Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Walk Tall

Sorry I've not been around for a while but the long awaited autobiography is in full flow - written by myself and no-one else so it there's no embellishments, just the honest truth (but with a few juicy bits to keep it interesting)
Just back from an excellent holiday in Salzburg - my second favourite city in the world.  Typical of a perfect holiday, it all went wrong on arrival at Gatwick.  The baggage handlers were on a go slow (what's new), and there was a ten mile queue to get through passport control.  Then to crown it all we sat for 45 minutes on the tarmac because there was no-one to "push us back" for take-off.  Well I'm sure the two well constructed ladies in the seats in front of me could have done it - But enough of that....
My point is that I, alongwith the 130 other passengers, could have gone into a sulky mood, started a slow handclap or shouted abuse - but we sat there with a resigned contentment and eventually we were being served G&T's and heading back to my first favourite city in the world!
Why am I telling you all this - well watching an enthralling Mens final at Wimbledon on Sunday I couldn't help noticing how Novak Djokovic  reacted in the face of adversity (Federer was on a roll).  Ok Novak faltered slightly but he never lost his composure.  You could see him drawing in breath, holding himself tall, showing to his opponent that he was still in control - and of course it worked and he came out as champion.
Compare this with Andy Murray whose body language against Grigor Dimitrov was negative even in the warm-up and he went out meekly, almost resigned to defeat from the first obstacle that came his way. The head went down in a big way!
Don't get me wrong, I think Andy is an amazing talent and he played some sublime tennis in marching through to the final 8 without conceding a set! He will come back - and hopefully silence the critics.
But he really has to sort out this body language thing and learn how to walk tall in the face of adversity.

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