The grueling two-week tournament schedule

The scene was familiar, and it had been repeated over the years by all first-time grand Slam winners.

Daniil Mevedev fell on the floor after he won his maiden Grand Slam a day following Raducanu’s win, just like Dominic Thiem one year ago.

Serena Williams was shocked to win her first grand slam at the 1999 US Open.

After this moment of joy there seems to be some time before the top can be reached.

Since 2000, 34 first-time grand Slam winners have had to wait more than a year.

Williams had to wait for her second grand-slam to be won.

‘Depth of self-belief unlike anything else’Alongside Williams, tennis has been dominated for 20 years by players for whom losing seems more difficult than winning — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Winning considerably more than one grand slam has become normalized, even expected, somewhat obscuring the difficulties of claiming that first one.

Because tennis is an individual sport and requires continuous travel throughout the year, across various time zones, environments, and locations, it has a psychologically different pressure to win a grand-slam than in other sports.

“Sometimes, when I have social support, my eyes look to my left and my right.

I then see my teammate giving me a fist pump.

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CNN Sport is told by Dr Jarrod Spencer, a psychologist who specializes in sports psychology.

“This type of support can help an individual to manage performance anxieties.” It’s not one-on-one support, but when it is you see your left and right you realise that you are all alone.

That requires a depth of self-belief that is unlike anything else.

Eurosport Expert and Former World No.

1 says that tennis has a special scoring system which creates uncertainty on virtually every point.

7 Barbara Schett tells CNN.

It would be possible to win and build self-belief.

This confidence can then be applied at key points in close matches.

Schett recalls that Schett was the number 10 player in the world.

“When I got there, I saw the court.

I looked at it and said, “I won this match.” There’s absolutely no chance.

‘ I can only imagine how .

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Imagine how the greats would feel on the court.

Williams was beaten by Schett three times during her career.

Schett won 6-0 and 6-0 when they met again at the French Open 2003.

Schett recalls, “I had already won the match against her before she came on court because of her incredible presence.” Schett says, “I felt like I was going to lose this girl.

Physically, she’s so much stronger.

She plays so much harder.

She is confident in herself.

You’d better go to the locker area.

“But winning may lead to an illusion of invincibility.

It can create new goals and expectations.

“Perfection does not exist” In the wake of Raducanu’s US Open victory, pundits raced to proclaim her a potential multiple grand slam champion due to her strong groundstrokes as well as her aggressive return of serve.

As she gathered sponsors and PR specialists, her name was deemed to be the next British sports superstar.

“Everyone just expected me to win every single tournament I was ever going to play again.

“Perfection just doesn’t exist.” Raducanu admitted in an interview with Nike.

Raducanu was plagued by injuries during her first year of touring.

She has been unable to travel due to side strains, blisters and injuries in the hips.

Raducanu fell to lower ranking players in her three grand Slam appearances, including the one she made in New York.

“There’s a lot of expectation externally on her,” Schett says.

Schett says that she is determined to win another award.

“She wants to show everyone that she isn’t just a one-day wonder, or even a two-week wonder.

But the pressures and expectations on her are very high.

For a 19 year old competing on the WTA Tour, this has been an excellent, though not remarkable season.

However, the high expectations around the Brit have made every loss seem like a disaster.

“That point of satisfaction” Expectations and goals change in the wake of major victories like grand slam titles.

Raducanu’s story is similar to Dominic Thiem’s.

After winning the 2020 US Open maiden grand-slam, Thiem fell out of the top echelons to reach a position as low as the world No.

352.

A lingering wrist injury hampered the Austrian, as did coming to terms with his new status as a grand slam winner.

Thiem stated to Der Standard, an Austrian newspaper, that if you want to achieve a goal you must sacrifice everything.

But, it is tennis.

It’s fast and everything happens quickly.

If you’re not 100% you lose.

I experienced it this year.

“To explain the psychological effects of achieving a major goal, Spencer compares it to a more everyday experience — eating.

“When you’re hungry, you’ll do whatever it takes to get some food,” he says.

“And then once you reach that point of satiation where you just feel full, then it’s like, I can’t eat another bite, I don’t want anything for quite some time.

“”And so it’s very normal and natural, just like eating a big meal that sometimes an athlete, after they win something really significant might just lose a little bit of drive for a little while.

The emotional toll of elite sports is becoming increasingly apparent as more athletes talk about their mental health.

After a row over her refusal to hold post-match press conferences, Naomi Osaka, a four-time grand champion in tennis, withdrew from the French Open to safeguard her mental health.

She revealed afterwards that she has suffered “long bouts of depression” as well as “huge waves anxiety” since winning her grand slam title in 2018.

Iga Swiatek praised Daria Abramowicz, her sports psychologist, for her role in helping her win 2020’s French Open.

‘Many, many things have happened’Managing the “emotional energy” which sport depletes is key to recalibrating an athlete’s goals and expectations, Spencer explains.

Thiem has begun to rebuild after his year in the wilderness, winning his first ATP Tour match in 14 months with a victory in the first round against of the Bastad Open against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in July 2022.

“My last victory was in Rome in 2021, it feels like a different world somehow,” he said afterwards, according to the BBC.

“Many, many things happened.

It was tough, but it was also a very good experience, I think, for life in general.

This is my first win here.

“In recent weeks, Raducanu too has shown flickers of the form that propelled her to tennis stardom with victories against Williams and Victoria Azarenka at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati before she lost to Jessica Pegula in the third round — just her second ever match against a top 10 player.

She will face Alize Cornet in the first round of the US Open as she begins her title defense, while Thiem — also appearing at the tournament for the first time since winning it — will play Pablo Carreno Busta..

Adapted from CNN News