There is an adage in tennis that says you can’t win a match in the warm-up. However, occasionally things happen during that time that can have a significant impact on the outcome. While the code of behavior in the sport dictates that the warm-up is supposed to be a cooperative prelude before the actual competition, sometimes the tone, tactics, and emotions stirred up before the first point is played can create a subtle advantage or disadvantage on either side of the net.
On paper, of course, you can’t win the warm-up. No one is keeping score, no games or sets are recorded, and the match doesn’t begin until the first ball is officially put into play. The warm-up exists for the sole purpose of allowing both players to settle in and find their rhythm. Nothing achieved there shows up in the final score.
To be clear, I’m not talking about injury situations in this post. If someone twists an ankle or pulls a muscle during the warmup, that’s an unfortunate circumstance that can end a match before it begins. In a tournament setting, the healthy player advances with a “win.” However, in USTA League play, if a player is injured during the warm-up and a substitute is available, another player may be inserted into that match. That’s a subtle rule, and frankly, one that is rife for potential abuse, but that’s a topic for another day.
Additionally, I wouldn’t think this needs to be said, but in the current climate, I will say it anyway. Trying to injure an opponent during a warmup is not only bad sportsmanship, it’s arguably assault. Don’t do that.
Against that backdrop, the only way to “win” a tennis warmup is psychological. Intimidating your opponent or manipulating their emotional state could potentially tilt the balance of the match before it even begins. I don’t think it is good sportsmanship, and I would never advocate for this behavior. However, it is a factor that people should be prepared to cope with should their opponents not harbor similar compunctions.
At 40+ Nationals a few years ago, I played a singles match against an opponent who hit the ball so hard in the warmup that I legitimately wondered if she was trying to scare me. Once the match began, I realized that her game was 100% “grip it and rip it.” She had no touch, and her control ebbed and flowed. The entire match was on her racquet, and unfortunately for me, she hit far more winners than back fences. She slaughtered me. By the end of the match, I concluded that the warm-up wasn’t meant as intimidation. It was simply her only mode of play.
A more recent experience, however, landed differently. In a mixed doubles match, one of our opponents turned each rally during warmup into a competition. For example, when my partner moved to the net, all he was fed were passing shots. By the time the warmup ended, my partner was so angry he couldn’t think straight. Instead of directing his energy toward the much weaker partner on the other side of the net, he was obsessed with proving that he could trade blows with the other dude at the same level. That mental shift was costly. Looking back, I’m not entirely sure it was a deliberate tactic. It might just have been someone who hadn’t absorbed the unspoken codes of warm-up etiquette, particularly for mixed doubles. However, the effect was undeniable.
Can you win the match in the warm-up? Of course, the answer is no. No player has control over what happens on the other side of the net, and nothing that happens in those few minutes will officially be recorded in the final score. However, I am becoming convinced that you can certainly lose it during that time. If frustration creeps in, anger takes root, or if you allow yourself to get distracted by what your opponent is doing, it is giving away an edge before the first point is played. The warm-up isn’t about winning, but rather preparing. The players who remember that and stay focused on their own rhythm and mindset are the ones most likely to walk into each match ready to compete.
