"Between the start of the 90s, when the war started, and the end of the 90s, we had an embargo for four or five years, maybe even more. Nothing comes in or out of the country, and poverty level was extremely high."
"Was it easy? No, it absolutely wasn't easy. But that was the foundation of my mental strength and resilience. When you are in doubt of what tomorrow brings for your family and your country, and whether you will survive the next day, facing a match point in a grand slam is not that hard."
"Nevertheless, I still feel that pressure that athletes feel. It is real. Sometimes perspective helps, but a lot of times it doesn't. What you are going through is a"
Childhood wartime scarcity and embargo conditions, such as waiting in long lines for a single loaf of bread, create powerful autonomic imprints of vigilance, protection, and preparedness. Those physiological patterns embed ways the body meets pressure on the court, producing survival-based reactions that perspective alone cannot reliably override. Intense negative emotional fuel can drive exceptional achievement but ultimately becomes exhausting and limiting. Peak performance occurs when the body feels safe enough to play and when connection to important relationships reduces protective arousal, allowing freer, more effective physiological functioning under pressure.
Read at Psychology Today
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