Last evening, it was a treat watching Novak Djokovic play in the semi-finals of the Rolex Masters tournament in Shanghai. At 37, he took on a younger 25-year-old World No. 7 Taylor Fritz, and the performance by both players was music on the court. On our drive back to the hotel, I was reflecting on the fact that Djokovic displayed greatness on court for those two hours, but his true greatness probably lies in what we cannot see.

At 37 he realises the fitness gap with the 20 year olds he is up against, and yet, he matches them on court at the highest level of the game. The commitment of hundreds of hours of fitness training every year coupled with the discipline of diet is something we don’t see.

Technique in today’s world of technology is as much raw talent as study and analysis. We see his mastery on court, but we don’t see the rigour and sometimes frustration in getting each serve and each shot to land where he needs it to. We see the aces he serves but not the thousands of serves he got wrong in practice to get it right in a match.

Winning is as much about nerves. Mental toughness and stamina look effortless but it takes immense daily practice to quickly recover from setbacks and get back into the zone. We see him holding his nerve on court, but not his daily routine of training how to centre himself.

One would think that at his level of success, fame and popularity he has everything one could ask for. For sure he has set new benchmarks for future generations, and yet we don’t see his personal combat with pressure he may be going through, living up to expectations, and managing disappointments.

Our homes, work, professions, and whatever we choose to do is our centre court. We play out there every day, setting goals we want to achieve. Even as we enjoy our success and the world applauds us, we need to remind ourselves that our greatness lies not in what we have achieved, but in the patient, dedicated daily self-application of focus, commitment, and discipline that the world cannot see.

(Picture – Djokovic on Court, Shanghai Rolex Masters)