Do Pro Tennis Players Take Supplements?

As with any professional sport, tennis sees some heated competition between players at the highest level, with big names – from Williams and Osaka to Djokovic and Nadal – striving against one another for dominance on the court and in the rankings. Naturally, this dominance requires intense focus, commitment, and skill, but it also requires players to maintain their bodies in peak condition, ensuring that they can perform at their best for tournaments and matches. How do they do this, though? What does it take? The answer to these questions is proper nutrition, which is essential to preserving and strengthening the body’s systems, and supplements are often one of the most efficient ways to provide the body with the nutrients it needs. Still, do pro tennis players take supplements? To learn more, keep reading as the team at aminoVITAL® – makers of amino acid fitness supplements – provide some insight on the matter.

What Supplements Do Pro Tennis Players Use?

Given the stakes of the high-pressure world of professional tennis, players at every level look for ways to give themselves an edge over their opponents, and one of the simplest (and most effective) ways to do so is through the use of supplements. Time and time again, we’ve seen¹ how proper supplementation – that is, using the right supplements at the right times – can help enhance long-term performance and improve the results of exercise, making athletes stronger and faster than ever.

While many believe that pre-, post-, and mid-workout supplements containing amino acids are among the most effective products out there, each pro tennis player has their own individual preferences, and coaches – each of whom is looking to produce the next Nadal or Federer – tend to guard their secrets jealously; this includes information on exactly what supplements their players use. In other words, it’s impossible to know just what a particular pro tennis player is taking to up their game, but we’ll cover some of the most popular tennis supplement options below.

Top Supplements for Tennis Players

Although there’s plenty about tennis that’s unique in the sports world, the nutritional needs of those who play the game are essentially identical to those of other athletes, with few exceptions. That’s because virtually every type of sport involves placing similar kinds of strain on the body – muscle damage, energy depletion, loss of fluids and electrolytes – so the requirements to counteract those stressors are essentially the same.

To boil it down, what a tennis player needs from a supplement is amino acids to protect, repair, and strengthen muscles; carbs to restore energy reserves; and electrolytes to balance hydration. To meet these needs, tennis players often use one of the supplements outlined below (or a combination of them) to improve their performance and promote recovery:

Protein Powder

The traditional supplement for everyone from runners to bodybuilders, protein powder is one of the most common kinds of supplements in sports. The reason for this is simple: Sources of complete protein, such as whey and soy, provide the body with all nine essential amino acids, which are necessary for the body’s recovery processes. Because of their ubiquity, protein supplements are used by many tennis players, including pros, but they may not be the best option, since they also tend to come with sizeable portions of calories and sugar along with the protein they offer.

Amino Acids

Even though they may not help you stay lean, people still use protein powder for one reason: It has the amino acids they want. However, there are now supplements available that are based on free-form amino acids instead of whole proteins, so they essentially serve the same purpose without the drawbacks, and they boast some additional advantages as well. For instance, BCAA pre-workout supplements have been shown to protect the muscles from damage¹, limiting soreness and recovery requirements, while the amino acids in post-workout supplements can stimulate protein synthesis², helping the body to repair and reinforce damaged muscles more quickly and effectively. Plus, taking BCAAs in the middle of exercise may help to limit mental fatigue and improve performance³, so they’re a solid choice for any tennis player.

Sports Drinks

You may not think of them as supplements, but sports drinks like Gatorade and Propel still qualify as such, since they’re products taken to provide the body with specific elements of nutrition – in this case, water, carbs, and electrolytes. Each of these ingredients makes sports drinks a good choice to help keep you hydrated during a long tennis match, and the carbs offered by some of these beverages can provide energy when you need it most. However, their uses and benefits are somewhat limited, as they won’t help your body heal muscle damage or fight soreness, so tennis players may want to consider adding other types of supplements to their routine if they choose to use sports drinks for hydration.

Try an Amino Acid Supplement for Tennis Players from aminoVITAL®

When choosing the supplement that’s right for you, any tennis player should consider their priorities. If all you want is to replenish what you’ve lost through sweat, then a simple sports drink might suffice; if you’re more focused on building or maintaining lean muscle, limiting fatigue, reducing soreness, and replenishing energy stores, then consider a product like aminoVITAL®’s Rapid Recovery mix, which offers a blend of five key amino acids, plus carbs to restore the body’s glycogen reserves and minerals to supply electrolytes. Learn more about all the benefits of aminoVITAL® products by visiting us online or calling (888) 264-6673 today.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129148/
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16365096/
3. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/2/544S/4664405