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MESSAGE #1294 DO THE RIGHT THING

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In 2008, during the Rome Masters, Andy Roddick was the #1 seed. He had match point and was about to win. The umpire called his opponent’s second serve out, resulting in a double-fault. Roddick had won the match. As Roddick walked up to the net to shake his opponent’s hand, he noticed a mark on the clay. It was touching the line, which meant the serve was actually in. Roddick brought this to the umpire’s attention and the match continued. Roddick ended up losing the match.

Did Andy Roddick do the right thing?

MESSAGE #1201 ACCOUNTABILITY

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Tomorrow is the New York City Marathon.

Guess who is running?

Ex-pro tennis player, and tennis analyst, Justin Gimelstob. See my interview with him at the 2010 US Open here.

Andy Roddick bet Gimelstob that he couldn’t finish the marathon in 4:45. Justin took the bet and the loser gives $10,000 to the other persons charity.

I remember recently when Justin was downloading motivational videos onto his iPod for the race. He was getting ready.

Well, he also got a little bit of luck. Laura Skladzinski, the youngest female to run a marathon in all 50 states volunteered to help Gimelstob out.

She will be running alongside Justin to make sure he finishes and wins the bet.

Brilliant.

That’s accountability.

We all need that.

I have a feeling Justin Gimelstob is going to win this bet.

MESSAGE #992 CAESARS TENNIS CLASSIC

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In this video blog, Ed reports from the Caesars Tennis Classic in Atlantic City, New Jersey with Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Pete Sampras and Venus Williams.

MESSAGE #772 MORE UPSETS IN THE US OPEN…

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Yesterday I was at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for another beautiful day of US Open tennis.

But for some of the top players, it wasn’t so beautiful.

Maria Sharapova lost.

Andy Roddick lost.

Dinara Safina lost.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s message, anything can happen.

In the world of running, Roger Bannister ran a four-minute mile in 1954, after all the experts said it was impossible. Then, thirty-eight people did the same thing the following year.

The same thing is happening now at the 2009 US Open. The youngsters are invading. The underdogs are prevailing. They know they have a chance. And so do the top players.

My condolences to Sharapova, Roddick and Safina. Here are my tips to you…

1. Winners know that a loss is a source of feedback.
2. There is no such thing as failure, only new beginnings.
3. You don’t drown by falling in water, you drown by staying there.
4. A loss is like a knife, it can either serve you or cut you. It’s your choice whether you grasp them by the blade or the handle.
5. Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

Tuesday I will be back at the Open bright and early doing tennis trivia in the ticket line with Denise Capriati and giving away a few signed copies of my book, “Game. Set. Life.”

Thanks for reading.