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What an incredible rise to becoming the US Open champion it's been for Bianca Andreescu. At the start of this year she was ranked 178 in the world. She has spent several months out of the game with injury. Yet when it came to her biggest test, playing perhaps the game's greatest ever player in her own backyard, she was ready. And when Serena came storming back to set the crowd alight, despite doubts, despite nerves, Andreescu stood firm to finish the match in dominant style.

Andreescu again talked about how she prepares to respond best to the doubts and nerves that she faced in the final, as well as the importance of this type of training to her development as a player and competitor. 

When asked about whether her mental skill was born or learned she said: "I was never as composed as I am now, or even a year ago, so (in addition to my meditation and visualisation training) I started seeking advice from other people...and I think that's been really helping me even...

At it's core our mental toughness requires simply bringing our attention into the present at the start of a rally or point and choosing to commit to a helpful process (e.g., a technical cue like 'stay low', or a strategy such as 'rally deep and attack the short ball')  during the rally or point.

In this way the formula for mental toughness is Present Moment Attention + Helpful Committed Action = Mental Toughness

The Usefulness of Key Words...

And to increase the chance that we actually commit to helpful actions that increase the chance of success on each new point, it's a great idea to use a key word or words that remind us of the process that we're going to commit to.

To get the idea check out the video above where Bianca Andreescu reflects on her use of key words in committing to helpful actions, and Mentally Tough Tennis consultant Pat Flynn gives us the idea of how to use key words in our between point routine.

We've also put together a Worksheet...