Nadal. Hamilton. Robson. All of these sportspersons have one thing in common: they all realised one of their dreams this weekend.
Raphael Nadal first. Have you ever seem someone battle so hard for their dream, against the best of the best, and keep going for so long until they finally, after one of the most intense clashes ever seen, triumph spectacularly? Roger Federer is a supreme champion, even at two sets to love down, and then with Championship points against him in the fourth, he refused to quit. Nadal must have wondered what the heck he had to do to beat him! It was like watching a clash of two Terminators; both kept on going, refusing to give. Ultimately, I feel that Nadal – having been arguably the best number 2 in the world ever – wanted it that 0.01% more. One of the greatest tennis matches I’ve ever seen, and certainly one of the best contests I’ve witnessed in any sport.
In terms of Brits, though, the weekend surely must belong to Lewis Hamilton. His victory on home turf might not have been the same challenge to overcome, but the pressure on him must have been immense. Mistakes already in a couple of races meant the title many were predicting at the start of the season was looking in danger. However, he drove a near-perfect race as his rivals struggled in the rain, and is now joint top of the championship. If you want to see how much today’s win meant to him then just watch him cross the finish line, jump out of the car or celebrate on the podium. He wanted Monaco and his home Grand Prix; now he has both.
Finally, Laura Robson. What’s this? A British winner at Wimbledon? Ok, it may only be the girls’ singles, but at 14 years old we have a new heroine, it seems. Of course, for the next few years we’ll dump all the pressure and expectations on the poor girl, but it’s a spark in what really has been decades of tennis despair for us. The best thing about Laura, though, was the way she clearly showed that she’s still a kid and didn’t care exactly how she should reply to some of the questions. What would she do if she got a wildcard next year into the main singles and have to face champion Venus? Smiling, quick as a flash she replied, “I will take her down!”
How good must it feel for a sportsperson to reach the top tier of their game and achieve the dreams they had as a kid? All three must be sleeping with a smile on their face.
Right now, my dream is to finish the marathon and in a respectable time. I’m training and going for it.
So what’s your dream?
There’s no greater feeling when you achieve something you’ve worked so long and hard for.
Whatever it is, go for it.
Andy,
Interesting reading your blog regarding sporting goals etc, the tennis as you said was just fantastic two players at the very top of their game going head to head – superb theatre and on Centre Court (the home of tennis)
It got me thinking…. in the sporting world this doesn’t happen very often, F1: Schuey v Senna tragically didn’t happen, Boxing: Tyson v Lennox NO, Snooker: Hendry v Davis NO, Golf: Tiger no-one come close really.
As I have an older brother and a collection of mates who are all sporty and competitive I’ve got into a few sports – never really mastering any!!
My goals:
Football: broken leg has sort of hindered my fitness so will never be any more than a semi decent player who enjoys a game of 5-a-side.
Snooker: I got a 58 break once which I was chuffed with
Cricket: Managed 2 x 100s (great feeling scoring a ton) with best bowling figures of 18-8-21-6 playing locally for Baldock but gave up to play more of my sporting love and where my true sporting ambition lies
Golf: where the realistic goal is a Par round – to date a 2 over 74 still remains my best effort, had many chances to do it but have fallen short as the demons in my head got to me, my good friend and golfing Nemesis Darren did it last year…I was of course chuffed for him, but a tiny bit (the competitive bit) was churning me up inside….Sport don’t you just love it!!!!!
Good luck with the marathon…or is it a snickers??
PB