To most of my friends it’s no secret that I am a huge fan of tennis. I watch tournaments online and on t.v. religiously. I truly am a fanatic. My room mates and I had The Tennis Channel when I was still living in SF. The amount of hours of tennis watching that I subjected them to clearly shows what good and patient people they were. I currently play about 2 to 3 times a week or more. And tennis channel is still a must on my television.
When I was younger this really wasn’t the case. I remember being really pissed off that my Saturday morning cartoons were being interrupted by the U.S. Open. Between that and the hideous tennis fashions on court, I rarely watched tennis except for the occasional Sampras/Agassi or Graf/Seles match. But, in the late 90’s that all changed. Enter Venus and Serena Williams. They literally changed the game for me. The aggressive nature with which they played, their powerful stokes, the way they ran down every ball, and their infamous grunting really mesmerized me. It was because of them that I began watching tennis a little more closely.
Typically, I only watched when either of the Williams sisters were playing. In 2006 I started taking tennis lessons and began following the game even if the Williams weren’t involved. Now I’m hooked. And, not just because there have been a lot of really hot male players in the last 10 years (Google: Fernando Verdasco). Okay, I’ll admit, it doesn’t hurt to watch two hot guys in tight shirts and shorts running around on court getting all sweaty. Having them change out of their sweaty shirts for fresh dry ones on camera doesn’t make for bad television either (Bless you, Rafael Nadal). But, like I said before, that’s not the main reason I love tennis so much.
I love tennis because it’s a game that requires talent, practice, patience, and hard work. Not only do you need to be physically fit; you have to be mentally fit too. Developing a strategy, playing to your strengths, not panicking when under pressure, learning to problem solve when things don’t go your way, and having a strong belief in yourself all require a strong mental fortitude. I once heard a commentator say that difference between really good players and great players is confidence and mental toughness.
After hearing that, I thought about how many times I’ve seen the great players (Nadal, Federer, Venus and Serena) dig deep down and kept fighting to come from behind in a match to eventually win it. Even when their opponent was at match point, the great players don’t panic. They have the confidence and mental toughness to battle back and win. This got me to think about the similarities between tennis and life. In life, you can have all the ability to succeed but if you don’t have the belief, confidence, or mental toughness to do so it becomes so much harder to do so.
As the Australian Open is gearing up to start January 14th, I await with excitement and can’t help but think about Novak Djokovic’s epic season in 2011 that started with a win in Australia. He already had a major under his belt and was the number 3 player in the world for several years. But, at the beginning of 2011 he went on an epic season where he would win 3 out of 4 major tournaments, become #1 in the world, and basically owned his Nadal and Federer that year. He went from being a great player and became an amazing player. What did he say was the difference? His belief and confidence in his game was stronger and he no longer feared the top 2 players Federer and Nadal.
I’m also thinking about Serena Williams and the great year she had last year winning Wimbledon, the Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles, the US Open, the year end championships. She always has belief and confidence in herself. Could 2013 be the year where she wins all 4 major titles again? It should be interesting to see.
And, then there’s Maria Sharapova. She had a shoulder surgery a few years ago that most tennis commentators say that is virtually impossible to come back completely from. Somebody should have told Maria that. Not only did she come back, she came back strong made a couple more major finals, became #1 in the world again and eventually won the only major title that eluded her, the 2012 French Open. Talk about having a never say die or quit spirit and believing in yourself.
I’ve been through some pretty difficult things in my life. And the one thing that prevented me from bouncing back immediately was a sense of confidence and belief in myself. Playing tennis has taught me to always believe in myself, to approach life in a never say quite attitude, to have a life strategy, always have a plan b, and to know and rely more on my strengths rather than dwell on my weaknesses.
Hopefully one day all this tennis playing will help me gain a tennis body too…whether it’s mine or someone else’s. I’m not picky. 😉
What inspires you the most or helps you stay motivated and confident? I would love to here your comments!
Until next time,
K
Leave a Reply