Watching someone small beat someone big is one of the most thrilling elements of a sports competition. Nate Robinson and Doug Flutie’s popularities can be attributed to their tininess. They’re very charismatic people — but like actors, we project ourselves onto athletes, as they remind us that small doesn’t mean weak.
But even being weak is a powerful tool. You have used this strategy yourself when you were child, pretending to be sick to avoid going to school. We live in a passive aggressive world. In fact, in war, feigning weakness is the most popular strategy. Why? Because it has worked for thousands of years.
Welcome back to “The 33 Strategies of Sports”, a concoction of Robert Greene’s wonderful pamphlet, “The 33 Strategies of War” and sports history. This time:
THE COUNTER ATTACK STRATEGY
In 1990, a new young tennis star had emerged in the world of tennis. His name was Andre Agassi. Agassi had reached his first Grand Slam Finals, the 1990 French Open against a washed up Andres Gomez. Agassi was heavily favored — it was his time. But Gomez upset the young man. The French clay courts slowed down young Agassi’s aggressive attacks. Oh well, Agassi would have many more opportunities to conquer France. His fashion sense and unorthodox style was a Nielsen Rating wet dream. The guy made tennis cool again. He was a star and even married Brooke Shields of “The Blue Lagoon”. Ultimately, he managed to win every Grand Slam except for the French Open (only four other players in history won all four Grand Slams). But injuries and a Hollywood lifestyle wrecked him.
By 1997, Agassi divorced Brooke Shields and got hooked on Crystal Meth — his ranking fell to #141. He would soon turn 30, senior citizen status for a sport dominated by teenagers. He failed to win a Grand Slam in years (usually losing in the first round). He was done. He would later say, “decisions, especially bad ones, create their own kind of momentum, and momentum can be a real bitch to stop, as every athlete knows. Even when we vow to change, even when we sorrow and atone for our mistakes, the momentum of our past keeps carrying us down the wrong road. Momentum rules the world”.
In 1998, Agassi played in the minor leagues of tennis for a while — the “Challenger” tournaments – and slowly rose in ranks. After that humiliation, he returned to the scene of his career’s biggest disappointment, the French Open. He was not expected to make a dent, but his name was still enough of a draw. Barely. Pete Sampras, now the face of tennis, was at his peak — he was expected to win his first French Open. But Sampras unexpectedly lost in the second round to Andriy Medvedev, a 24-year-old Ukrainian with a bullet serve.
Meanwhile, Agassi was having trouble of his own against 21-year-old Arnaud Clement. Agassi was down two sets to love (in tennis parlance, this means “near death”). But Agassi managed to put together an amazing come back and advance. Afterwards, he managed to dominate every match all the way to the finals — where he would face Medvedev, the guy who thrashed Sampras. What a great comeback story this would be for Agassi, a guy who ranked 141 only a year ago.
The only thing was, Medvedev was ranked even lower than Agassi. In fact, the Ukrainian was the lowest ranking player to ever reach the French Open. No one expected him here. Medvedev saw this match as redemption too. He was hungry, young and had a serve you could barely see on a TV screen. Two sets into the French Open Finals, Medvedev proved how much hungrier. He executed a bloodbath on Agassi, beating his older and smaller opponent, 6-1, 6-2. One more and it was death.
Agassi was, as he would say later, “embarrassed”. He fought with everything he had to tie the next set, 4-4. But did the 29-year-old have enough left to recover from another two sets to love? In such a tie, the winner statistically won the next match, making this tiebreaker crucial. Agassi would go up, 30-15… then, the bottom fell. He missed his next serve. And his next. Double fault. 30-30. Agassi missed his next. And next one. 30-40. Agassi missed another serve. “I’ve now missed five straight serves,” Agassi explained, “I’m falling apart…”
“… Medvedev knows my psyche is in tatters after missing five serves in a row. He’s guessing that I won’t have the stomach to be aggressive. He expects a nice soft kick-serve. He steps up, well inside the baseline, sending me a message that he anticipates a softie, and he’s going to ram it down my throat. He wears a look on his face that unmistakably says: Go ahead, bitch. Be aggressive. I dare you. This moment is the crucial test for both of us. This is the turning point in the match, perhaps in both of our lives. It’s a test of wills, of heart, of manhood. I toss the ball into the air and refuse to back down. Contrary to Medvedev’s expectations, I serve hard and aggressive to his backhand. I go on to hold serve”.
Agassi would win the set and the next two, orchestrating the most formidable comeback in French Open history, becoming only one of five tennis players to win all four Grand Slams. 1999 proved to be only the beginning of Agassi’s resurgence. He would also win the US Open and by the end of the year, rank #1, jumping 140 ranks in a single year.
INTERPRETATION
Andre Agassi is considered the best serve returner in the history of the game. He once returned a 138 mph serve. But why exhaust himself against such an aggressive opponent like Medvedev? He gains two things by retreating. 1) Medvedev thinks he has an easy victory. 2) Agassi breaks down Medvedev’s strategy in his mind for later use. By the fourth set, Medvedev is too tired and shocked that he’s still playing. At this point, Agassi counters every serve, cracking Medvedev’s confidence. By the fifth set, Medvedev concedes and Agassi defeats him. In short, Agassi uses Medvedev’s energy against him, Jiu-jitsu style.
KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT
There’s a saying in sports. Defense wins championships. There are two reasons for this. It takes less energy to defend something than to chase it. Unlike tennis, reality is not concentrated to a couple hours. Time is on your side. You too can play “defense” in real life by developing one skill. PATIENCE. If you can develop the nerve for the “wait and see” approach, you will see opportunities open up in epic proportions. You may not even have to do anything as your opponent shoots themselves in the foot.
The next time you have an argument with someone, try this. Don’t scream. Don’t shout. Hold the anger inside you. And LISTEN to as much as they want to say. No matter how insulting. When they’re done, counter argue. You may even find that counter argument may be unnecessary and the situation not as serious as you originally thought.
The first half of Agassi’s career was a disappointment because he was too aggressive. He won Grand Slams but certainly could have won more, had he not tried to kill the ball with his racquet. It was not until he hired trainer Brad Gilbert that his style changed. Gilbert explained to him: “You try to hit a winner on every ball, when just being steady, consistent, meat and potatoes, would be enough to win ninety percent of the time. Quit going for the knockout. All you have to be is solid. Singles, doubles, move the chains forward. Stop thinking about yourself, and your own game, and remember that the guy on the other side of the net has weaknesses. Attack his weaknesses. You don’t have to be the best in the world every time you go out there. You just have to be better than one guy. Instead of YOU succeeding, make HIM fail. Better yet, LET him fail”.
Agassi, like all great sports minds such as Bill Bellichick, Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, made an entire career out of “letting” his opponents fail. He was frequently down two sets, facing death. His opponents always took the bait, thinking victory was in the bag. Only to watch Agassi counter every move — moves that had worked the entire match until now. Agassi rode this strategy as far as he could, ranking in the top 20 for the rest of his career, which ended at the ripe old age of 36.
REVERSAL
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