Julieta Estable, top favorite of the W15 that takes place this week in Lawn Tennis, reveals how she learned to handle the pressure of high competition.
LA GACETA / Photo by José Nuno
For an athlete, having to spend several months without competing due to an injury is, almost always, bad news. However, there are times when it can be taken to improve, and that made Juliet Stable478th in the world ranking, and the top favorite of the W15 that is being played in Lawn Tennis.
“Tita”, who was without playing between June 2022 and June 2023 due to a serious knee injury, found a very good level on her return, which places her close to her best historical ranking (424th, achieved in 2014) . Because? In dialogue with LA GACETA, she explained it herself.
“I think the key was that I started to enjoy it in a different way. Now I enjoy every minute on the court and play relaxed,” said Estable. Then, with a calm tone despite it being a delicate topic, he says that he suffered the competition before the injury.
“It was quite difficult for me to compete, I didn’t have panic attacks, but something similar. He didn’t enjoy the competition; It put a lot of pressure on me because I didn’t have financial help and since I played few tournaments, I put a lot of expectations on myself. That extra pressure did not allow me to compete at 100%; “I only thought about winning,” explained Estable, who assured that this “was a wheel that led me to have more fears, to play more tense.”
Of course, realizing that was not a job alone. “I worked with psychologists, they helped me a lot. The fact of being able to see everything I’ve achieved so far… obviously you want to be better, but you have to understand that it’s a process, go step by step. That is the key,” stated “Tita,” who also reveals that, during her time off the courts, she took an ontological coaching course, which also helped her a lot. “She opened my mind a lot more,” she admitted.
Perhaps that is also why he can take his position as top favorite this week more calmly. “I try not to think; I know that being the favorite puts a little bit of pressure on you, but the goal this week is to try to enjoy, be healthy, compete well and do what I have to do on the court,” she pointed out.
Stable, who started playing tennis after her mother recommended she look for a “more feminine” sport than soccer, which was her passion as a child – “it wasn’t seen like it is now,” she clarified -, has the same coach as Julia Riera y Martina Capurro Taborda, two of the Argentine players who climbed the most in the ranking during 2023, entering the Top 200. That, “Tita” recognizes, serves as a driving force for her. “I see the day-to-day work and I know that it is not impossible. If they can do it, any of us who come a little further down can do it and obviously it is a motivation,” she stated.
For this reason, one of his big goals initially set for next season is to return to the Grand Slams, which he knew how to play at the junior level, but now as a professional. “It would be a nice goal for next year. This year, the idea is to finish as healthy as possible and try to do what we have been doing; Afterwards, the ranking will be a consequence,” said “Tita,” who also dreams of being called up to the Argentine BJK Cup team. “I would love to come back,” she admitted, although she stressed that she does not think about it constantly. “I feel like the less I wait for things, the more they will come. With the injury, the more she wanted to play, the further away she saw the return. Now I let things happen, I continue working and doing the things I have to do”; She concluded her Stable, that she will seek, in Tucumán, to continue enjoying tennis, and why not, add a trophy to her showcase.
2024-02-26 21:54:50
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