Dalibor Svrcina is a happy loser at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, but he leaves nothing to chance.
The 22-year-old Czech, who plays a former number 1 player in the PIF ATP ranking list Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday evening in Toronto, loves reading and currently travels with two books. One is a Buddhist book and the other is never finished by motivating speaker David Goggins, who is known for his mentality and incredible physical fitness performance, including ultramarathon running.
“I just like that he just always pushes himself to the utmost and I think that many people are very comfortable nowadays, so I think it is very important to go out of the comfort zone,” said SVRCina Atptour.com after beating Alexander Blockx Monday for his first ATP Masters victory. “He just says you should always do what you don’t like to do and when you wake up, you don’t have to get to the phone and spend an hour on the phone, but actually do something for yourself.”
The four-fold ATP Challenger Tour champion, who lost to Yosuke Watanuki in Toronto qualifying before he received a place in the main drawing when Luciano Darderi withdrew, embodies those messages. Although he believes that there is enough room to do this to an even greater extent, SVRCina pushes himself to do things that are not fun or easy.
“I have a habit: every morning I wake up, I will stretch or do yoga,” said Svrcina. “Also, before I go to sleep, I do the same. [if] I am sleepy or I don’t want to do it, I always do it. ”
The World No. 115 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings has for years looked at stars that also focus on doing everything in their power to succeed. SVRCina looked up to Rafael Nadal when he was younger and now prefers Novak Djokovic.
SVRCina said about Nadal: “I just loved the mentality and the way he is so nice. He always looked like he was so nice and so focused. So for me he looked like a very good person.”
The Czech enjoys the mindset of Djokovic. They have never trained or formally met together, but SVRCina has a lot of respect for the approach of the Serbs.
“The mentality for sure, the approach of life and the things he does, especially outside the field,” said Svrcina. “He is a very smart person, he tries to understand life, not just about tennis. I just love the way he thinks and the way he does things.”
Although SVRCina still has a long way to go, he has worked his way to a level where he shares a dressing room with people like Djokovic and his next opponent, Medvedev.
Righty, born in Ostrava, has always been physically active. When SVRCina was young, “he just loved running” and had a lot of fun with other “little boys”, which he could do to win. Despite the fact that he first played football, he would spend three hours at a time on the tennis court and fell in love with the sport.
There were great examples to follow in countrymen Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who wore the Czech flag for more than ten years. When SVRCina grew up, he joined the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters several times with his father, Dalibor, and mother, Zuzana. His brother, Filip, lived in principality at the time because his wife performed there in a ballet, so going to the tennis tournament doubled as a way to visit family.
Fortunately, SVRCina reminded memories of not only Berdych and Stepanek, but top stars such as Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer in Monte-Carlo. His second round opponent, Medvedev, is a striking player he saw as a child. What made him the most impression on the game of former world no. 1?
“Probably discipline, how he just keeps playing the same and how he doesn’t do a stupid mistake,” said Svrcina. “I think that is the biggest difference between these top boys and the level a bit lower like on the Challenger tour.”
The margins are pretty fine, as SVRCina knows well. Only on Saturday did he lose a three-setter in the last qualifying round to Yosuke Watanuki. Now the Czech is preparing to compete in the biggest competition of his life and to double his victories at tour level (was two) in two days.
“Every day I try to remind myself that it is something I dreamed of since I was young and although I am a happy loser here – I lost in the qualities – I was very sad because I started very well,” Svrcina said. “It looked like it was going my way, but I lost the game and I was very sad. But I kept telling myself that I am playing tennis. I am here. So many people don’t have the chance and just to enjoy and try to get the most out of it and just enjoy being here and working hard and that’s it.”
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