People would say my play was effortless. The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy. I had been working hard before the tournament when nobody was watching.
Talent matters. I'm not going to stand here and tell you it doesn't. But talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it's not about having a gift. It's about having grit. In tennis, like in life, discipline is also a talent, and so is patience. Trusting yourself is a talent. Embracing the process, loving the process is a talent. Managing your life and managing yourself, these can be talents too. Some people are born with them. Everybody has to work at them.
2. You can work harder than you though possible and still lose.
你可以比自己想象的更努力,但仍然會失敗。
I tried not to lose, but I did lose, sometimes big. The truth is, whatever game you play in life, sometimes you're going to lose a point, a match, a season, and a job. It's a rollercoaster with many ups and downs. And it's natural when you're down to doubt yourself to feel sorry for yourself. But negative energy is wasted energy. You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments. That is, to me, the sign of a champion. The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. They know they'll lose again and again, and have learned how to deal with it. You move on, be relentless, adapt and grow. Work harder and work smarter.
A tennis court is a small space, 2,106 square feet to be exact. I knew that tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world. Even I was in the top five, it was important to me to have a rewarding life, full of travel, friendships, and especially family. I never abandoned my roots. I never forgot where I came from. I also never lost my appetite to see the very big world. These are the reasons I never burned out maybe.