Djokovic won the Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles Title yesterday in the longest final in the history of the competition.
He goes home with £2.35 million versus Federer’s £1.175, but was The Serb twice as good as The Swiss? Did he win twice as many points? Not by a long shot!
In this TED talk, you can see some of Djokovic’s stats as he moved from ranked 100+ in the world to number 1 in the world.
You can see from the screenshot that he wins barely more than half the points he plays. That’s all. Barely more than half.
If you watched yesterday’s match (I missed the final set) you see how often the VERY BEST in the sport miss their first shot and have to go to second service. The best in the world miss their opening shot about half the time.
So what lessons can we take from this?
Firstly, you don’t need to be perfect all the time. Stop trying for that, it’s impossible and unnecessary. All it’s doing is frustrating you. Do slightly better than average for a long enough time and you become exceptional.
Secondly, when you lose a point (miss a meal, have a bad workout, react instead of respond, skip your daily down time, etc.) just reset and focus on the next point. The athlete that can stay mindful, forgive themselves for their mistake, and focus on improving what they can here and now is the one who gets ahead long term. And it’s always a long term game.
Finally, to reward you for reading I have a lovely tennis based pun for you.
Why do tennis players struggle to keep relationships?
Because Love means nothing to them!!!