One of the great tournaments that I look forward to after the end of English Premiership Football season every year is the Wimbledon Tennis Championship. It’s always full of expectation, disappointment, drama, heartbreak and of course the unexpected. This year’s tournament was not an exception. It was full of what you would expect plus some unbelievable upsets, injuries, slips and slides.
These are life lessons we can learn from 2013 competition;
1. Your history should not define you.
It has been 77 long years of disappointment, pain, waiting and distressed expectation for United Kingdom to win Wimbledon Tennis Championship. If you’re not careful, such history has a subtle way of limiting and defining you, especially when many great players have attempted to break the jinx. In the last five years, Andy Murray has been working hard to put an end to the wait. He kept working hard and showing up year in, year out, closer every year until this year. A new history has replaced the old one. Andy has rewritten the history. Your history is there to challenge you not to limit or define you. Acknowledge it, but push past it!
2. Your ranking/title does not guarantee you a spot, rather, it exposes you.
This year’s tournament was full of unimaginable upsets. Top seeded players were knocked out in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounds. Your world ranking/past success does not guarantee you any spot rather it exposes you to pressure from your opponents and the crowd. What counts per time is your performance on the court. You can get punished if you lose focus for a moment. That’s what happened with Serena’s match with Lisicki in the 4th round.
3. No one is indispensable
What are the odds of playing Rafael Nadal in the 1st round and pushing past him? Very unlikely you would say! Nadal (current champion of French Open) currently ranked 5th in world ranking was knocked out by Belgian Steve Darcis, world ranking 135th in the first set. Many top seeded were knocked out along the process. The two finalists in the women categories were the most unlikely faces. Everyone has equal chances of making it to the finals. No one can stay at number 1 forever. What are you doing to position yourself when the opportunity arises? Louis Pasteu said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
4. There is always a prize for the price you pay continuously
One of the factors that intrigued my household and me was the price tag for the tournament. Two weeks work worth £1.6million for the winner and £800,000 for the runner up. But truly, is it 2 weeks work? I don’t think so, it’s all year round work. Tournament or not, they are training and practising everyday except when they are injured. That’s their life; training and practising! Don’t ever envy them. There is a price to pay. I saw Andy’s documentary, he was sitting in a bath tub filled with ice after a match. Yes bath filled with ice! Try it! What’s your life? What do you have to do everyday that you are not doing? That’s your price.
5. Every point is a match point
No point is unimportant. Every point is adding up to the overall point required to win the set. Lisicki after defeating Serena on the 4th round said, “I fought for every point as if they are match point.” You can’t be sloppy with any point during any of the set.
Everything we do or don’t do everyday matters and it counts towards achieving our goal.
6. No match is won until the final set is won
It is never over until it is over. Andy Murray was 2 sets down during the quarter final match with F.Verdasco but came back to win the set 3:2. Never think the game is won because you are leading. Anything can happen suddenly. Always make the most of time, opportunities, resources you have at your disposal. Because things may not continue like that forever. Season changes!
7. More than skill is required to win.
One of Andy Murray’s shortfalls all these years was his capacity to cope with the physical and mental strength required to win the finals. He has come of age now, has developed the capacity to see through 5 sets lasting over 4 hours of game time. Skill is required, but that’s just the foundational requirement.
