NORTHERN PLANNER

Since I get impatient with something when it’s not right it’s no wonder I’ve always been interested in John Mcenroe. He was a relentless perfectionist and incredibly hard on himself.

If someone hit a forehand past him, you wouldn’t see him acknowledging the good shot, immediately he’d be berating himself for some mistake that ALLOWED the other player to make that shot. However, if he hit his very best swinging serve shooting wide of the ad court, and Bjorn Borg smacked a backhand winner off it, you wouldn’t see the same reaction. He’d given his best, someone was just better. He’d work out how to stop it happening again.

That’s what happened after that tumultuous 1980 Wimbledon final. He gave everything and still lost. In the end, Borg was just too much. So he went away to work on his game. And the US Open final that year was the real pivotal moment in that great rivalry. Borg was in the lead, serving to go up 2 sets to 0, looking very comfortable. Then it all changed.

The first two points saw Mcenroe hit two quite wonderful shots. He won the first with a pinpoint topspin lob. The second with a perfect backhand pass. Then he did exactly the same for the the final two; topspin lob, backhand pass. Like some sort of real life instant replay.It was a quite outrageous flash of genius. Borg peered at his young antagonist from across the court in stunned disbelief. And the whole match changed right there.

It takes a rare streak of unstoppable genius to pull off something like that. Borg had it, and to see it replayed back to him was too much to take. He froze. And never recovered. He lost the match, and retired a year later. He just didn’t have the will to face genius like that.

It’s terrifying being up against something like that. You’re at your very best, you simply cannot do any better, yet someone is taking everything you’ve got and push back even harder. Some people just have a gear that shouldn’t exist.

It’s also amazing when you’re the one doing the pushing, when you reach inside yourself and find a bit more.

What do you do when you’re faced with that? Do you shrug your shoulders, content with second? Do you let is dismantle your confidence and give up like Borg? Or do you relish the chance to get even better, and work harder than ever before to make sure that next time, it’s you who has that little bit extra?