Nicolas Massu extolled the virtues of a positive mental attitude in tennis as he reflected on his own career and his current role as coach to US Open champion and world No.3, Dominic Thiem.

Speaking to a virtual audience at the Spanish-language ITF Regional Coaches Conference by BNP Paribas earlier this month, the two-time Olympic gold medallist and Chilean Davis Cup captain highlighted the importance of mental toughness – both on court and off – in the development of a tennis player.

“Tennis is an individual sport, and mentally you’re on your own,” he said in his conference address. “I trained in academies from a very young age, so my coaches taught me how to cope with stress. As a result, I have a strong personality – I always fought until the end of the match.

“When you work and dream, you can achieve. For us South Americans, it is difficult – we don’t have many local tournaments, so we have to travel far from home, from our families. But since I was young, I tried to stay positive and to be mentally tougher than my rivals. I always wanted to win.”

For Massu, the source of his inner strength comes from his family – particularly his maternal grandparents, who were both Holocaust survivors.

“They lived through the Second World War, they were in Auschwitz,” the 41-year-old explained. “After the war they emigrated to Chile. It was my grandfather who got me into tennis – for many years he supported me, driving me to and from the club.

“My grandmother is 94 years old and she still has the concentration camp number tattooed on her wrist. They explained me what they had lived through, so I have that strength from them. If they can survive that, how can I not feel positive when I play tennis for a living?

“I was also lucky to have coaches who were always very positive. You need to understand what the coach is telling you, the message within it. My early coaches always told me: 'You need to put the ball on the other side of the court, without errors'. I knew my strengths and weaknesses. I always worked to improve.”

The high point of Massu’s career came at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where he won both the singles gold medal, defeating fellow Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish in the final, and doubles gold with compatriot Fernando Gonzalez. It was, in his own words, “the best two weeks of my career.”

“I always wanted to make history in the sport,” Massu said. “I watched Los Angeles in 1984 when I was five, and in Sydney 2000 I carried the flag for Chile – it was unforgettable. Still, I didn’t think that four years later I was going to win two gold medals.

“It is difficult to qualify for the Olympic Games, and to win a medal is very tough. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to become the only male tennis player who has won two golds at the same Olympic Games.

“But I always worked hard to try to achieve something significant in my career – to win the Davis Cup or a Grand Slam. I was 24, I had experience, and physically I was in good shape; the draw was very hard, but I won.”

Massu retired in 2013, and quickly made the transition from player to coach, in part aided by his appointment as Chile’s Davis Cup captain.

“Two weeks after I retired, I had a call from the Chilean Federation,” he said. “After so many years playing DC, I loved the idea of leading the team. I knew the players – they were my teammates – so I started in 2014. Last year we played at the Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals.

“Davis Cup was training me to be a coach. Later I opened the Massu Tennis Academy in Santiago de Chile. I began working with juniors, then in Miami I worked with some Russian players. I coached Christina McHale, then in February 2019 I started with Thiem.”

Massu’s work with Thiem got off to a sensational start with victory at Indian Wells in 2019, and has seen the Austrian hit new heights over the subsequent two seasons – not least reaching a further three Grand Slam finals after his 2018 Roland Garros runner-up finish, culminating in September’s dramatic fifth-set tiebreak victory over Germany’s Alexander Zverev to clinch the US Open.

“One of the goals was to improve his hard-court results, and nowadays I don't know if he has better results on clay or hard,” Massu admits. “He has a great level on both surfaces – but we need to improve on grass.

“He is a talented player and a very hard worker. He is very young, so I see a bright future. He knows he can win more. I hope in the new season he can continue playing solid tennis.”

Thiem recently admitted that Massu’s influence was the driving force behind a renewed commitment to playing at the Tokyo Olympics next year: “I am looking forward to it to compete for a medal,” said the 27-year-old. “[Massu] told me about the incredibly wonderful emotions; I want to feel these kind of emotions myself. For an athlete the atmosphere at the Olympics must be unique – I want to soak it all up.”

“You need to be close to the player to be successful,” Massu said of his working relationship with Thiem. “We respect each other and work on improvements when he needs it.

“In the beginning we didn't know each other, but we talked a lot and adapted to one another. We travel together, and we think about tennis in a similar way. I had watched him many times before I started working with him – and when I started, I knew that he would improve on hard courts with some minor tweaks to his game.

But he is very receptive and always looking to improve. He is a very good guy, an example for all kids. And as for me, I am very motivated; I love what I do. I’m crazy about tennis.”

The ITF 2020 Virtual Regional Coaches Conferences by BNP Paribas took place in November and December, with separate two-day seminars for English, French and Spanish-speaking audiences broadcast live through the ITF Academy website. Those audience members who subscribed for the events can replay the talks now, while all other ITF Academy members will have access to the sessions later in 2021. To sign up for ITF Academy, click here.