Unforced Errors

In the game of life, there’s one problem that’s hard to shake off.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London annually hosts what many consider to be the most prestigious tennis championship in the world. It’s known simply as Wimbledon. The mid-summer tournament has attracted players from all over the world since 1877. The event is especially challenging because it is played on outdoor grass courts.

Since the Open Era began in 1968, no one has won more Wimbledon men’s singles championships than Roger Federer with eight titles, followed by Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras with seven each. In women’s singles, Martina Navratilova holds the record with an astonishing nine titles, followed by Steffi Graf and Serena Williams with seven each.

A close look at the game of tennis offers remarkable parallels to the game of life itself. We’ll review some of these similarities in general, and then move to one aspect of the game which has surprising — and disturbing — implications for how we approach life.

 

...