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Wimbledon Finals And so the Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon are over for another year and the Men's championship gave us something quite remarkable. Was that Andy Murray being the first Briton to reach the Mens' Singles final since 1938? Roger Federer beating him to equal the record of 7 Wimbledon Men's Singles titles, or becoming World No 1 again to beat Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks at the top? Nope, outstanding achievements though they were - although it might have had a bearing on the above. And for Lukas Rosol to be ranked 100 in the world is a joke Unlike in the previous two years, there was no Rafael Nadal waiting to beat Andy Murray in the semi-final and then go on to challenge Federer. The reason for this was that he had been knocked out in the second round by one Lukas Rosol. Who? Well, with all due respect, quite. Rosol began the match against the number 2 seed ranked 100th in the world - which makes him a pretty damn good player, but hardly a legend; and yet he beat Nadal in a five set thriller, and especially in the final set, just about everything he tried, worked. The result led to this comment from someone called David Mercer of BBC Sport: "And for Lukas Rosol to be ranked 100 in the world is a joke." Well David, actually it's not. The world rankings are quite meticulously put together over time, and are a fairly good reflection of how things stand amongst players who regularly compete on the pro tour. In the next round, Rosol was knocked out in straight sets by the 27th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. What it seems eluded Mr Mercer of the BBC is that we had witnessed a very rare event, that of a player managing to perform to the full extent of his capability. Had it happened on an outside court, against a lesser opponent, it would have gone completely unnoticed; but unfortunately for Rafa, that was not the case. It is something that sports psychologists earn a living from, and the top players achieve to a greater extent and more regularly than the others. In other words, Mr Mercer missed an example of what separates the champions from the also-rans - probably not too clever of someone who comments for BBC Sport. Let me briefly switch sports and quote from Dr Bob Rotella, author and performance consultant to many of the US Tour's top golfers: "Most golfers, even mid to high handicappers, if they play often, have experienced a string of holes where everything fell into place, and for a while at least, they played the golf they had always sensed they were capable of. For one golden hour, perhaps two, the golf ball went where they wanted it to go and they strung together pars.....The hot streak represents the golfer's true capability. It results, essentially, from trust. The golfer trusts his abilities. He steps up to the ball knowing that he can pick a target and hit it there. He does things unconsciously. The swing repeats itself. It feels effortless........He lets nothing from his mind interfere with his physical capabilities." [from Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect; Dr Bob Rotella with Bob Cullen] Rafa recognised what had happened to him, when describing that fifth set in the sort of dignified post-match interview that so typifies this great player: "Later was impossible, that happens when you play against a player who is able to hit the ball very hard, hit the ball without thinking and feeling the pressure." It was a fascinating glimpse of what the 100th best player in the world is capable of, and it was to the immense credit of Rosol that he managed to "stay out of his own way" (as the psychologists put it) long enough to win - it takes guts and mental strength. It remains to be seen whether Rosol can recognise what he managed to do, and go on to repeat it, or get closer to it more often, as the top players do - or whether it will remain the highlight of his career, a tantalising glimpse of his potential that he never again realises. That, to me, would be far sadder than Andy Murray not winning the final. Templeton offer Wimbledon hospitality packages and if you are interested why not get in touch.
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