“All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.”

~Dr. Martin H. Fischer

A look BEHIND the tennis finds brilliance and lessons OFF the court at the recent US Open.

Lesson 1: Life “management” has impact.

What separates No. 50 from No. 1 in the world of tennis?

It’s NOT a good forehand. They all have that….

But as good as all 128 entries in the event are, the same few seem to rise to the top. Heading into the 2014 Open, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray had won 36 of the past 38 Grand Slam titles, a stretch dating to the 2005.

Yet, THIS year, No. 11 Kei Nishikori and No. 16 Marin Cilic remained at the end. Who??? And Why??

As commentators previewed the men’s final match, they spoke of the background story of the little-known finalists. Their story was about how Kei had recently developed a newfound ability to “manage” his life. His new coach, Michael Chang, had instilled no new technical skills, but, rather, new “management” skills. Nutrition. Preparation. Recovery. Training. Belief. Fight. Overall, better “life management,” they said.

This fortnight, Kei found a way to stop folding under pressure, to last in the long matches and to compete to the end, like his mentor had done in winning the French Open in 1995.

Many players can be skilled, fit and, even, emotionally stable, but are they fully prepared? Have they “managed” well? Rested? Sacrificed? Found a dedication and fight they never knew existed?

Believe it or not, Kei lost more points than he won in both his quarterfinal AND semifinal matches. The strange phenomenon of tennis scoring can be like that, so Kei’s new “management skills” were put to the thorough test.

“It is not enough to have great qualities; We should also have the management of them.”

– La Rochefoucauld: French author of maxims and memoirs

Lesson #2: “Joyfulness” matters.

Do you spend your days enJOYing what you are doing? Do you relish the bright sun? the opportunity before you? and the unbelievable opportunities we live with daily?

OR do you agonize because you are so busy? trudge from duty to duty? and stress over things beyond your control?

Marin Cilic credited his new coach, Goran Ivanisevic, with helping him learn JOY. Could it be that, simply, loving what you do can help you rise from No. 14 in expectation (his tournament seed) to No. 1 on the final day? Apparently so.

Marin said it more than once in his post-match interview. He said it was his newfound “JOY” in playing that spurred him on.

And JOY isn’t as elusive as many imply. We all can be joyful in what we do daily. In bible times, Paul was jailed, but he found JOY in sharing his faith with his captors. In Kansas, just last spring, a lady whose son and father were gunned down on the same day, expressed that she wasn’t going to let that man steal her “ability to live life.” No one was going to steal her joy.

Those same tennis commentators framed the moment of the Grand Slam final as one with exorbitant amounts of pressure and stress. You could feel the buildup, sense the tingling nerves and know that the first-time finalists were sweating things out on the granddaddy of Grand Slam stages! Who wouldn’t feel that pressure?

Marin Cilic didn’t…..or, realistically, he did feel it. He just DIDN’T let it debilitate him. He saw an opportunity for joy, not an opportunity for failure.

What can we reframe most JOYfully?

JOY is a powerful emotion.

Lesson #3: We can learn powerful lessons from others.

Serena Williams won her 18th Grand Slam title last Sunday. She learned that she isn’t yet a washed up 32-year old athlete.

But beating Caroline Wozniaki in the final didn’t teach her half as much as watching her good friend Caroline live her life this last year, she said.

Caroline dealt with her very public breakup with golfer Rory McElroy with extreme class, Serena said. Serena saw Caroline tackle the adversity and loss by investing energy back into her tennis game and never spend a day wallowing in self-pity.

“To this day, she has nothing bad to say about her former fiancé,” Serena said in the New York Times on Sept. 6th. “Which I find really remarkable, and I think that just kind of sums her up. You know, she actually never has anything bad to say about anybody, and that made me a better person. You want to surround yourself with people who are genuinely happy for other people.”

Simple lessons but powerful.

A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.

~Chinese Proverb