Team First: Why Captains Should Focus on Mental Culture Before Match Lineups
As a longtime tennis player and USTA team contributor, I’ve seen captains lose sleep over lineup choices, agonizing over whether to put their strongest doubles pair at line 1 or stack line 3, whether to mix playing styles or ride recent momentum. Strategy has its place. But what I’ve learned—through countless seasons, surprising wins, and gut, wrenching losses, is that match strategy often pales in comparison to something far more powerful: team mental culture.