Gender and resilience in sports: Overcoming a first set loss in tennis

Gender differences in tennis players' ability to win a match after losing the first set were examined. Season records were collected from 69 collegiate tennis players in the Washington, D.C. area. Participants completed measures of confidence, competitive anxiety, athletic coping skills, self-handicapping, and competitiveness. Analyses revealed that males won a higher percentage of matches after a first set loss than females despite reporting higher levels of trait cognitive anxiety. In addition, participants' ratings of tennis importance were positively correlated with percentage of matches won after a first set loss. Correlational patterns for males and females were also explored.