Wimbledon, Redemption, and the Power of Showing up Anyway

What Janik Sinner’s grand slam win teaches us about facing demons and trusting the work.

Don’t let past failures keep you from showing up and giving your all.

Resilience means believing in yourself, embracing a next-play mentality, overcoming your demons, staying consistent, and trusting your process.

These are core lessons for sport. And for all of life.

Just 35 days ago, Jannik Sinner fell apart in the French Open final—five and a half hours on court, three match points lost, a crushing defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

Fast forward to Wimbledon: same opponent, same threat of another comeback. But this time, when Alcaraz surged in the fourth set, Sinner locked in. He held his ground, won a clutch four-point stretch, and closed out a game it felt like he had to have.

If Sinner had let the ghost of the French Open control him at Wimbledon, doubt would have beaten him before Alcaraz did.

Sometimes the best thing you can have—in sport and life—is a short memory. “We accepted the lost, learned, and moved forward,” Sinner said.

Past is past. You’ve got to stay in the moment. Consistency is everything.

Get Back on the Wagon and Compete

Sinner was back in tournament play just over a week after the French Open loss. He said he had “sleepless nights,” but getting back on the wagon was key.

Any path toward excellence will include ups and downs. You’ve got to keep showing up. Give yourself a set amount of time to feel your feelings and grieve defeat—but then get back to the work itself. It’s the best medicine there is. It’s a great principle following big wins or tough losses. And it’s applicable for all of us.

Your story gets rejected. Be upset about it for a day or two, then face the blank page. Your story goes viral. Celebrate it for a day or two, then face the blank page. Centering yourself in the process prevents you from getting caught up in all the emotions around it. It reminds you that what you actually love is the work itself, not the validation you gain from it. It’s such an important lesson: Get back to the work itself.

Sinner is relentless and intense. It’s like watching a killer tennis robot. But it’s clear he has deep respect for Alcaraz. There was a moment late in the third set when Alcaraz tripped and went down. You could see the concern on Sinner’s face.

“Compete” comes from the Latin root com which means “together” and petere which means “to rise up.” In its truest form, competition is about rising up together.

Confidence, Self-Belief, and Presence

Bouncing back from a devastating loss takes confidence and self belief.

You only get that kind of confidence and self-belief from evidence.

All the work you put in. All the experiences. The wins. The losses. They are all deposits in the bank, all pieces of evidence that you’ve got what it takes.

On the surface, Sinner was in control during the Wimbledon final, but zoom in, and you’ll see it contained countless highs and lows.

Sinner lost the first set quickly. He could have fallen apart. But he stayed patient. He paced himself. He regulated his emotions. He played the long game. Obviously this isn’t just about tennis. It’s about all of life.

Tennis might be the ultimate test of presence.

You play hundreds of points. Some are long. Some are short. Some go well. Others don’t. You’ve got to get over mistakes quickly. You’ve got to play the point you are in.

Not the point that just happened.
Not the point that may happen next.
But the point that is happening.

The past is past. The future is unknown. All your agency lies in the point you are in.

Excellence Means Caring Deeply

Both Sinner and Alcaraz care deeply.

Nothing about these guys is nonchalant. They love the the craft.

There is no escaping vulnerability in tennis.

No helmet. No face mask. No curtain to run behind. Just you on a court, in front of the world. It’s part of what makes the sport so inspiring. You only get one go. So you might as well give it your all.

Excellence isn’t about constant confidence. It’s not about perfection or being flawless.

Excellence is about showing up, again and again. It’s about caring deeply, paying close attention, practicing on repeat, learning from mistakes, staying curious, repeatedly stepping into the arena, and committing to grow.