Persistence
For followers of lawn tennis, 2024 was a watershed year, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner proving their mettle by splitting the slams amongst them, Djokovic adding that illusive Olympic gold medal to his cabinet, completing the ‘golden slam’ and probably the most noteworthy (and for many, heartbreaking) event being Rafael Nadal announcing his retirement. Many argue that Rafael Nadal walking off the court with his unmatched legacy of 14 French open titles and 22 grand slams marks the end of the era of the “Big 3” -Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
However, this piece is not an ode to Nadal - enough has been written, by writers far better and knowledgeable than me, and Rafa deserves every bit of that greatness and praise. This piece is about persistence - and to me, Sir Andy Murray is persistence personified. Murray announced his retirement in 2024 as well, quite a few years after the notoriously short public memory had forgotten that the world of tennis was once dominated by Big 4 - with Murray added to the above Big 3. Before the public memory faded, it was always the Big 4 (for example In season 3, Episode 2 of Blume Podcast, Indian tennis great Mahesh Bhupathi talks about the passion and perseverance of the Big 4 )
Those who remember Murray’s journey know that it had never been easy for him. He joined the professional tennis circuit in 2005, possibly the worst time to do so, since Federer and Nadal were at the top of their game and no other name would be seen on the men's grand slam trophies. After 2008, competing at the highest level got even more intense with Djokovic and Murray joining the fray. Although Murray lost his first four grand slam finals to his other top compatriots and continuously trailed far behind in their head to head statistics, it didn’t stop him from handing them some of their most remarkable defeats. He defeated Federer in the 2012 Olympic gold medal match (first British player to win the gold medal in tennis- he would later on go ahead to defend his medal making him the only male player to do so), Djokovic in the 2012 US Open final (his first major title) and Nadal in the 2016 Madrid Masters 1000 semifinal (one of Nadal’s rare straight sets defeat on clay)? to name a few. In fact, Murray’s best season on tour in 2016 also started with a setback of losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the Australian Open final. He bounced back by winning Wimbledon, Olympic gold medal and clinching the year end world number one ranking.
For those who have followed tennis during those years, this was the era of the Big 4, with Murray being the only other player to get up again and again after every heart crushing defeat against the Big 3, to go out and challenge them long enough to earn a spot amongst them.?
This exemplifies persistence. It can be argued, and rightly so, that the Big 3 demonstrated persistence as well - however, being persistent in face of continued failure, self-doubt, public glare etc. is very different from persisting while winning.
Murray suffered injuries, 2017 onwards, and always returned to compete. Post the hip-surgery he underwent in 2018, which, along with other injuries continued to plague the rest of his career, to the extent that his contemporaries - the Big 3 - raced ahead in terms of title achievements. Despite this, Murray always returned to the ?professional tennis circuit, playing challenger tournaments, earning entry to Grand Slams based on his ATP points or as a wild card, progressing as far as he could. A lesser man would possibly have abandoned the game, knowing fully well that his injuries would not allow him to maybe win against the top seeds, despite the big heart, courage and talent he possessed. Some went to the extent of saying that playing “lesser” tournaments like challengers itself is a sign of the reduced stature as a player. But Murray persisted -? maybe it was the love of the game and / or desire to prove himself time and again - in his own words, “ I want to see how close I can get back to the top of the game." This motivation is inherent, an athlete challenging his mind and body, and in a way, competing against self more than against others.?
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From my ring-side view of the Indian start-up ecosystem, persistence is one quality I see start-up founders demonstrate, day in and day out. For the pains and tribulations that entrepreneurs face on a daily basis, money and status can not be the sole motivators - it has to be the passion to build, to prove oneself and persist on the path, similar to what Andy Murray would have experienced !?
For Murray, as well as for all entrepreneurs - the journey is the reward !
#startupIndia #andymurray
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