“I’m serving for the championship. Five steps to the
he sign of a true sporting champion is
baseline. My arm is heavy, wobbly. I look at my feet
T
to embrace the situation and win.
and almost stumble. My body starts to shake
violently. I feel I could lose all control. The end is
Sampras, Woods, McGrath and
getting nearer. I have to find a way to get these four
Schumacher are possibly the best at it,
points home. My opponent, Kevin Curren, piles on they don’t show emotion, they don’t jump around
the pressure. 0-15. 15 all. 30-15. 40-15. I want ,
get stressed or mess around. They just win. They
want, want victory. I’m trying to keep control.
can serve aces at match point. They hole the four
Breathe in. Serve. Double fault. How on earth can I
footer to win another major. They can bowl just
place this ball in that shrinking box?...”
Boris Becker. The Player.
outside the off stump on the last ball of an
innings, and they can negotiate the chicane while
“Easy! The serve was almost
someone else is pushing on their rear bumper. No
out of this world, or at least
emotion, just winning.
the results were. An ace and
my first Wimbledon at
seventeen.”
Boris Becker. The Player.
RT
THE ATHLETE’S
STORY:
SARAH THOMAS –
BRITISH OLYMPIC
HOCKEY PLAYER
The situation: “It was the European Championships in
Croatia. It was the final. It had gone to extra time and the
score had stayed level at 2-2 so it went to Penalty Strokes. I
had only ever taken one penalty stroke in my life before and I
had missed that one on live television so wasn’t feeling that
confident going into it. Plus I was captain so felt a lot of
pressure to lead by example.”
Sport IQ : September 2008 23