NEW YORK — Many tennis players on the US Open agree: Don’t underestimate the benefits of a good nap, especially right before an evening game.
Whether it’s in a hotel or on one of the beds in the “Player Quiet Room” at the end of the locker room corridor or wherever they can find a spot to stretch out, these Grand Slam athletes I appreciate the net profit that extra Z’s bring during the tournament played this week and next.
“I get tired in the evening, just like everyone else, so I have to take a nap,” says Tatjana Maria, a 37-year-old mother of two from Germany who lost to reigning champion Coco Gauff under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night. “I have to rest pretty much the entire afternoon to be ready for the night.”
She’s not alone in playing a sport where the action can start anywhere from 11am to 11pm, and sometimes even later.
Many participants, regardless of country, ranking or age, see it this way: if you DON’T sleep, you lose.
“When I’m tired, I want to sleep, so I sleep. Maybe I don’t have enough time if I have the first match at 11 in the morning. But for every other match, I probably take a nap for 10 or 15 minutes,” said Zhang Zhizhen, a 27-year-old who won a silver medal for China in mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics. “Sometimes I sleep for one or two hours in the afternoon.”
Of course, not everyone in the tennis world is a sleeper, but those who aren’t are often jealous of their colleagues who are.
“I see other players taking naps and I think, ‘I wish I could do that.’ I’d like to relax like that,” he said 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenina 25-year-old American. “But I’m too excited for a competition. There’s adrenaline and nerves.”
Tommy Paul, a 27-year-old American who reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park last year, said his team pushes him to try. Unfortunately, Paul said, “I can’t sleep until it’s time to go to bed.” Clara Tauson, 21, a Dane currently ranked 67th, is afraid to nap on match day, she explained, “Because then I don’t know if my brain will ever wake up.”
Donna Vekic, a 26-year-old Croatian who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in July and won a silver medal at the Summer Olympics this month, only falls asleep when she feels “absolutely dead,” she said, because “if I take a nap, I just wake up in a bad mood.”
Bianca AndreescuThe 2019 US Open winner suggested a way to counteract these kinds of reactions: she drinks a shot of espresso right before lying down.
“The coffee doesn’t really kick in until 30 to 90 minutes, so … I wake up feeling super refreshed after” what would normally be 25 minutes of sleep, the 24-year-old from Canada said. “The power nap is the most effective.”
Casper Ruud, who finished second at majors three times, including the US Open two years ago, rests his head on a pillow for an hour or two if he has to be on the court later in the day.
His optimal time for an extra nap is “usually after breakfast,” he said. The 25-year-old from Norway gets up around noon and heads to the tournament grounds. The naps are always at his hotel.
“When I get to the construction site,” Ruud said with a laugh, “there’s no sleeping.”
Others find it nice to be able to fall asleep as often and wherever they want.
Whether that’s on a first-come, first-served basis in the designated space at Ashe — which opened in 2022 and features three loungers in a main room with a water feature that emits the kind of soothing sounds you often find in a spa; four single beds in a side room where the lights are suitably dimmed; and four loungers in another — or a spot that’s not necessarily designed for napping.
“I’ve done some weird places. I’ve been in locker rooms where there’s not really a bench and you have to kind of make a bench,” said Denis Shapovalov, a 25-year-old Canadian who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2021. “I’ve done it in (tournament) restaurants. I’ve done it on the floor of a gym. You (nap) wherever you can find space.”
Leylah Fernandez, a finalist at the 2021 US Open, is also not picky about her 40 winks.
“The lucky thing about me is that I can sleep almost anywhere,” said Fernandez, 21. “That’s my little hidden talent.”
And during a match? Leave it to Nick Kyrgios to show that it is possible.
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, who has missed most of the past two seasons due to injuries and is featured on ESPN during coverage of the US Open, leaned far back in his chair on the sideline during the changeovers while playing Andy Murray in New York in 2015closing his eyes and holding a towel as if it were a blanket.
“I’m just going to take a nap, I guess,” Kyrgios said that day. “It’s good for you.”
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Howard Fendrich has been AP’s tennis reporter since 2002. Here are his stories: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis