This is more than simple stage fright. A new interview that Stan Wawrinka gave to Le Matin Dimanche, a Swiss newspaper, reveals the depths of mental anguish and heights of mental strength that a player can experience.

Psychological anguish and other factors have seen players including Mardy Fish and Rebecca Marino retire from tennis in recent years. Per Deadspin, via a translation from stalwart tennis writer Stephanie Myles, Wawrinka pushed himself to physical limits he didn't know he had so as to drown out the so-called "voices" in his head that led to a tear-filled stress attack before his name was called to walk out into Arthur Ashe Stadium.

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What's remarkable about Wawrinka's state of mind ahead of the U.S. Open final against Novak Djokovic

—a brutally physical match that he won convincingly—is that 1) a Top 4 player such as himself suffered it, and 2) he's telling it publicly for others to know and even learn from.

"I was hurting so much, I was pushing myself so hard, I was so out of break that i finally ended up muffling those little voices in my head… " he said.

"Now, I have to relax the machine a bit."

Good on you, Stanimal. In serving notice about the mental wars of tennis, you do more good than harm.

The tennis-watching world will keep this in mind the next time you go into beast mode in a big-stage match, all but savaging the opposition with those muscular, whipping shots.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.