Jason Stacy is world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka’s performance coach. He travels with her nearly everywhere; is in her box during the most excruciating matches, and knows, it’s been said, “nothing about tennis.” The former homeless youth who built a mental and physical fitness empire has a new book, The Pressure Code: How Elite Performers Align Their Energy, Emotions and Environment, available September 8. Racquet talked to Stacy about what it’s like to support a world No. 1 through some really tough times.
Racquet: Aryna has been through a lot since you joined the team eight years ago. A LOT. She’s got the mind of a champion, so that must help, but how have you helped her get though this stuff?
Jason Stacy: We all have these key moments in our lives that highlight where we are right now. It’s all the things you’re doing on a day-to-day basis up to those key moments in your life. The more you understand who you are and what you stand for—what your values are and who you want to be seen as, and who you want to become—as long as your day-to-day actions are aligned with who you want to be, then when you have these bigger moments, they’re still going to hurt, still going to be painful, even exciting maybe—but you’ll have the extra resources to be able to manage through it.