By: G. Ball

By: R. Thomas

​Tennis is considered to be one of the most tactical and mentally demanding sports. Along with its need for speed, agility and endurance, its tactical, mental, and strategic side makes it a perfect blend between both physical and mental power, as both play a crucial part in a player's performance.  
Tennis involves a great deal of endurance in matches that can last over multiple hours. Running back and forth, swinging the racket left and right and sliding along the vivid red courts, takes a great deal of strength and ability. Skills like having a strong serve, an overwhelming smash, lethal volleys, and of course, the basic forehand and backhand, are all attributes which compose a great player physically; however, strength alone is not near enough what is needed to succeed in the sport... 
 
The mental part of the sport is vital for a title or even recognition in tennis. Concentration, controlling nerves, mental pressure, and strategies all play a part in a single match. In addition to competing against your opponent, you are competing against your own mistakes as well. Unlike other sports, what decides whether you are successful in this area is essentially how many mistakes you make; thus, concentration is crucial. Along with controlling your thoughts and nerves, the raging crowd, which might not be cheering for you, are very nerve-racking. Over several years, professional players, coaches and even health advisers have come up with several strategies to help control the mind. Here are a few of the most important and successful tips: 
1.     Slow down - take a breath between points.  
2.     Learn how to control your breathing. 
3.     Have fun - games are meant to be fun.  
4.     Mindfulness practices before important matches and training.
 
In conclusion, tennis is a very demanding sport and requires high abilities. Its challenging composition of physical and mental strength is normally what drives it to be such a competitive sport. At the end of the day, the best players are those who can seamlessly balance training both the body and the mind and use this as an advantage on the court. Finally, some wise words to consider whether you are soon going into a new match, or thinking about joining the sport are: "I don't focus on what I am up against. I focus on my goals and try to ignore the rest"- Venus Williams. 
 
 
 
 

​Formula One fans have received a shocking announcement from Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton, changing the 2025 grid completely! The seven-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, has announced the end of his 11-year contract with Mercedes to race for the constructor, Ferrari, in 2025. This not only means that now Carlos Sainz will not have a seat in Ferrari, but the positions in the grid will have to be rearranged entirely by this minor modification. Twelve drivers out of twenty, including Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Valtteri Bottas, Guanyu Zhou, Kevin Magnussen, and Nico Hulkenberg, will have their contracts expired by the end of 2024, putting each and every driver at risk of not competing at Formula One next year. Drivers will have to perform much better this year to keep their seats, putting a lot of pressure on the Formula 2 and Formula 1 drivers!  

The top-tier constructors might be searching for some younger and less experienced drivers or consider continuing with their current drivers. Some fans have even hypothesized that the Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, will join Audi in 2026 due to not having a choice or seat on Formula One teams.

While the 2025 grid undergoes tremendous change the 2024 grid remains unchanged. The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) recently announced the drivers’ lineup for the new season. For the first time in the history of Formula One, there have been no changes in the grid regarding drivers! We cannot say the same for next year...  

​However, this could be bad news for the Formula 2 drivers, as they won’t have a chance to show their potential and move up into F1. Even though drivers might be part of the Ferrari academy or Mercedes-Benz Junior team, their probability of being given a seat into F1 mid-season is small, but never impossible as the reserve drivers are right around the corner. Oliver Bearman, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, will be a reserve driver for Ferrari and, surprisingly, also for Haas. In the midst of this news, Bearman will continue his duty of racing for Prema (a F2 team).   

Will we have a mid-season driver change in 2024, similar to what happened with Nyck de Vries? The pressure is on for the drivers as many of their contracts will expire in 2024!