This is November 2008. The tennis Davis Cup Final has just ended. It pitched the team from Argentina against the team from Spain. The format of the Davis Cup is 5 matches: 4 singles and 1 doubles, and the winning team is the one that has 3 or more wins in these 5 matches. Normally, Spain would have been a favorite because Spaniard Rafael Nadal was then the best player in the world, meaning that he would very likely win 2 singles matches and possibly even be part of the doubles team, making a doubles win likely as well for a total of 3 matches. Except that this time, Nadal couldn’t participate, being on recovery for an injury. Because of Nadal’s absence, the Argentines became the favorites: Argentina’s top two players, Juan Martin del Potro, ranked 9th in the world, and David Nalbandian, the world number 11, were both expected to win their two singles matches against lower ranked Spaniards, giving Argentina 4 wins (and the crown, since 3 wins are enough). Making matters better for the Argentines, the matches were to be played in Argentina, giving the local team the home turf advantage, a time-proven motivational boost. Compounding this advantage, the Argentines decided to play on a fast surface, which suits their players better since the Spaniards are known for their slow-court expertise. So what happened?

The first match went Argentina’s way, as expected, as Nalbandian, the second-best Argentine player, quickly dismissed David Ferrer, the top Spaniard, thus giving Argentina a 1-0 lead. The next match, which should have been a walk in the park for Argentina, saw the demise of Argentina’s top-ranked player del Potro against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, the world number 30. That loss by del Potro was the catalyst that precipitated Spain’s upset over Argentina: the next day, Argentina’s doubles team lost to Spain’s. The day after, the Argentines decided not to let del Potro, who was depicted as very tired, play. They replaced him with Jose Asacuso, the world number 48, who was no match for Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, ranked 16th in the world.

Let’s focus on the loss of favorite del Potro to underdog Lopez. Why is that relevant to you? Because one part of improving you is to make sure you win the battles you are supposed to win, unlike del Potro. The other part of improving you is to help you win some of the battles you were expected to lose, as Lopez did.

"Many people have the ambition to succeed; they may even have a special aptitude for their job.  And yet they do not move ahead.  Why?  Perhaps they think that since they can master the job, there is no need to master themselves." (John Stevenson)