why losing is important

by: Mike Sprouse / TennisCT

We talk often about the winningest tennis players of all time, and marvel at their success, mental toughness, physical fitness and shot-making ability under the most intense pressure. You know some of the names: Serena, Roger, Novak, Rafa, Pete, Steffi, Martina, Chrissie, Andre. There are plenty of other "greats" of the sport who are known for their wins, too. The list of Grand Slam champions and tournament winners is long.

What else do these players have in common?

Serena: 152

Roger: 275

Martina: 219

Novak: 198

Steffi: 115

Rafa: 209

Pete: 222

Chrissie: 146

Andre: 274

They've lost. A lot. The numbers above represent the number of times these all-time greats have lost professional tennis matches (as of 2021). I don't know these players well personally, but I can almost bet that they would recall many of these losses quite vividly.

Why? Because losing provides lessons that winning doesn't.

Now, these players have also won a ton. Their wins way outnumber their losses. But the point is that sometimes the losses stand out in our minds more than the wins do. At the very least, they're crucial in the process of improving. If you asked Rafa to recall all the first and second rounds wins he's had at the French Open through the years, he probably could do it with a few reminders. Ask him about his loss against Robin Soderling in 2009, and he probably could remember every point and every situation. What did he do after that? He’s barely lost at the French Open since.

For most of us mere mortals, when we lose we think it's the end of the world. The more you advance up the ranks in the sport, the more crushing it can be when you lose. There's more riding on it. You're putting more of yourself and your self-identity on the line each time. Losing sometimes feels like a personal indictment or a statement on one's own self-worth: "If you lose, you stink." It doesn't have to be like that, but too often we treat it like that.

It helps to remember that the all-time greats of our sport - the men and women who have played the sport at its absolute highest levels - have all lost and lost a lot. That's so important to remember. All those wins didn't just happen easily, they happened because they had lost. These great champions kept coming back after the losses. Losing motivated them. Losing put into focus what they needed to work harder on. Losing taught them where there were weaknesses in their game on that particular day. Losing taught them to deal with adversity and have the confidence and inner fortitude to keep going.

The process of winning is relatively easy, emotionally. You walk off the court and say to yourself "job well done", and go on to the next match. Losing is hard and involves a lot of questions: how did that happen? Why did I double fault that many times? Why couldn't I make a return? I thought I was better than my opponent, how could I have lost? Why was my opponent that much better than me today?

Introspection. Losing teaches us to look inward at our own flaws on a particular day, and that's hard. But it builds character and strength. I've said it hundreds of times before: you have to lose in order to win big or win consistently. It's part of the process. You don't have to accept losing, and that's the point - to find it within yourself to honestly assess your game and work to get better to change the outcome next time.

The next time you're suffering from a loss, don't despair. Work on what you need to work on, and move forward. Losing doesn't mean you stink or aren't a good tennis player. It just means someone was better than you on that day. It's what you learn from losing that will determine your ultimate success on the court.