College tennis, playing alone and pressure of studies all part of the learning curve for Egypt's Jana Hossam

When Jana Hossam is struggling mentally, or feels like she’s a little short on inspiration, she hops on YouTube and watches videos of Novak Djokovic.

She doesn’t check the highlights; she watches full matches of the 24-time Grand Slam champion, so she can spot how he reacts during tight moments.

“I look at how he deals with stuff and actually write it down and then try to work on it on myself,” the 18-year-old Egyptian tennis player tells The National.

“He's my all-time favourite, honestly. I just love his mental side more than anything. He's insane on the mental side.”

She certainly picked the right person to try and emulate, and her notes came in handy when the University of Southern California (USC) sophomore reached the final at Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championship – a goal she had set for herself before the fall semester began.

Last month at NCAAs – the biggest college competition in the United States featuring the best players from the best universities from across the country – Hossam made a heroic journey to the semi-finals, where she lost to eventual champion Reese Brantmeier in three sets.

She didn’t have high expectations heading into the championship but walked away as a worthy semi-finalist and ranked No 16 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings.

“I was playing with a lot of confidence, like nothing, no hesitation in my game,” she beams.

“I learnt a lot about myself. I'm really proud of how my mental side was actually in the week of NCAA, because I realised that was my best week I've been like mentally, because I had so many tough moments throughout the matches.

Jana Hossam used to travel over 200km from from Alexandria to Cairo for her tennis training. Photo: Jana Hossam

“And then I actually ended up going through it because of my mental side. So yeah, I feel like my mental side has improved so much. And my competitiveness has improved a lot. And also my tennis.

“Going into the spring, I'm actually excited to keep competing more and to be a consistent point on the board for the team to keep winning.”

Hossam first picked up a racquet when she was six years old, joining her two sisters – one older and one younger – at the tennis courts of Smouha Club in Alexandria.

Her sisters didn’t stick wit