What is it about tennis that will make me wake up by 4 a.m. at the dawn of a newly minted day to watch, for two weeks, the Australian Open far, far, down under?
I don’t play tennis. I have never even tried to. Yet, there is this manic obsession for waking up in such an unholy hour, abandoning everything to watch two tennis stars slug it out in a faraway “open” dungeon called Australia. I love tennis just like I love boxing. Outside tennis, only boxing can wake me up in the solitude and eerie silence of the breaking day, watching Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder slug it out at the MGM Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, trying to kill each other in the ring with their gloved fists of fury.
Like boxing, tennis is an individual game. Inside the ring or inside the tennis court, you are on your own, fighting for your own survival, fighting for your own glory, motivating yourself, making mistakes, making your own adjustments along the way, exploring the opponent’s weakness, delivering the good shots, never giving up when you are down, getting up when you hit the canvas. A lot happens inside the tennis court and inside the boxing ring. It is a stage full of drama. Sometimes the unexpected happens. Who will forget when Mike Tyson savagely bit the ears of Evander Holyfield like a cannibal? Tennis also has its madness. In frustration, a tennis star can visit violence on his racquet, hitting it on the court so many times until it turns into piteous wreckage.
It is not easy to be a champion. It takes having a dream, hard work, practice, mastery of the game, perfection, self-belief, athleticism, determination, concentration, stamina, never-give-up spirit, ability to come back, tenacity, having a good strategy, good execution and good luck. For a champion, it’s not over until it is over. Back from injury Rafael Nadal demonstrated this in his epic duel with the Russian tennis Goliath Daniil Medvedev, winner of the 2021 US Open, the man in top form who was expected by many to win the Australian Open following the red-carding of the unvaccinated Djokovic. It was tennis at its magnificent best last Sunday. It had everything you looked for in an epic battle. It is the best tennis match I have ever watched: this marathon duel of nearly six hours that glued the whole world to their television as the two tennis gladiators played the games of their lives. With Nadal down by two sets, it required a miracle for him to turn the tables. And miracle he did perform! Call it the Melbourne Miracle. From the jaws of defeat, Nadal snatched victory to win 2-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 7-5, winning the record 21 Grand Slam titles, beating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both tied on 20 titles.
What a big hurrah! Celebrities and tennis afficionados all over the world took to Twitter to celebrate Rafael Nadal’s triumph. Yes, the same Twitter that has just been unbanned here in Nigeria giving room for Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president of Nigeria to be able to send this tweet: “Congratulations to Raphael Nadal on this historic achievement of 21 Grand Slams. His extraordinary comeback is a lesson in never giving up against all odds.”
SENEGAL, THE AFRICAN KINGS
It would be unfair not to celebrate Senegal, the winners of the African Cup. Like the tennis duel in the Australian Open final, this AFCON final between Senegal and Egypt extended far beyond the normal time. It turned out a duel between Mane and Sallah, two African soccer stars who have elevated themselves into global superstars through their good performances in Liverpool FC where they ply their trade, watched week after week on television around the world. Bravo to the champions of Senegal for finally having a claim to the African Cup which has evaded them all these years giving them the name underachievers. Now they are achievers. A triumphant Aliou Cisse after many years of misses and near-misses told the world: “I am African champion. It was long, it was difficult, sometimes complicated, but we never gave up.”
OH, ROGER MILLA
Cameroon inviting Roger Milla to bring the African Cup to the stadium was such a beautiful befitting tribute to an unforgettable African soccer legendary goal machine.
THINK LIKE A CHAMPION
Let me end this piece with a short sermon by my friend Bishop Humphrey Erumaka of the Wordbase Assembly on: How to be a Champion:
I am going to talk to you about what they call: The mentality of a Champion. Because this year, you must think like a champion. You will win like a champion. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. That’s why I want to start this year by telling anybody under the sound of my voice: “Think greatness. Because that is what you will become.” When we talk about the mentality of a champion, you will discover that everybody that has become a champion in whatever field of life, in sports, in ministry, in music, in whatever, that person had incubated it, had dreamt it, had practised it when nobody is watching. Most preachers today preached to their shadow, preached to the mirror. Most musicians sang to an empty house. Most dancers danced when nobody was watching them. Most choristers sang alone when they were in the kitchen. But as they were doing that, they were not looking at themselves, they were not looking at the empty place, they were looking at the whole world hearing their voice. That’s the power of imagination. It is the strength of incubation. Incubate your dream. Dream it. Practise it. Eat it. Drink it. And that which you have dreamt, incubated, practised, demonstrated even when nobody was looking at you, you shall become. Don’t forget: As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.