John Newcombe, former world tennis No 1 and former Australian Davis Cup captain, once said that the top Australian players of his era believed that it was their destiny to become tennis champions.
Boris Becker told me that two weeks before achieving his first Wimbledon title (in 1985 when seventeen years old), he felt as if it were predetermined.
As a seventeen year old, Ivan Lendl, who, prior to Pete Sampras, held the No 1 spot longer than any other player in history, was convinced that he would turn himself into the best player in the world. He would even tell you so.
When asked by the media about his chances of winning his first US Open title (in 1975), Jimmy Connors’ response was: “There are 127 losers in the draw — and me!”
Jimmy won.
What these former greats had in common was an unshakeable certainty that they would win. It is a trait that is shared by all top sports people.
But a question that has always fascinated me is: Are such champions born, or are they made?
Were Newccombe, Becker, Lendl and Connors born to rule the tennis world? Or did they become champions because of the choices they made?...
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