The
Champion's Playbook: Mirra Andreeva’s On-Court Note-Taking System
At the 2026 French Open, 19-year-old champion Mirra Andreeva demonstrated a masterful application of Sun Tzu’s Art of War through a disciplined, dual-phase note-taking system. Guided by the principle of planning before battle (Ji), she fills her on-court notebook before each match with pre-programmed tactical contingencies, technical cues, and psychological anchors to insulate her decision-making from ambient chaos. To satisfy the classic doctrine of knowing yourself and your enemy (Zhi Bi Zhi Ji), she conducts an immediate post-match audit, logging her own internal emotional metrics alongside an archive of her opponent's behavioral patterns to build a living knowledge base for future engagements. By externalizing her strategy onto paper, Andreeva achieves true principle-centered flexibility—governing her high-stakes execution through structural system design rather than reactive emotion
Mirra Andreeva
just won the French Open Tennis Match (one of the four grand slam events) at 19
years old. What's her secret? She is celebrated on tour for her unique on-court
note-taking preparation methodology and her signature post-win catchphrase: "I
would like to thank myself."
Photos
was made from Internet Sources
In her
post-match final press conference at Roland-Garros-- 10:18min, tennis champion Mirra
Andreeva shares how she uses a dedicated notebook on the court to manage her
strategy, tactical execution, and mindset.
Her note-taking
methodology serves as a practical blueprint for self-reflection and performance
management, split strictly into two distinct phases:
1. Pre-Match
Preparation (Tactics & Mindset)
Before she
steps onto the court, she fills her notebook with highly practical, actionable
anchors:
- Tactical Contingencies: She writes down
explicit tactical rules and adjustment strategies (e.g., "If this
strategy doesn't work, do this instead"). This ensures she
doesn't have to formulate a new plan under intense pressure.
- Technique Reminders: She notes down key
technical cues to maintain her form and execution during the heat of
competition.
- Psychological Anchors: She includes
motivational phrases, positive thoughts, and phrases designed to provide
immediate emotional support and stabilization when she faces critical
moments or shifting momentum on the court.
2.
Post-Match Review (The Living Knowledge Base)
Immediately
after her matches, she captures the raw data of the experience to build her
personal scouting report for future encounters:
- Self-Assessment: She documents exactly how
the match progressed and, crucially, how she felt emotionally and
physically during execution.
- Opponent Analysis: She breaks down the
opponent's style, patterns, and responses. This acts as a living archive
so that the next time she faces a specific opponent, she is completely
prepared based on firsthand strategic data.
Key
Takeaway: For Andreeva, the notebook acts as a bridge between preparation
and high-stakes execution. By externalizing her strategy and mental cues onto
paper, she frees up cognitive capacity on the court, ensuring that her
execution is guided by pre-established clarity rather than reactive emotion.
She Follows
Sun Zi’s Art of War Principles
Her operational
approach matches perfectly with classic strategy—specifically how she uses a
structured layout to master a chaotic environment. In fact, her note-taking
system maps precisely to several foundational principles from Sun Tzu’s Art
of War:
1. Planning
and Calculating Before Battle (Ji / 計)
"The
general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle
is fought." — Sun Tzu, Chapter 1
Andreeva’s
notebook is literally her "temple" of calculations. Before she even
steps onto the court, she pre-programs her tactical adjustments. She doesn't
wait for the heat of the match to figure out what to do if conditions change or
if her primary strategy fails. By doing the heavy analytical work beforehand,
she minimizes the need for high-stakes improvisation under pressure.
2. Know the
Enemy and Know Yourself (Zhi Bi Zhi Ji / 知己知彼)
"If you
know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred
battles." — Sun Tzu, Chapter 3
Her dual-phase
journal is structurally split to satisfy both sides of this coin:
- Know Yourself: Her "Internal State
Audit" forces her to document her own emotions and physical states
immediately after action. This creates complete self-awareness regarding
when her execution is at risk.
- Know the Enemy: Her "Opponent Scouting
Archive" logs the exact behavioral patterns, liabilities, and
reactions of her rivals. By archiving this raw data, she enters her next
encounter with a massive informational layout advantage.
3.
Maintaining Emotional Equilibrium (Calm Emotion)
"A
general must be calm and inscrutable..." — Sun Tzu, Chapter 11
"The
commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage,
and strictness." — Sun Tzu, Chapter 1
Sun Tzu
constantly warns against the dangers of an emotional commander who reacts out
of anger or fear, as emotion corrupts clear vision. When Andreeva explicitly
writes down "psychological anchors" and motivational sentences before
the match, she is engineering an emotional circuit breaker. When the
environment shifts (like facing 29 mph wind gusts or losing a lead), she
doesn't panic. She relies on her pre-written anchors to master her internal
state and reclaim momentum.
The Ultimate
Alignment: Shi (勢)
and Fa (法)
In high-level
strategic frameworks, Fa (Discipline/System) is what you rely on when Shi
(The Environment/Momentum) shifts against you.
When the wind
changed and she lost two games in a row while serving for the match, an
emotional player would have unraveled. Andreeva simply looked at the structure
of the layout, recognized the wind direction, and calmly adjusted her tactics
based on her system.
Her notebook
isn't just a diary; it is a highly disciplined system of Principle-Centered
Flexibility that turns raw athletic talent into enduring strategic mastery.
