Tough players endure periods of hardship and adversity in training and competition, they accept challenges, are fully motivated to succeed, embrace pressure and are physically and emotionally strong.

"Tough times don’t last, tough people do."

"There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do."

"Impossible is nothing."

TO BE TOUGH IS TO:

• Have doubts, feel pain and to want to quit at times, but also to have an undying drive to achieve your goals and not give in to these temporary feelings.
• Be willing to endure stress, challenges, adversity and hardship.
• Recognize a situation could be difficult, but have the belief in your ability to get through it and succeed.
• Have a history of being tough in reality. It is not fake toughness or talking tough. It is a willingness to take on a difficult situation and find a way.
• Always be willing to run down balls.
• Be constantly encouraging yourself to fight and know you can get through the pain and difficulties.
• Be willing to take on challenges that others shy away from.
• Be tough-minded when struggling, including:
  • Remembering your strengths
  • Remembering your purposes for playing
  • Repeating a mantra such as “keep going” and “push through it”
  • Focusing on breathing and posture (looking confident and composed)
  • Knowing tough times will pass
  • Remembering the rewards
  • Distracting yourself

EXAMPLE:

The 2004 French Open was memorable because of the finale, where Gaston Gaudio outlasted Guillermo Coria in a high-pressure match where both players dealt with nerves. The greatest display of toughness, however, probably occurred in the first round, where Lisa Raymond was playing Lubomira Kurhajcova.

Raymond was seeded, but she fell behind, 0-6, 0-5. Unable to win a game to that point, Raymond buckled down and fought to win just one game. Then another. Eventually, she won the second set in a tiebreak and won the third more easily. Raymond never gave in and, little by little, she fought her way back into the match. This has to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time because she was literally a few points away from losing 0 and 0.

Raymond was willing to endure the hardship of being down an almost impossible score and she kept trying. She embraced the challenge of trying to come back, which was going to take another two hours of grinding and competing. She faced down a great deal of adversity to win that match on clay, which was not her favorite surface.