Salute to Coco: Humility in Victory

I recently watched the 2023 U.S. Open Finals match between Coco Gauff and Aryana Sabalenka.  Oh my... what a match! 

I had seen both of them play before and know they are both great.  I thought for sure, as did most, that Sabalenka would win the match.  She is a beast, tall, super strong and hits the ball harder than anyone else in Women's tennis right now.  You can see her picture there.....as the band Men At Work would say:  "She is full of muscle"... (Land Down Under)

It was seriously one of the best matches I have ever seen....and one the most emotional as well.  Sabalenka won the first set pretty handedly.  Somehow Coco found her footing and fought back to win the second and then sustained her momentum and won the 3rd and the match.  Her first Grandslam win.  It was really something else.  What is unique about the U.S. Open is it is hosted in NYC and most of the best matches are played at night.  The NY crowds are really amazing.  They cheer like no other.  The crowd felt every emotion of every shot from the start to the end.  Of course having a hometown favorite in Coco helped quite a bit too!

I was already sitting on the edge of the couch watching this match. Just when you did not think there was no way Coco could come back she started doing little things that won her points and started to frustrate her opponent.  Coco does have one superpower -- just like Carlos Alcaraz, the newest best men's tennis player does..... the abilty to play defense better than anyone else.  Coco kept getting balls back that normally would be easy winners for Sabalenka.  It was almost like she couldn't believe that these power balls she was banging across the net kept coming back time and time again.  It was like it wore her mentally out.  Coco, was relentless and always kept her cool.  You can probably imagine the crowd eating up how well she was running down impossible shots and getting them back.  They went wild!

So when Coco broke Aryana in the 3rd set everyone started to reliaze she could win this thing.... and she did!  It was incredible.  Very David and Goliath-esque, (minus the permanent death thing).

The announcers were so excited, the crowd on their feel and I felt the familiar emotions rise up in my body and into my eyes.  It was so cool to see the underdog overcome and with such style.

After falling to the ground in joy after the winning shot, she jumped up and literally ran with body guards up into the stands and hugged her parents, coaches and friends.  She came back down and thanked the crowd and then she did something I haven't really ever seen done as intentionally as this.....she went over to her chair, and knelt down and put her hands up and it was obvious she was saying a prayer.  The camera stayed on her for a few seconds and then pulled away. It was almost like an invasion of her privacy....

I was already emotional, but once I witnessed this I was overcome a bit with a different kind of emotion.  It was spiritual, it was private and very sacred despite being on the huge stage she found herself.   

Her simple but very deliberate act of giving gratitude to God was so prominent in her mind.  It was like, I don't really care if there are 10,000 people in the stands, still clapping and cheering, I have to let Him know how grateful I am.  

I have often heard many artists, musicians, actors thank God when they win awards.  I am sure you have too.  But this was different.  This wasn't an outward reference for the camera, it was an inner one from the soul. It was very much as if she could have been alone in her own room with no one watching at all.  

Can I just say how much I loved witnessing that as it was happening live. I saw the sequence of everything that led up to it.  My respect for her grew 10 fold......I forgot for a moment that she was actually a tennis player and that this was a major Grandslam event in her sport.  I found myself wondering what she was saying.  I knew there was some "talking" going on.  This wasn't a quick hand gesture of the sign of the cross and a look to heaven that I see most athletes do. When she knelt I remember saying out loud in the room by myself "Oh...she is going to pray!"  And then she did, and the next thought that came immediately to my mind was "Oh, how pleased must God be with her."  The parable of the 10 lepers came to mind... only one came back to his healer and gave thanks.  The others were just basking in the victory, missing the whole point of the "win" which was actually finding gratitude and humility vs what the world would call the victory.

The TV announcers finally had their change to ask Coco about her praying..... here is what she said:  

“.....I realized God puts you through tribulations and trials. This makes this moment even sweeter than I could imagine […] I don’t pray for results. I just ask that I get the strength to give it my all. Whatever happens, happens. I’m so blessed in this life.”

 I learned a bit later that before every tournament she prays with her father that she and her opponent will be safe..... Pretty cool.... pretty sweet, no?

I found her authentic and proud to share her faith, but not in a loud or "preachy" sort of way.  The way that I often feel I would like to share but hold back.  She didn't pray to win.... but I do think she prayed to be victorius but I think to her that meant to win with God, to win with humility and gratitude knowing full well His part of that victory.  She didn't even stutter on that one!  It was clear who she was aligning with......and it wasn't the world, it was Heaven.

I don't think I will ever forget that match or that ending.  It was powerful to me and yet so simple.  

Well done Coco Gauff, I am so inspired by you.  

So much so that I started searching other athletes of faith.  There are so many!!  It lifted my spirits to see these champions acknowledge God for their success.  One who really stood out to me was Sidney McLaughlin, the Olympic Gold medal winner of the women's 400 meter event.  She is something else.  I remember her winning this race so well.  This is what she posted after her historic run:

 “I pray my journey may be a clear depiction of submission and obedience to God. Even when it doesn’t make sense, even when it doesn’t seem possible. He will make a way out of no way. Not for my own gratification, but for His glory. I have never seen God fail in my life. In anyone’s life for that matter. Just because I may not win every race, or receive every one of my heart’s desires, does not mean God had failed. His will is PERFECT. And He has prepared me for a moment such as this. That I may use the gifts He has given me to point all the attention back to Him. 2x Olympian, Olympic Champion, World Record Holder, Thank. You. God. 🙏🏽”

 

I am already in so much awe when I watch physically gifted athletes.  They are truly beautiful to watch!  but my respect meter is what really surprises me more and more when I see how certain athletes win, not what they won.

Jogo Bonito: The Beautiful Game

 I never knew what hit me....it took my legs out from under me.  His words literally took the breath out of me, like getting a soccer ball kicked in the stomach point blank unexpectedly.  

I was on my back, lying in the grass, people all around me looking down.  I saw the sky, there were some scattered clouds.... I could feel individual blades of grass pricking my fingers and arms.   Nothing to do but to gasp and wait for air to return while my senses were scrambled.

As I lay there the words flashed back.... those words that seemed so strange and foreign, yes, like a different language that my heart couldn't understand.  I couldn't compute...slowly, the words sunk in and registered.....down deep.  This wasn't just an errant kick...this was game over.  Strange, I wasn't even keeping score.... but I guess he was.  

What was it that he said...?  Oh yeah, that I was "getting better."  I knew I was trying so hard....but something was terribly wrong.  How could this happen just 30 days before the wedding...?  How come I didn't know sooner....  Could I have fixed it had I known?  What kept him from being truthful sooner?

You can imagine all the questions that besieged me, like a swarm of bats leaving a cave at dusk.  After giving him my heart, my love and my resources freely....  Oh what a fool I was, I thought... why did I give so much... even those moments of intimacy, all based upon a pledge and promise of unity? 

It didn't take long, my teammates and coaches came to my rescue.  They helped me up off of that turf, brushed the grass off, rubbed my knees for a minute, wiped my eyes, and then trotted off the field.

I didn't feel like playing for a bit.  I felt sadness and regret for my part of the mess.  I wasn't playing my best game, but I was hoping he would help me with that. In the end, he couldn't, he wasn't honest and he wasn't ready.  

If one decides to play at a high level, the games get harder, and players have to risk more in order to win.  I had a lot to learn about playing at that level, just as in life.

Feelings of loneliness and sadness evolved into courage and conviction, of who I was and what I could become.  I circled myself with believers, those who could truly see the player I could become.  I turned to Heaven and wrestled a bit with God.  Was he there I wondered for a few moments.....?  Why did I have to learn in such hard ways I wondered....? I wasn't sure of the answers, but I stuck with Him and He started to clear the path and brighten the road ahead.  I started seeing further with more clarity... I looked briefly behind me and saw smoke and mists that may have clouded my play.  I decided to not look back again, only forward, and with the brightness of the road ahead, I picked up my pace, held my head up, set the grit firmly in my teeth, and started moving forward, picking up speed like a locomotive building steam, creating momentum and gaining ground.

I stepped onto the pitch with a new outlook and felt the energy through my body.... This felt familiar, this felt good to play again with such a new perspective, a new mindset.  I shed the past with each step, and when I struck the ball it felt strong, as if renewed.  I played with new confidence that I hadn't possessed or believed in before.  It flows more effortlessly with each passing day....

Yes, that particular game could have been beautiful, but it ended way to early...... I guess he will never know.  I have no regrets.  No, I am not bitter, maybe a little madder because I see now some things through the fog.....but that is turning more into this hopeful kind of sad which is a pretty good description.  I am not 100% yet, but I am not the same player now, and know I am willing to do the work to win the long game.  

Funny, it is starting to occur to me that maybe, just maybe the best thing that ever happened was the brutal blunt kick in the stomach.  The one that ended that game.  The one which seemed like the best one ever.... Not so much now I think....No, I see a different game now.... a truly beautiful game, Yes!  It will be as the Brazilians say... "Um jogo bonito."  Maybe then...... I can leave this sadness behind and embrace just the hope of all things again.