sense that they have faced and defeated an incredibly tough opponent: their own ego.
