LOST IN THE GAME
After more than 3 ½ hours of high level tennis at last weekend’s US Open final, Alexander Zverev fired his final serve of the match across the net, and when his opponent Ben Shelton’s return landed beyond the endline, the crowd rose to its feet to celebrate Zverev’s first US Open championship. In his 11th try, he had finally captured this prestigious tennis title. Ironically, he didn’t even realize he’d done it.
The TV commentators of course knew the match was over. The fans knew it. His opponent, Ben Shelton, knew it. With scoreboards everywhere, and in a sport where the referee literally announces the score over a microphone before every point, everyone knew it…except Zverev. As the final point ended, he put his head down, took a deep breath, and reset his strings, preparing himself to win the next point. It wasn’t until he looked up, noticed the applause, and glanced at the scoreboard that he realized there was no next point. The match was over. His surprised expression and delayed celebration garnered a chuckle from many in attendance.
I found this winning moment particularly interesting, and found myself thinking this week about Alexander Zverev’s unique and somewhat telling reaction to that moment of high achievement he had undoubtedly been dreaming of and working hard to reach for so long. It was a moment that he'd been building toward the entire match - the whole tournament, and probably for many years, for that matter - and he didn't even recognize it when it arrived. That moment offers each of us a little insight into his approach, and perhaps here today, a lesson on the mindset that really makes a champion a champion.
The truth is, Alexander Zverev was so locked in on competing - he was so lost in the game - that the scoreboard and the corresponding outcome had disappeared entirely from his radar. It’s clear in that moment that he hadn’t been thinking about how much farther he had to go in order to reach his desired destination. He was giving all his energy and attention to the single step that was right in front of him. He wasn’t worried about winning the match. He was focused on winning the moment. He was surprised to look up and find unexpectedly that he had arrived without even noticing.
While most of us aren’t high level tennis players, most of us - including I bet you here today - can relate to that desire to reach some important destination. Whether it’s in sports, in school, at work, or at home, each of us have outcomes we are working to achieve - meaningful and significant areas of life and performance where we really want to win. And most of us spend an awful lot of our energy and attention looking at the scoreboard - either literally or figuratively - trying to figure out just how close we are to the place we say we want to go.
I’m not here today trying to diminish your desire to win, but I am here asking you to wrestle with how you might most productively and most effectively reach that desired destination. I’m wondering what it might look like for you to focus less of your energy and attention on that outcome, and instead to work on getting lost in the game - to putting your head down and simply focusing on the single step that’s right in front of you. Instead of worrying about winning the match, I'm challenging you to focus on simply winning the moment. That was a winning strategy for Alexander Zverev at this year’s US Open, and I’m wondering if it might be an effective approach for you here today, too.
