Tennis players need talent to be successful.  And hard work, on and off the court, but tennis is so much about that fuzzy stuff between the ears especially at the tightest moments in a match.  Solid technique helps you play through the tense moments better, but confidence matters so much more.  Look at Amelie Mauresmo in her quarterfinal versus Myskina and the semis versus Sharapova.  She lost the second set in both because she seemed to get tight just when the end was in sight.  But she was able to regroup and play through her nerves when it mattered in the third set and I believe it’s all about that subtle difference that a little more confidence makes in her game this year versus the past.  The same seemed to be true for Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon this year.  Yes, he got more used to the grass, plugged away through some tight early matches, e.g. Kendrick, seemed to be serving stronger and hitting flatter, but in the end, he’s just playing like a winner, rather than someone who is afraid to lose.  He has so much confidence from all his previous wins, on other surfaces, over the past 6-12 months that even when he’s down a little he seems to still have that inner belief that he can and will win and that affects how he plays the points.  If he won, he would have been the first player since Borg in 1980 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year!