ATP Tour

Lucky loser Svrcina, a Djokovic & Nadal fan, leaves nothing to chance

Dalibor Svrcina is a lucky loser at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, but he leaves nothing to chance.

The 22-year-old Czech, who will play former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday evening in Toronto, loves reading, and is currently traveling with two books. One is a Buddhist book and another is called Never Finished by motivational speaker David Goggins, who is known for his mentality and incredible physical fitness feats, including ultramarathon running.

“I just like that he just always pushes himself to the limit and I think a lot of people these days are very comfortable so I think it is very important to go out of the comfort zone,” Svrcina told ATPTour.com after defeating Alexander Blockx Monday for his first ATP Masters 1000 win. “He just says that you have to always go do what you don’t like to do and if you wake up you have to not get on the phone and spend one hour on the phone, but actually do something for yourself.”

The four-time ATP Challenger Tour champion, who lost to Yosuke Watanuki in Toronto qualifying before receiving a spot in the main draw when Luciano Darderi withdrew, embodies those messages. While he believes there is plenty of room to do so to an even greater extent, Svrcina pushes himself to do things that are not fun or easy.

“I have a habit: Every morning I wake up, I go stretch or do yoga,” Svrcina said. “Also, before I go to sleep, I do the same. Even [if] I’m sleepy or I don’t want to do it, I always do it.”

The World No. 115 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings has spent years watching stars who also focus on doing everything in their power to succeed. Svrcina looked up to Rafael Nadal when he was younger, and now prefers Novak Djokovic.

Svrcina said of Nadal: “I just loved the mindset and the way he’s so nice. He always looked like he is so nice and so focused. So to me, he looked like a very good person.”

The Czech particularly enjoys Djokovic’s mindset. They have never trained together or formally met, but Svrcina has great respect for the Serbian’s approach.

“The mindset for sure, the approach of life and the things he is doing, especially off the court,” Svrcina said. “He is a very smart person, he is trying to understand life, not just about tennis. I just like the way he thinks and the way he does things.”

Although Svrcina has a long way to go, he has worked his way to a level at which he shares a locker room with the likes of Djokovic and his next opponent, Medvedev.

The Ostrava-born righty has always been physically active. When Svrcina was young, he “just loved to run” and had a blast competing with other “small guys”, doing whatever he could to win. Despite playing football first, he would spend three hours at a time on the tennis court and fell in love with the sport.

There were great examples to follow in countrymen Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who carried the Czech flag for more than a decade. When Svrcina was growing up, he attended the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters several times with his father, Dalibor, and mother, Zuzana. His brother, Filip, lived in the Principality at the time because his wife was performing in a ballet there, so going to the tennis tournament doubled as a way to visit family.

Svrcina happily recalled memories of watching not only Berdych and Stepanek, but top stars like Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer in Monte-Carlo. His second-round opponent, Medvedev, is a standout player like those he watched as a kid. What impressed him the most about the former World No. 1’s game?

“Probably discipline, how he just keeps playing the same and how he doesn’t do one stupid mistake,” Svrcina said. “I think that’s the biggest difference between these top guys and the level a little bit below like on the Challenger Tour.”

The margins are quite fine, as Svrcina knows well. Just Saturday he lost a three-setter in the final round of qualifying to Yosuke Watanuki. Now the Czech is preparing to compete in the biggest match of his life and double his tour-level wins total (was two) in two days.

“Every day I try to remind myself it’s a thing that I was dreaming of since I was young and even though here I am a lucky loser — I lost in qualies — I was very, very sad because I started very well,” Svrcina said. “t looked like it was going my way, but I lost the match and I was very sad. But I kept telling myself that’s why I play tennis. I’m here. So a lot of people don't have the chance and just to enjoy and try to make the most out of it and just enjoy being here and work hard and that’s it.”