Finding winning inspiration in unexpected places

It’s often said that inspiration comes from within. Not always. Tennis players, like the rest of us, are human after all and there are some events in life that simply can’t be blocked out. They refuse to sit up the back in the cheap seats of the mind, forcing their way to the front.

The death of a loved one, a comment from a friend or foe, even just plain old revenge can serve as the fuel that flames an unlikely victory.

These are the matches that are better remembered not for how they were won, but why they were won.

Mum says No

Nick Kyrgios d Rafael Nadal (Wimbledon 2014)
For better or worse, parents can inspire or dash their children’s dreams. Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios was one of the lucky ones – from a young age his parents supported his dream of one day becoming a pro. But it was a remark from Nick Kyrgios’ mother, Nill, that helped to spark an inferno inside her son that not even the game’s best player could put out.

When asked if she thought her son could beat Nadal in their fourth-round Wimbledon match, Nill replied that she did not. “I don’t know what she was thinking,” Nick said after pulling off 2014’s most audacious victory. “You’ve got to believe you can win the match and I did,” Kyrgios said. Maybe next time Nill will too.

Do it for your coach, Pete

Pete Sampras d Jim Courier (Australian Open 1995)
Drama of a different kind filled Rod Laver Arena (then Centre Court) when countrymen Pete Sampras and Jim Courier squared off in the Australian Open 1995 quarterfinals. Down two sets to love and seemingly headed for an early flight home, Sampras stormed back to square the match at two sets all. With the match hanging in the balance, Sampras broke down in tears, first on court, then on the sidelines as news of his coach Tim Gullickson’s recent cancer diagnosis filtered through the stands. Despite Courier’s offer to “come back and do this tomorrow”, Sampras recorded one of the more memorable, and certainly most emotional, victories of his storied career.

Nobody puts Serena in the back row

Serena Williams d Svetlana Kuznetsova (Australian Open 2009)
You don’t win 19 majors and dominate the sport without knowing how to get yourself up to win.

And few know more about winning than Serena Williams. But her motivation methods may come as a surprise. With Svetlana Kuznetsova serving for the match in the second set, Serena was staring down the barrel of defeat in the Australian Open 2009 quarterfinals.

“Well, I was thinking, ‘OK, if you lose, you’re going to fly coach all the way back to Florida’,” Serena told reporters after winning 5-7 7-5 6-1. “I wouldn’t allow myself to have the emergency row either. I would be so mad, I would have to sit [in] like the last row, the tightest row. That way I wouldn’t do it again.” Serena went on to win the tournament, dropping just three games in the final to Dinara Safina, and flew home, presumably, in style and somewhere up near the front.

Andre’s dance with destiny

Andre Agassi d Goran Ivanisevic (Wimbledon 1992)
It’s the night before the 1992 Wimbledon men’s singles final and Andre Agassi is desperate to win. Not because he’s within touching distance of winning his first ever major, or Wimbledon for that matter, but for a dance. Should Agassi beat big-serving Croat Goran Ivanisevic he will be men’s champion and, as tradition decrees, he will get to dance with the 1992 women’s champion, Steffi Graf. Agassi is in luck – he wins, dons his tux and heads to the ball where destiny, he hopes, awaits. But before the formal proceedings commence, a guest reveals to him that the annual champions’ dance has been cancelled due to a lack of enthusiasm from past champions. The American will have to wait seven years for the chance to have that dance with Graf, who he later married in 2001.

I’ll play if he plays

John Newcombe d Jimmy Connors (Australian Open 1975)
In late 1974 John Newcombe was 30 years old, a father of three and the world’s No.2 player. He hadn’t played a tournament for two months, was “about four kilos overweight” and “in no mood to play in the 1975 Australian Open”. That is, unless Jimmy Connors was playing. Eleven days before the first ball was struck, Tournament Director John Brown called Newcombe to let him know that Connors, the American upstart and the world’s No.1 player, was on his way Down Under. Newk was all in. He embarked on a fitness regime that would, in his words, “make a commando wilt”. Hell bent on improving his fitness, he went on a no-beer diet, spent a little time on the practice court and forced himself to complete hill sprints in the hot Sydney sun. It paid off. Newcombe needed every ounce of his newfound fitness as he played consecutive five-set matches on his way to beating Connors in a final that is still talked about.

The Battle of the Sexes

Billie Jean King d Bobby Riggs (Houston Astrodome 1973)
“The male is king, the male is supreme, I’ve said it over and over again. [And] I still feel that way,” was former pro Bobby Riggs’ mantra leading into one of the sport’s most-talked about matches, The Battle of the Sexes. In late 1973, 10-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King played out-of-shape 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in a match that had far more than ranking points, prize money or a trophy at stake. “I kept thinking, she must think that all of women’s self-confidence and pride rest on this moment,” said journalist Diane Sawyer. “And she was right, it did.” King’s victory over Riggs, which was watched by an estimated audience of more than 90 million, was about more than tennis. It turned the spotlight on equality, and not just in sport but society. “I wasn’t just playing for myself, this was for everybody. It could damage us Serena Williams if I didn’t win,” said King.

Money talks for Li

Li Na d Caroline Wozniacki (Australian Open 2011)
Few players have mastered the on-court interview quite like the effervescent Li Na. Her warm smile and quick wit have endeared her to fans not just in her native China, but the world over. Aft er saving a match point on her way to defeating Caroline Wozniacki, Li became the first Chinese player to make a Grand Slam singles final. When asked what her secret motivation was, Li quipped “prize money”. Coming from anyone else the comment may have been seen as gold digging, but from Li it was pure gold.