The Australian Open Has Gotten Off To A Bad Start!

[Catfish]

Catfish is right about it being a mental game as well. When I was younger I was flogging people that went on to become #2 in Australia for their age group - had the opportunity to go to American on a scholarship.

By the end I was lucky if I could beat some old fart that couldn't run. I remember losing 8 matches in one year after having match points

For me it was just the other ways around. When I was 17, I was short and thin. Although I could outrun and outlast every player I came across, the technique back then was so different insofar as it was based on the strength of arm (traditional grips > late hitting point > little body rotation), which of course favored the tall and strong guys. I couldn't get anywhere near to be ranked nationally. At the age of 25, I gave it up for a while, started playing football (again, I'm talking about the game where only the goalkeeper uses his hands to play the ball), which was so much more fun ...
Started to play tennis again when I was 35, ran through the whole coaches education process, then changed my game totally. New forehand, , open stance, different serves, new volley technique. My game went down two levels for 2 years, but then I started playing the ITF veterans circuit and at the age of 40, I ranked in the Top 50 for my age class. Came across the very same guys I could never even get close to when I was young and I kicked their ass. That was unbelievably satisfying. Raised some questions for me of course like "what if", but what can you do?
I am not telling this to boast, but I think it is a perfect example that whatever you do, you need to take a step back from time to time, look at what you have been doing, take a decision that you need to change a few things and then follow through with what you think is right.
Or, as I read somewhere a few years ago: Why are our heads round? So that our thoughts can change direction...

I remember losing 8 matches in one year after having match points

THAT sucks... you definitely start thinking about all kinds of stuff when that happens... I once played a big match against I guy that I really hated, and he was 6:0, 5:0, 40:0 ahead. I swear to God I took that game from him and then the next and so on, he got to a point where he freaked out in a way that made him lose the match (6:1 to my in third set). The guy gave up tennis for a long time (which was stupid, because he was a great player, and you don't give it all up because of one result like that, as humiliating as it may be). This is tennis. When it is about the mental thing, the basics are that at any time of the game, player A is doing something with player B. Then, you have a point when player B takes control > match turns around.
As a coach, I had my players do this: watch a few rallies on a video tape that I edited by removing the scores, and they had to guess who was ahead in the set / match. The body language and posture of the players alone (especially between points) can tell you about the score, or at least about where the match is heading. This could btw be a good advice if you want to bet on an ongoing match. Bet on the guy who is behind when you see that the body language changes, compared to the opponent.