“Practice with purpose is critical,” Sachin Tendulkar shares his views on tennis legends

The connection between Sachin Tendulkar and tennis goes back a long way. Growing up, the batting legend idolised American tennis player John McEnroe and emulated his style. Despite cricket being his lifelong passion, Tendulkar still manages to take out some time to watch tennis. In a recent video posted from his social media accounts, the Indian great gave his assessment of the current tennis players and what makes a sportsman champion.

Tennis?is a sport that I have loved ever since I was a kid.
To #GoTheDistance in Tennis is tough but @rogerfederer,@RafaelNadal & @DjokerNole have perfected this art with their sheer hard work & talent over the years.
They are in a league of their own.@apollotyres #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/rUAF5NP2mq

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 11, 2021

The tennis world is currently engrossed in the ongoing French Open. Tendulkar gave a detailed account of how Serbia’s Novak Djokovic rallied from a two-set deficit to beat 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. Musetti retired with an injury in the final set of the fourth round game. Tendulkar sympathised with the youngster while lauding the fitness of the eventual winner. He then proceeded to give his thought on the big three of tennis.

“When I watch Federer, it is like poetry in motion. You watch Federer move on the court and you feel tennis is easy, it’s simple but it’s not that easy, trust me. Nadal’s game is more physical. It’s about hard work, sweating it out, and French Open is the greatest example of his ultimate fitness,” Tendulkar said about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

“Djokovic is quite supple and his movements are fluid. He has that elegance. At the same time, we have seen Djokovic play a number of long matches and to be able to last for this many hours on a tennis court is no joke. He is a kind of a combination of both Federer and Nadal,” Tendulkar added. 

Delving deep into what makes these players champions of their game, Tendulkar gave his insights from his own experiences of getting to the top of the world.

“Be passionate about whatever you want to be in life. From their childhood, they have worked so hard and when people talk about staying motivated at this level, I feel if you are passionate about something, there is no need of any external factor to motivate you. It’s there within. I feel passion never stops breathing, it’s your constant companion,” Tendulkar said.

“Practice with purpose becomes critical. There are a number of guys who spend hours on the field but their energy is not channelized properly. You need to put in hard work. Discipline, focus and concentration have to be there. More importantly, I would say vision, that is really important. And before you play your opposition, you plan and then you have to be able to execute those plans. These guys go all the way. They are able to plan and then execute their plans and that is what makes them great athletes. It is not just in tennis, it is in all walks of life,” Tendulkar added.