At Geau Sport, we are proud to support professional athletes who embody dedication, resilience, and excellence on and off the court. Today, we introduce Brandon Perez, a professional tennis player from Venezuela who turned pro in 2024 after a standout collegiate career at Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University. Known for his aggressive lefty playing style and South American fighting spirit, Brandon has achieved six Pro Titles, a Top 500 doubles ranking, and represents Venezuela in the Davis Cup. As he continues his journey toward breaking into Grand Slam tournaments and climbing the ATP rankings, Brandon shares valuable insights on how staying organized can enhance performance at every level of the game.
Tennis is a sport that demands many things, beginning with a good preparation. Maintaining a professional and organized routine will help players transition those abilities onto the court. You would be surprised on how much a player can improve their game by simply focusing on the details—pre match rituals, shot selection, organized equipment, and paying attention to your opponent while warming up for the match—at every level. You can be a pro or competing in a local league, you will notice an improvement. With my experience as a pro player, I’ve noticed a change in my game by giving an emphasis to my day to day professionalism. Today, I will be listing several tips that have helped me become a better tennis player.
Creating a routine that prepares your mindset: Pre-Match Rituals
Many times as players we believe that improvement only comes by doing drills and match play; that is NOT the case! Everything starts from the routines you have off-court and how you manage yourself throughout your preparation. Getting your mind ready, completing a full body warm up, making sure that you have your equipment ready to go are all factors that can boost your chances of winning. Let’s dig deeper into each one.
Getting Your Mind Ready
The mental preparation is a fundamental that is necessary in every sport. Like everything in life, the less that you have to worry about, the better chance that you will have of focusing on your goal. Keeping your mind free of external stress is going to allow you to enjoy your time on court; indirectly causing you to play better. Visualize the way you want to play the match, focus on your breathing, and prepare your mind to walk on court.
Full Body Warm Up
Making sure that you are fully warmed up is essential for every player’s pre-match routine. Start off by getting on a yoga mat and doing mobility exercises, following with some band exercises to get the blood flowing in your shoulders, ending with dynamic exercises (jogging, lateral movements, etc) to assure the body is ready to go.
Having Your Equipment Ready To Go
Tennis is a sport that requires a lot of equipment. Packing your bag the night before your match can be a huge relief. Going to bed knowing that all of your racquets are strung, extra set of clothes, grips and towels are ready will allow you to feel prepared. Geau Sport's best selling tennis bags are perfect for this; they help you stay organized.
Organizing Your Equipment
Every player has a very particular feeling about their equipment. Rafael Nadal is the best example of the importance of everything needing to be organized in a specific way in order for him to feel comfortable on court. In my case, I need to make sure that my bag is stacked up and easy to access. I am going to share some essentials that need to be in order when I’m competing.
Making sure my Tennis Bag is Organized
The type of bag a player selects is very important. I have a strong preference of utilizing a 12 pack racquet bag; I feel like the space you have to work with is perfect. My Geau Sport Axiom 12-pack racquet bag is extremely easy to organize with all of its compartments. I have space for all of my gear and I can access it with ease during a match; allowing me to not waste time during my change overs.
Racquet and Strings
It is crucial to stay on top of your equipment. Your racquet and strings of choice are your weapons, you must assure that you are comfortable and confident with the set up you have. Always have 2-5 racquets in your bag, depending on how often you break strings. It is important to be prepared if you need to switch out to a different racquet.
Accessories That are Game-Changers
The obvious essentials are those you see on every player; tennis racquets, tennis bag, and balls. Yet theres so many accessories that help and are so important to have in your bag. Having a compartment that is dedicated to your ideal grip of choice, for a sweaty day that you may need to replace the grip on your racquet. Extra equipment such as a set of hats, wristbands, sets of clothes, sunscreen, bands, socks, vibration dampeners, and more. Make sure to organize your bag in a way that you feel confident that you are prepared for anything!
Being Disciplined with Your Shot Selection
The amount of times we try to overplay shots in our matches, often are what cost us to win matches. The importance of staying in the moment can really help a player make the right choices when selecting their shots. Having the discipline to stay organized will translate to your shot selection. When in doubt, stick to your gameplay. Make sure you are aware on when you need to defend and when you need to attack. Let’s share some key points that can help you in crucial moments.
Believing in your Strengths
All of us have strengths and weaknesses, we must be aware of them and use them to our favor. Organize your game plan by focusing on how you can use your strengths to hurt his weakness. I am a player who needs to play aggressive and come to the net, regardless of who I play, I try and focus on playing the type of points that will benefit me. Using my serve to start the points the right way and put pressure on my opponent. You will notice a huge jump in your game when you start playing matches looking to win, instead of looking to “not lose”.
Knowing the moments
This is such a challenging yet important aspect of the game that players at any level often fail to confront correctly. In tennis, it comes down to the details, you can easily lose a match because of a poor decision in an important moment. In fact, did you know that you can win a total of more points than your opponent and still lose the match? Probably one of the only sports where that is possible. You have to pay attention to the key moments of the match, and learn how to play smart. Focus on yourself but make sure to stay aware of those key moments such as break points, serving for the match, among others. Play those points smart, try your best to not feel the pressure of the situation and bail out of the rally too early. Again, this is something that I still struggle to recognize. It takes time, but if you are able to approach it correctly, you will have a great chance of coming out as the victor.
Using The Warm Up to Scout Your Opponent: Gathering Information
There are so many occasions where we do not know a single thing about the player we are about to compete against. Most of the times I like to simply focus on myself because I believe that if I execute my game plan, I will always have a chance of winning. Even though it is also important to get a sense of your opponent during that five minute warm up that you get before you start the match. These are different strategies that I like to apply in my warm ups.
Observing Your Opponent
Believe it or not, you can learn a lot from a player in a short warm up. Use that time to see if your opponent prefers to hit forehands or backhands when rallying up the middle. You can start to sense which shot they feel more comfortable hitting. This is something to remember once you start playing the points; using that information to play towards their weaker side.
Intensity is Key
This is a non-negotiable for me. Bring out the fire from the moment you walk on the court. I cannot tell you the amount of times that I have started off a match way too relaxed and it has put me in a bad situation from the get go. No mater if your opponent is relaxed or not taking the warm up seriously, don’t mirror their attitude. Come out intense, allowing your body to fully be ready to compete from the very first point. Let them be the ones to have a bad start.
Exposing Their Weakness
After scouting your opponents weakness, use your strengths to exploit of it. It is comforting to know that in a big point, you know exactly where to play them. The best suggestion that I can give other players regarding this topic would be to not overuse this information. Do not overplay shots just because you are looking for their weakness. Play smart and attack them in the ideal moment.
Based on the aforementioned points that I have made, you can notice the importance of staying organized and professional on and off the court. From a recreational player to a high performance one; you can benefit from these different points and elevate your game significantly. Remember, many of these require a good tennis bag to keep everything in order. I invite you guys to use these tips to take your game to the next level and check out Geau Sports premium tennis bag collection to start your 2025 on the right foot.