By its nature, tennis is regarded as an emotional game. It is a battle of wills, where two players compete with each other for physical and mental dominance, where threat and intimidation can play a huge role, and where one competitor ends up being superior to the other. According to Katie Mobed, a renowned psychologist, “Of all the different sports I’ve worked in, and there have been many over the years, tennis is perhaps the most emotionally challenging of sports, and there are so many reasons for that.” Here, the courts as a cauldron of pressure where the players are constantly judged by the media and fans. Everyone wants their favorite players to win. Talking about tennis players and their emotional sides, recently, Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, exposed a big similarity between the ATP and the WTA players. What’s it, though?
According to Mouratoglou, people are watching sports to “feel emotions“, and according to him, it’s more like watching movies for them. Previously in an interview with Sky Sports, Serena Williams’ ex-coach spoke about how people have come up and told him about players lacking much more personality these days. His reply to them was, “No, we have strong personalities in tennis, but they don’t express themselves on the court’. They don’t show their passion because of this code of conduct.” Why do we often see women’s tennis players expressing themselves more than the men’s tennis stars?
Last month, Patrick Mouratoglou gave an interview to Daniela Hantuchova, and recently he shared a video clip from that interview where he was spotted drawing a striking similarity between ATP and WTA stars. He said, “I think men are as emotional as women. The difference is men don’t show it because they want to look strong, they have big egos, and they think it’s not manly to show emotions, so they hide their emotions, but I can tell you they’re scared the same way before the matches.” Why do we not see men cry too often during their matches? “They will not cry because they’d be ashamed to cry, but they feel like crying, a woman would not be ashamed to cry. So they’re not more emotional, they share their emotion with you much more, which in a way makes my life easier because I know exactly how they feel, with guys, a lot of time they don’t want to show, because they feel weak by showing.”
However, there is also a difference between them. According to Serena Williams’ former coach, “One big difference, and a lot of women’s players have told me also, men players want to feel like they are bosses, so they want you to be behind them, they want to feel like they make decisions, take control, take everything. Women want you to be in front, a lot of them, they feel more secure.” He claimed that if someone tried to coach a man like a woman, then he would hate it, and it’s not going to work, and vice versa.
Mouratoglou began his coaching in 1999, and interestingly, he has had more success working alongside female players than male players. He has won ten Grand Slam titles with the WTA players, but with the men’s he has won just one Masters 1000 title and one ATP Finals, no Grand Slams. What do the ATP and the WTA stars say about their emotional outbursts during their matches?
Serena Williams shares her thoughts about the difference in interpretation when it comes to expressing emotions among men and women
According to Dr Sandi Mann, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Lancashire, “The effort it takes to fake or hide emotions can be compared to physical labour; it causes huge mental stress – it can make you lose your sense of identity, as if your employer ‘owns’ your emotions.” On the men’s side, there are players like Roger Federer who displayed little to no emotions while staying on the court. But on the other side, players like Nick Kyrgios and Andrey Rublev are known for their emotional outbursts on the court.
Speaking about his emotional outbursts, Rublev once said, “There are ugly emotional outbursts…because the desire overwhelms me. You get hooked on it: ‘I want, I want, I want, I need, I need,’ and you can’t hear or see anything. The reality doesn’t match the desire, and you start to panic. That panic manifests itself in inadequate emotions, when then becomes internet memes.”
On the women’s side, we’ve seen players like Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams breaking down in tears due to various reasons in their matches. In 2011, after berating the chair umpire during her loss to Samantha Stosur in the US Open final, Serena Williams said, “My emotions did get the best of me this past weekend when I disagreed with the umpire.” She has also faced quite a few criticisms in the past for her emotional outbursts. What does she think about all these negative reactions to her emotional outbursts?
In an essay, Williams once raised a question mark asking, “Why is it that when women get passionate, they’re labeled emotional, crazy, and irrational, but when men do they’re seen as passionate and strong? So often, in situations similar to mine, when men fight back against the referees, they’re met with a smile or even a laugh from the umpire, as if they’re sharing an inside joke. I’m not asking to avoid being penalized. I am asking to be treated the same way as everyone else. Sadly, that’s simply not the world we currently live in.”
Seven years ago, on International Women’s Day, she asked every woman not to hide their emotions when they are at. Serena Williams believes it’s good to show one’s vulnerabilities and be straight in asking for help. What are your thoughts on players putting up emotional outbursts during their matches? Is it justified considering the grueling nature of the sport, or should they be a little restrained?
The post “Men Are as Emotional as Women” – Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Exposes Hidden Truth About Emotions Between the ATP and the WTA Tour appeared first on EssentiallySports.
