Bethanie Mattek-Sands, an eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion, is known for her high energy, distinctive style, and unwavering positivity. Her journey in professional tennis has been marked by significant achievements, devastating injuries, and a constant pursuit of self-improvement. This article delves into her diet, workout regimen, and the mental strategies that have fueled her resurgence in the sport.
A Day in the Life
A typical preparation day for Mattek-Sands ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam looks like anything but an off day. Bethanie Mattek-Sands starts everything with coffee. Open - not only acts as the token day-starter, but Mattek-Sands orders it extra hot simply to slow her down so she doesn’t drink it too fast. Following a long WTA Player’s Council meeting and a Hamilton show on Broadway the night before, Mattek-Sands starts her day by herself, often journaling, meditating, or even coloring. Then comes a short walk to the nearest Gregorys location. Her team all have a different coffee order with plenty of milk alternatives thrown in. Coffee-time chats range from memories of past tournaments, the previous night’s best actors, the upcoming day and plenty of good-natured joking. A short walk back to a friend’s Park Avenue apartment offers everyone time to get ready for the day and a drive across the East River to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. The drive features plenty of chit-chat, social media posting and prepping and planning for the business on site.
Once onsite and warmed up, the lively practice session on Court 7 had Mattek-Sands and doubles partner, American CoCo Vandeweghe, looking like they were prepping for singles as the players covered the court and hit a variety of shots. But unlike most practices around the grounds that day - or that week, for that matter - this was filled with plenty of laughter, the two competing against each other, jabbing at each other and sharing a variety of inside jokes. From practice, it took Mattek-Sands nearly 30 minutes to make the short walk back to the players’ lounge, getting repeatedly stopped for signatures and selfies. From there, the rest of the afternoon filled with recovery, lunch and another Player’s Council meeting. It was about six hours from the time Mattek-Sands arrived on site before she left again, heading back to Manhattan for dinner with friends, another day in the books. All at high energy.
Overcoming Adversity
The Wimbledon injury provided a clear moment for Mattek-Sands, as she lay in a hospital bed in London. Her doubles partner of the time, Lucie Safarova, the one she won five Grand Slam titles with, who has since retired, came in and wanted to do a dance right there in the hospital room. Bethanie didn’t want to, but she had a decision to make. Would she have done a dance with Lucie if she wasn’t laid up unable to walk? Yes. So, she did, and the video became popular after the tough-to-watch injury that had left the American in pain on the grass courts of Wimbledon. That decision, though, choosing to move forward, set a tone for Mattek-Sands.
“That moment with Lucie, I was choosing to put myself out there with an attitude and I wanted to walk the walk,” she says. “From that moment, it took me on that route.”
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The hospital-room decision started an evolution, one where Bethanie was asking herself the tough questions of how she wanted to live her life and how she wanted to share that life with others. For the next couple of years, Bethanie was able to break out of that box of anxiety she put herself in, play freer and start to again enjoy the game and the life and people around her. “It is an energy and mentality of being real with ourselves,” she says.
The Dietary Revolution
In her late 20s, Mattek-Sands experienced a significant turning point in her career, linked to the discovery of multiple food allergies. A blood test revealed more than 20 allergens, including gluten and dairy. This revelation led to a complete overhaul of her diet, eliminating foods she had previously considered healthy, such as coffee, eggs, cow's milk, wheat, garlic, ginger, and certain other roots and plants.
"It always seemed like my body was fighting something. I was always sick a lot," Mattek-Sands told SI.com. "Since avoiding everything that I'm allergic to, my sniffles went away. My skin cleared up, my eyes got whiter, I lost some weight. I'm actually eating more now, which is interesting. Before, when you're eating salad and tomatoes and avocados, you don't think much of it because they're healthy foods. But obviously it was disagreeing with me and since I made the adjustments, I can actually eat more foods. That was an issue because I wasn't getting enough calories after workouts. After two- or three-hour matches, you have to refuel and I could never eat enough."
Her meals now consist of a lot of protein and gluten-free pasta. She carries energy bars and snacks with her at all times, knowing that there might not be an allergy-free option at every corner. Fortunately, though, the tour is a much kinder place these days for selective eaters, thanks to the growing popularity of the gluten-free diet among players.
"If I had this allergy a few years ago, it would have been way tougher," she said. "Things like having gluten-free pasta on site help."
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This dietary change has had a profound impact on her overall well-being and athletic performance. Mattek-Sands reported feeling healthier, more energetic, and better able to recover after intense training sessions and matches.
The Mental Game
Mattek-Sands also credits her turnaround to an improved commitment to the mental side of the game. She now spends more time scouting opponents and herself, watching YouTube highlights of her matches to see which shots are working. Late last season, she began writing in a journal after every practice and match to keep track of what she worked on and where she improved. Those logs have allowed her to remain positive and maintain a proper perspective when things get tough.
"Sometimes you feel like you've working on things for years and you think, Why haven't I got over this yet?" she said. "Writing it down lets you see your own progress because it's right in front of you."
She added: "Everyone talks about the game being 90 percent mental now. But does everyone spend 90 percent of their time on the mental side? No, not really. Everyone is on the court working on skills. So I tried to work more on the mental side. My goal at the start of the year was to be the mentally strongest player on tour. I think that's a goal I can reach."
Her journal experiment came full circle when she scored the biggest win of her season, beating No. 7 Errani on red clay in Stuttgart.
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"I lost to her at New Haven last year and it was one of the first matches that I started journaling," Mattek-Sands said. "I remember being really upset and the objective was to write down the things I did well in that match. So it was funny that that's where it started and a few months later I got a win over her."
Training and Fitness
Bethanie has gotten stronger and smarter because of a scientific approach to training. Trainer Jay Schroeder noticed it as well, the first time Bethanie walked into his gym. He liked her, but he didn't have any room for new clients, and she hadn't been off the charts on some of the tests. At the end, Schroeder said he wanted her to arm-wrestle some of the other guys working out and picked a football player. Bethanie didn't flinch. She didn't win, either, but Schroeder got a glimpse of the same stuff Tim Mattek had noticed years earlier. "We work with a lot of professional athletes, and a lot of people get satisfied," Schroeder said. "Bethanie is unique in this: I don't know if she'll ever be satisfied."
After reaching a career-high ranking of 30 in 2011, Mattek-Sands had to wrestle with whether she wanted to work to come back from shoulder and foot injuries in sequence. She discussed it with Justin.
"You go through a moment where you feel sorry for yourself," Bethanie said. "When there's no answer, there's no answer."
She had come back from hip surgery in 2008, but this felt different. Her shoulder and foot didn't keep her from playing, but they did keep her from practicing the way she wanted. She saw younger players staying on the court for hours, something her body wouldn't let her do.
"When I was injured I had to make up my mind if I was going to play a match or if I was going to practice," Bethanie said. "There were a lot of times where I wasn't able to get on the court and work on the things I wanted to work on. Even in my fitness I had to decide, 'Do I want to feel good today or do I want to improve?'"
A Scientific Approach to Recovery
Dr. Malcolm Conway was able to craft a plan to heal her using myofascial techniques -- involving stretching and resistance to the affected muscle -- and ARPwave, an electrical therapy. Both were non-surgical methods, and Bethanie responded well. She and her coach, Adam Altschuler, worked on shortening her service motion to compensate for her injured foot. It worked so well she continued using the motion after she healed. "Pound for pound, I don't think I've ever met somebody tougher or stronger," Conway said.
The Power of Positivity and Perspective
Mattek-Sands has a personality. This is obvious. From the bleached-blonde hair to the in-your-face fashion. When walking around the grounds, it isn’t uncommon for fans to say things as she passes such as “she’s the flamboyant one.” Bethanie has many stories like that, being known for that personality. But Bethanie showing her personality- something not often embraced on the tour - allows her the ability to enjoy her life of tennis, welcome the positive aspects and create a world around her where it is okay to have fun. Win or lose, she’ll work just as hard and have just as much fun. “So much is predicated on wins and losses to enjoy life,” Mattek-Sands says about the normal reaction on tour. “Every single person loses every week, so it is unrealistic to say you shouldn’t enjoy the process. They are unrealistic expectations.” Sure, everybody wants to win, but tournaments aren’t set up for everyone to win. Mattek-Sands says she decided she can’t live a life where after every loss she spent days down, focused on perceived failure. “I have lived like this,” she says, “and, damn, what a waste of energy. I got lost in my identity.” By eliminating on-court results from her personal identity it freed her up to create a more “normal” life with friendships, with the opportunity to enjoy small victories (on and off the court), to live a life with her personality on display. It isn’t easy - Bethanie says it takes a strong personality to overcome the challenges of winning and losing by yourself, on the island that is a professional tennis court - but by playing as yourself, owning your perspective, it frees you up to grow not just in your tennis game, but in your perspective on life.
The Importance of Teamwork and Support
Bethanie and Justin make quite a team, Bethanie the ever-moving whirlwind of tennis and Justin along for every step, keeping pace with schedules organized, his own insurance business on point and the ability to make friends everywhere he goes. Dubbed the Mayor of Tennis, Justin is as comfortable talking injury recovery with the highest levels of players on the men’s tour in a New York City apartment as he is helping young fans have the confidence to ask Bethanie for an autograph. Justin knows chefs the world over and just where to find that fun cup of coffee Bethanie craves. And he gives Bethanie someone to share it all with. “He has helped me communicate better,” she says. Jacobs calls it a “model for a healthy relationship.” “We spend so much time together, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Justin says. For as “flamboyant” as people believe Bethanie is, she credits Justin with helping bring her out of her shell, especially in social settings. “I was really shy,” she admits. “I had a personality, but I was defined by wins and losses. I was working hard, but not enjoying it.” That changed perspective - which the couple helped generate together - has given Mattek-Sands a powerful positivity that gets her excited, gets her motivated and keeps her moving forward.