When a Little Knowledge can Be Dangerous, or at Least Distracting

The social media age is also the age of the spoiler alert. Surprise movie endings and abrupt plot twists could all be lurking in a timeline.

For many a professional tennis player, the dangers are even greater. Log on or scroll down at the wrong time in the wrong place and you might find out your draw - which, as anyone who knows tennis players can confirm, is often a no-go zone.

Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens and Milos Raonic are among those who like to avoid the news as long as possible.

"I get stressed out," Williams said Tuesday night after beating Andrea Hlavackova, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round of the French Open.

Others, like Andy Murray or Madison Keys, have no qualms about breaking down the possibilities. After Friday's French Open draw, Murray, the British star, expounded at length on his half of the draw: the potential match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals; the looming threats of David Ferrer, Nick Kyrgios, John Isner and David Goffin.

"If I had said nothing about it, I would have got told very quickly what my draw was," Murray said. "I have realized that it's pointless trying to keep it secret."

Others beat on, boats against the current of information, and it is clearly easier for those who are not yet stars, and not yet summoned to post-draw news conferences, to keep themselves in the dark.

"I don't go on Facebook, and I have my agent handle my Facebook page," said Irina Falconi, an unseeded U.S. player who advanced to the second round of the French Open on Tuesday. "Anytime I get a mention on Twitter, I don't get notifications."

Although Keys has started avoiding Twitter during tournaments in an effort to limit distractions, she said she did not mind looking at an entire draw. She ran into Falconi on Tuesday after Falconi had won.

"I just asked Irina who she played next round, and she's like: 'I don't know; I don't look at the draw,'" Keys said, throwing up her hands in mock self-defense. "I was like: 'OK, sorry. I don't know who you play, either. I won't tell you.'"

Avoiding the draw is often about superstition, but Falconi said her approach was designed to keep her focused on the present.

"My future opponent could sprain an ankle," she said. "It doesn't matter who you play next. It's got to be point by point. There's this movie and book called 'Peaceful Warrior.' What time is it? It's this moment. It doesn't matter what happens after. So that's my philosophy. Like today in my match, my coach said, 'Keep fighting,' and I was like, no. Whatever happened has already happened. It's about now. Now is a new moment. Let's go from here. Let's fight, not keep fighting."

Raonic, the big-serving Canadian, agrees with that approach. "We are pretty much the only sport that plays 11 months out of the year," he said in an interview last week after withdrawing from the French Open after foot surgery. "When you start really getting that kind of stuff in your head, stuff out of your control, it ends up tiring you out mentally. So for me, there's no need to waste energy or stress over something that is beyond you. I think it is really important as a tennis player to focus on what you can control, because we have so many instances and factors that are out of our hands."

Kvitova said she started avoiding the Internet during events last year. "I could go into social media, but I click on the Facebook button, don't follow for this moment," Kvitova said. "But of course somebody can tell me something about the draw."

That can have its downside for the messengers. Williams recently cut short a news conference in Madrid when a reporter gave her too much information about her section of the draw.

Or consider this news conference exchange involving Stephens, who had just reached the quarterfinals, at the Miami tournament in March.

Reporter: "Can you kind of describe your feelings about getting to the quarterfinal?"

Stephens: "Don't tell me who I play."

Reporter: "We don't know yet."

Stephens: "Don't tell me."

The most common strain of avoidance behavior is not to look too deeply into a draw, but Stephens does not even like to know whom she is playing next. "As far as I know, not until the day of the match," said John Tobias, Stephens' agent.

That might seem like a tactical disadvantage, but she is in fine company with Williams, a 19-time Grand Slam singles champion.

"If I figure out who I'm going to play in the first round, then I focus my game too much without even trying," Williams said. "I'm like, 'Oh, her forehand is bigger,' or 'Her backhand is bigger.' And I will just hit every shot there. Next thing you know, in Round 5 or Round 3, I'm like, I practiced too much to cater to that one person. I feel like, for me, I can play anyone as long as I'm focused on myself, and I just go for that."

The result is an unusual routine in which her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, will scout an opponent but mention nothing to Williams about her identity or the right tactics until about 30 minutes before the match.

"It's clear in her head that way," he said Tuesday. "There's no stress the night before, no overthinking the problem. I've never had a player like this before, but I actually think it's a good idea. But she only does it for the first round."

Or does she? On Tuesday night, with her first-round victory complete, the time came for the last question, and a reporter piped up, "What do you think about your next opponent?"

Williams' answer: "I don't know about her, and if you could do me a favor, you don't have to tell me about her. Thank you."

For the record, Williams (spoiler alert) plays Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany.

© 2015 New York Times News Service