Gigi Fernandez launches a mental training workshop

Seventeen-time Grand Slam doubles champion Gigi Fernandez has been retired from tennis since 1997, but that doesn't mean she has fully stepped away from the sport. The Puerto Rican has just launched a three-video Mental Toughness Training workshop based on her career experiences to help players improve their mental game.

“The coaching on the mental game… a lot of people want to work on it, but they don’t know what to do or where to start,” Fernandez told the WTA. “So I decided to kind of delve into the mental part of the game, and put something out there that’s kind of different and unique—something that I actually wish I had when I was playing tennis.”

She developed a "Mental Toolkit" which is 12 mental cues or things she did as a player that helped her play better, like reversing the score or learning to breathe. During her time on the WTA tour, Fernandez had her own struggles with mental toughness.

“In my playing days, I was called 'The Female McEnroe’ and I used to break 100 racquets a year and pay my fine to the WTA before the year started, because I knew I would be fined,” Fernandez said.

Her attitude and fines didn't slow her down too much as she won two Olympic gold medals in doubles on top of her Grand Slam success. These days, the 54-year-old mother of two is a recreational coach and runs her own doubles instruction website, Doubles.TV.