Something Beautiful
Boris Becker was playing doubles in a tournament with a lesser-known player as his partner - Luke. It was not going well. Every time Luke hit the ball it went out, or was rocketed back to him. It was getting worse and worse as Luke’s anxiety level rose. And their opponents hit many balls to him because they knew he would muff them. Boris and Luke were losing badly.
Eventually the moment Luke was dreading came - Boris sauntered over to him. Expecting a real dressing-down such as ‘Get your game together!’ or some such, he was most surprised to hear Boris say gently, “Think of something beautiful.”
He did, and he started hitting great serves and returns. They won.
From a TV tennis commentary
shared in a book of short stories ‘Wise Stories from Wise People’ compiled by Julie Hunter.
