Mens sana in corpore sano. Who does not know the proverb of the ancient Romans, which is often misinterpreted. In his satires, the poet Juvenal wanted to express that the human being needs the interaction of body and mind to be happy (not just that one has to train the body for clear thoughts), and if you will, then the development of the Tennis player Jule Niemeier is the perfect example of this.
She lost to Iga Swiatek of Poland in the round of 16, 6-2, 4-6, 0-6, and of course she was disappointed; but a few minutes later she was able to take positives from the defeat. “I’ve seen that I can beat the world number one if a few things go a little differently – if I serve a little better at 4: 5 in the second set, a win is possible,” she said: “I take this certainty with me , and that will help me against other players.”
That’s the way it is in sport: Confidence makes you move more smoothly, hit more accurately, and that leads to even more belief in being able to compete against the best. This in turn ensures more ambition in training and thus better fitness – and so on and so forth. This is exactly what Niemeier has experienced in the past few months. For years she has been considered a player who is believed to be capable of making a breakthrough – but also as one who is often injured and who sometimes doubts herself.
“There’s still room for improvement, but that’s good news,” says Niemeier
At the age of 23, it’s her first Grand Slam season and she now says of working with coach Christopher Kas and the rest of the team: “We spent a lot of time in the gym.” This not only led to better athletics, but to a belief in being less prone to injury, better positioning, and being able to throw different shots. In short: more confidence in your own abilities and thus more successes like reaching the quarter-finals in Wimbledon.
That led to even more intense training because you want to know how good you can really be; and that brought the successes at this US Open and the conviction to be able to beat someone who has only lost seven times this year. She also knows, of course, that Swiatek played horribly in the first set and that she lost the thread herself in the third set.
“There’s still room for improvement, but that’s good news,” said Niemeier. She has a healthy mind in a healthy body, and she knows she can take both even further – and then actually be ready to duel with the best in the world. Juvenal would describe Niemeier as happy.