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Wear and Tear of the Tennis Season; What is a "Breakfast of Champions?"; Wozniacki's Big Challenge; Thomas Muster's Tour Stories; The mental Strength of Tennis Pros; Dominic Thiem: Austria's Rising Star
Aired October 16, 2014 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PAT CASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): It's the beautiful scenery of Austria, churches and castles line the river bank which is well known for
its fresh air and active lifestyle.
Well, it's a great place to recuperate and stay fit, which is perfect timing as both the men's and the women's tours stop in Austria this month.
Many of the players will arrive at the tournament a little sore and tired after a grueling tennis season.
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CASH (voice-over): At this late stage in the tennis season, the wear and tear of life on the tour is beginning to show. Each match becomes not
just a battle against your opponent, but also against your own body and mind.
JAMES WARD, ATP TOUR SINGLES PLAYER (voice-over): You're looking forward to your holidays towards the end of the year. And you feel like
you're pushing hard for the last few ranking points of the year. You've played maybe 9-10 months of tennis, week in, week out, and your body's
hurting towards the end.
SCOTT BYRNES, BOUCHARD'S COACH (voice-over): It's very taxing on the body. There's not a lot of chance to -- for the body to rejuvenate and to
recover. The body's kind of crying out for a bit of time in the off season.
CASH (voice-over): During the course of a match, a player's body, organs and joints are put under enormous amounts of pressure.
CHRISTOPHER KAS, ATP TOUR DOUBLES PLAYER (voice-over): I've played for 15 years now and the guys I see coming up now, it's different. They're
way more athletic. They brought the game to another level. The game progressed, improved a lot.
CASH (voice-over): But the body doesn't just suffer on court. Players have busy schedules which take them across the globe and so much
traveling can often lead to jet lag and fatigue.
KAS (voice-over): The toughest part is the mental part. Like traveling, being away from the family for a long time. It's not easy.
WARD (voice-over): There's a lot of flights, 2-3 flights a week sometimes. And the traveling is 35-40 weeks a year. And whether it's the
tournament or practice or training weeks.
CASH (voice-over): Longer and fuller seasons also mean that areas like the wrist, back and knee are more susceptible to injury, which can
also affect a player not just physically but also mentally.
BYRNES (voice-over): It's very hard for an athlete to put injury out of their mind and compete at 100 percent. That can also add to the
confidence problems and performance problems along the track as well.
KAS (voice-over): We all wanted to become professionals. On the other hand, it's very nice on the world tour to experience traveling to
countries we'd probably never, ever see without playing tennis. So it is tough at times. But I don't want to complain about that.
WARD: The great part is when you get to play in front of your friends and family and hopefully do well, those are the sacrifices that make it all
worth it.
CASH (voice-over): This month we're taking a closer look at health and fitness and I want to show you first-hand how the players train, stay
fit and eat whilst on tour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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CASH (voice-over): Barbara Schett, how are you?
BARBARA SCHETT, WTA LINZ TOURNAMENT AMBASSADOR: Great. Great to see you. Have a seat.
CASH (voice-over): Thank you. Thanks for inviting me to breakfast.
Though most people know you as a commentator on TV and a presenter, but you're Austria's highest ranked player and you were a top former top 10
WTA player.
SCHETT (voice-over): Yes. Many years ago now, I played. I've retired actually here in Linz.
CASH (voice-over): That's right. And obviously you ran the WTA tournament a lot.
What do you see that the players are eating?
Do you see them -- is it different than, say, when you were playing?
SCHETT: I think so. It's changed a lot. You can also see it at the shapes of the bodies of the girls. I think they're very fit at the moment.
In my days, especially the generation maybe before me, there were a few girls which didn't look as fit. And now they're very much into nutrition
because the girls know it's part of being fit and especially when they have long matches out there.
CASH: So talk me through your breakfast here. You like a bit of tea in the morning.
SCHETT: Yes. I always like to have a tea in the morning. I just try to get a lot of fluid into me. I like to have a little bit of a fruit
salad as well, just to get some vitamins in. And I have my oats, which I usually pour into my yogurt. And one thing which can never be missed is
the boiled egg.
CASH: It seems a fact that you need some protein as well?
SCHETT: Yes, absolutely. It's the protein which is important as well.
CASH: So, Barbara, it doesn't look like this is the right breakfast.
SCHETT: No, I mean, if you --
CASH: This is all right.
SCHETT: Yes, this is all right. The egg's all right. But I would probably skip the sausages and the bacon. It's very salty, which takes
away fluid from you. So I would skip those.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CASH (voice-over): Well, Barbara, I know you're busy as the ambassador of the Linz tournament so thanks for spending some time with us.
SCHETT (voice-over): Thank you for coming to visit me in my country in Austria. It's been a fun time. Thank you. See you.
CASH (voice-over): Yes. Going to have a little look around.
SCHETT (voice-over): Yes. Sounds good. See you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CASH (voice-over): Both of these ladies have competed against Caroline Wozniacki, who's a former World number 1 takes her fitness very
seriously as you'll soon find out. In fact, she has a new challenge that will see her pounding the pavement long after her rivals have finished for
the year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, FORMER WORLD NUMBER 1: (voice-over): There's so many words to sum up this year: adversity, for sure, and happiness because
I'm so happy now. I'm in a great place and I'm where I want to be.
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WOZNIACKI (voice-over): I love running. I feel free. I get to clear my mind. And especially once you get into that shape where you really feel
like you can just keep going forever, that's the best feeling.
I'm going to be running the New York City Marathon on November 2nd and I'm doing it for charity. I'm doing it for Team for Kids, which we're
starting running groups for kids that otherwise wouldn't have the option or possibilities to do sports.
I've never run a race before. It's always been on my bucket list. I've always wanted to run the New York Marathon. I'm trying to get kids
into sports and breaking their boundaries and aiming for goals that maybe is outside of their comfort zone. So I thought that I would be a great
inspiration if I did something that was outside of mine.
I'll do the first access professional athlete outside of runners, obviously, to run a marathon. So that's going to be exciting. People
obviously think I'm crazy. Someone has to get me through the finish line in a wheelchair so I don't know if I'm that confident. But I'm starting
to get there.
To be honest, I'm just going to take in the whole experience. I'm going to embrace the crowd. I'm going to embrace their cheers and once I
finish and get through that finish line, I think it's going to be -- I'm going to feel a relief and it's going to be such a huge achievement for me.
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WOZNIACKI (voice-over): Honestly, the first half of the year I was quite injured and couldn't really practice fully and the second half of the
year, I've been healthy. I've been able to just focus on the tennis and train hard. And the results came and it's been a great half of the year
for me.
My goals have always been just to try and win tournaments, try and win matches. I love playing. I'm really privileged to be where I am and do
what I love to do and make a living from it. So I work hard to hold the trophies in my hand.
Running marathon's definitely very mental. I think that's the same on the tennis court. Sometimes it's like hitting the wall out there and you
just can't seem to get the points together. But you just need to keep focusing, take one point at a time and somehow you manage to turn around.
And I think that's the same in the marathon. All of a sudden you might hit the wall, but just need to take one step at a time and get closer
to that finish line.
I think being a professional athlete comes with a lot of things. And one of those things is being in the spotlight. In the middle of the year,
I had a tough time outside the court, just in my personal life. When you go through hard times, you always learn about yourself. You learn about
how strong you really are. And I've learned so much about myself. I've become a better person.
At the end of the day, everything is -- happens for a reason and what's meant to be is going to be. So I'm in a good place now and I'm
really happy about where I am. And I wouldn't want it any other way.
I consider myself a fighter. I'm a fighter on court. I never give up. I play until the last point. And I think that's also why the
marathon's going to be such a great challenge because I'm a fighter and I know that if I have to crawl over that finish line, I will. But I'm going
to finish it.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CASH (voice-over): Caroline Wozniacki is running the New York City Marathon to benefit the charity, Team for Kids. We have linked the website
to an in-depth article on Caroline. You can access this on our website.
Well, good luck, Caroline. You're certainly braver than me.
Well, now I have an appointment with Austria's one and only Grand Slam singles champion. So it's off to Vienna.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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THOMAS MUSTER, FORMER WORLD NUMBER 1 (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE).
CASH (voice-over): How are you doing, mate?
MUSTER (voice-over): Austria's number one.
CASH (voice-over): I'm the Grand Slam champion. Thanks for having me.
MUSTER (voice-over): Let's go for a ride.
CASH (voice-over): Yes.
What's fascinating to me is that you had two goes at the circuit.
(CROSSTALK)
CASH (voice-over): And that horrendous knee injury, where you had knee reconstruction. You came back, you won -- became the number one
player in the world, won the French Open then retired and came back again.
MUSTER (voice-over): As you mentioned, I have a knee injury in '89 due to a car accident, come back to be number one in the world. I probably
played my best tennis after my knee injury.
CASH: You were the king of clay. You were the man that nobody could run into the ground.
MUSTER (voice-over): The fitness thing started with Lendl and there is just no (INAUDIBLE) at that time. It was about getting fit and all
that, because a lot of guys would lose in three sets or under (INAUDIBLE).
CASH (voice-over): Recovery in tennis is so important, isn't it?
MUSTER (voice-over): It's like a race car. The machine, it's a race car. You've got to tune it. You eat, you burn. You eat, you burn. Don't
forget, time changes and all that, you've got to start already on your trip start to fine-tune your eating as you're coming into a different time zone.
So the changing --
(CROSSTALK)
CASH (voice-over): As you're getting on the plane, changing or watching --
(CROSSTALK)
CASH (voice-over): -- OK, I'm going to start --
MUSTER (voice-over): I'm having dinner now. I just had breakfast, but I'm starting having dinner now --
(CROSSTALK)
CASH (voice-over): Exactly.
MUSTER (voice-over): Quite a beauty, isn't it?
CASH (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) a selfie here, mate.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
CASH (voice-over): Thanks, mate. I know you were so tough physically, but also mentally. And that's a side of the game that the
players are taking more seriously now than ever before.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WILLIAM WINSTONE, PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGIST (voice-over): Mental fitness ranges from dealing with performance under the most extreme
pressure, serving a match point at the Wimbledon final through to being able to train real effectively every day throughout the year.
MARION BARTOLI, 2013 WIMBLEDON CHAMPION (voice-over): Everyone knows how to play the game. And the difference in match, you know, that you win
or that you lose it too many times. And often you make the difference by your mass of strength and your ability even during the game and during the
match to adapt yourself to the situation.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WINSTONE (voice-over): I think a match can be lost before you set foot on the court. Positivity and optimism are really important factors.
And if a player goes out with in the back of their mind them thinking I'm not ready to do this, they're too good for me, on -- even on some subtle
level, it's not going to go well.
BARTOLI (voice-over): It's about blocking all the negative thoughts and just think about the positive and crossing the line.
WINSTONE (voice-over): The fact that tennis is an individual sport in singles can put a lot of pressure on players. And one of the ways they
show that is through self-criticism. In contrast, in a team sport like football, for example, one really has got 10 other players around him. If
it doesn't go so well, he can share that load. That makes a difference.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WINSTONE (voice-over): Well, I think superstition is a really interesting area in the whole world of sports psychology because
fundamentally superstition is designed to help people feel comfortable and to give them a sense of reinforcement that they're safe.
BARTOLI (voice-over): In order sometimes to feel you have something that can help you to deal with massive stress, it's human to just say well,
if I take the bottom hit here, maybe I'm going to serve an ace. Sometimes it works.
WINSTONE (voice-over): One of the big pressures that players have to deal with over a career is injury. And building a new confidence that your
body, which you rely on so much will do what you need it to do takes a lot of work.
BARTOLI (voice-over): I remember actually at the end of my Wimbledon final in 2013, I had a massive big turn in my toe. And I couldn't feel it
during the match. But the adrenaline level and the concentration was so high I felt very small pain. And when all of this was over and I just
walked back to the locker room, I couldn't walk anymore. I had to stop in the middle of the corridor and take my shoe off just because it was hurting
so much. But sometimes the concentration and the focus just almost denied the pain and you feel it a lot more when everything is over.
Sometimes just the desire to win and the competitive spirit when you're on the court helps you to just carry on no matter what.
CASH (voice-over): Each month I'll be publishing a health and fitness blog so log on to our website for details.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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CASH (voice-over): This week in Vienna, some of the best men's players in the world will be competing while spectators' eyes will be on
this center court. There's a whole different world unfolding behind closed doors. Come with me.
I'm approaching the nerve center, where the players seek off court care. What's also crucial is the fitness room but more so for warming up
and cooling down. Player's lounge is a great escape for those looking for a break.
But there is one room that every player visits, especially as the season winds down.
So we're in the therapy room, which is one of the most important rooms of any tournament. And a player who knows all about the therapy rooms,
walk me through a routine that would keep you going throughout the tournament.
JURGEN METZER, 3-TIME DOUBLES GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Before a match, I get my ankles taped to whenever I roll over so I --
CASH: Looks like you get your wrists taped as well.
METZER: Well, this has been a wrist injury 2006. Since then I probably don't need to tape anymore but for my head, it's better to have
it.
CASH: Are you prepared for your match? You've loosened up?
I have to prepare to play one of the Austrian players. So I'm going to say thank you and wish me luck.
METZER: Of course. Watch out for his backhand on the line.
CASH: I hear it's pretty good.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CASH: No mean team, Austria's new hot shot player, the youngest player in the top 40. You're already famous for your forehand and
backhand, the power. And this is why you're winning many matches.
I'd like to see what it's like to hit a few balls against you.
Do you mind?
DOMINIC THIEM, "THE DOMINATOR": No, of course, I can do it now.
CASH: Come on, as hard as you can.
OK.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CASH (voice-over): I'm going to say I'm a little bit nervous. I've seen how hard he hits his ground strokes. They're not my forte. I don't
know if I can get to any back. But I'll give it a shot.
Ooh, good shot.
What makes Thiem's forehand special are three things. Firstly, his shoulder turn. Next, his fast arm creates the racquet speed and lastly,
his wrist rotates through and loops around.
That is some forehand.
Austrians are hungry -- make that starving -- for a new Grand Slam singles champion.
When you come back here to Austria, you come back home, do the people go, oh, Dominic Thiem, please come and sit down, have a free meal? Marry
my daughter?
THIEM: I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
THIEM: I wish that -- no, I'm -- it's not (INAUDIBLE). But it's not (INAUDIBLE) unfortunately I don't get free meals. Unfortunately I don't
get any daughters.
(LAUGHTER)
CASH (voice-over): Thiem first made headlines when he upset Australian Open Stan Wawrinka in Madrid.
THIEM (voice-over): I think it was (INAUDIBLE) so far because it was (INAUDIBLE) team player. It was a very good match because he was also in a
good form (INAUDIBLE). I was playing good, so I think it was enjoyable to watch and for (INAUDIBLE) important to for the first time to beat the one
guy at the top.
CASH (voice-over): All right. He says he loves his backhand down the line. Let's see if he'll hit a few winners past me.
Come on, young fellow. See if you hit some winners.
Not even close.
I've got him now. I've got him now.
What makes Thiem's backhand stand out is his big shoulder turn for power. He steps in and a stronger contact and his big follow-through that
seals the shot.
Dominic, thank you very much.
THIEM: Thank you very much.
CASH: And good luck, young up-and-coming star, Austria wants you to win.
THIEM: Yes, I hope so.
CASH: I think the world does, too. Thanks for your time.
THIEM: Thank you.
CASH: Thanks very much for joining us for this special health and fitness edition from Austria. I suppose it's time that I hit the ice bar.
So we'll see you next month.
END
