Like the aging boxer that keeps getting up off the mat because that is just what they do. Until one day they say, “enough. No mas.”
Is winning enough to keep her playing?
As Nadal says, “do I need to win 10 French Opens?”
Serena, do you need to win more titles? Do you need to win the Grand Slam? Do you need the records? Or are you doing it for others?
The press and the fans have stories about every player. It is important that the player has a story going that will give them the best chance to ignite the highest end of their talent and skills. So that, win or lose the score, they can look in the mirror and say, “I have no regrets. I brought my best.”
For all of these athletes it is about right practice, right attitude, right thinking. If that is in their mix then they play, win or lose, and have no regrets. As they compete to be the best version of themselves, they will be able to sit back and observe the results that come their way with the dignity and class of the great champions.
And during the process of getting ready to compete, I remind myself to maintain patience with myself. The fact that I have found my game through eliminating unnecessary parts may be a story of the past. I have changed. Now, I see, that finding Bob has a lot to do with throwing a lot of new ideas into a big pot. Stirring the pot. Turning the heat down low and letting it all marinate. In the end it will be what it is. A new me. A better version.
Who would have thought that at nearly 67 years old this dog could learn new tricks? Actually, I would have. With “kaizen” as my mission, each day takes me to a better version of myself on the court.
One of my blog readers came across some entries that I wrote 7 years ago. After reading my most recent about Federer adapting his game she commented that I wrote about the very same thing that I had bee doing with my game. She was very excited about her takeaways and encouraged me to post it.
So here it is. It will be followed by a couple of more that continue the story of the work that I was doing on my game to take it to another level.
I have been trying to write about Roger Federer since the US Open. Every time I started, though, my inner voice said to wait. Something amazing is yet to happen. I am glad I waited because this weekend Roger sealed the deal for me on me casting my vote that he is the greatest player I have ever witnessed.
On July 27, I got the call. Bob, you have been one of four players selected to represent the USA to compete for the Senior Davis Cup. Very excited to be chosen as it has been 6 years since I last played for the team. Although I made the team last year, I chose not to participate. The finals would have been contested on Yom Kippur.
I first went to the US Open in 1958 and saw Althea Gibson win what was then called the US Nationals. Forest Hills on the grass. Tennis was officially in my blood from that moment on. There were a few years that I didn’t attend but this will be about my 50th year of attending.
You would think it gets old.
Nope.
Shoshin.
Twenty six years ago I stepped onto a grass tennis court for the first time. It was at the legendary West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills where the US Nationals and, later, the US Open had been played. I had always heard that it was a very tough surface on which to play tennis…bad bounces, very fast, very slow, difficult footing, short points, slippery. I had never hit a ball on the grass and there I was playing a match on it for the very first time.
