Translator: Trina Orsic Reviewer: Michael Nystrom
There’s a part of society
that considers and believes
that honesty, truth,
and humility
are signs of weakness.
That we cannot make mistakes,
much less accept our errors.
That the assertive ones, the most intense,
the most arrogant are the ones who create opportunities.
Tennis is a sport; it’s beautiful.
It hones your skills and creates passion.
It’s a great builder of character.
It forces us to take charge of each situation.
The tennis balls all come directly to us.
We learn to decide.
It makes us independent.
It is a noble sport
since you must strategize from start to finish
in order to try and win the match.
You can’t speculate; there is no tie.
That is tough.
You win or you lose.
But, do you know what?
Tennis can isolate you; it can make you a little introverted.
This is where we depend a great deal on our surroundings.
When an athlete excels,
he, along with the coach or teacher,
gets looked at and judged.
That trainer, who is there day in and day out
advising, coaching, and teaching the player,
at times receives opinions
with ulterior motives from other coaches
who are looking to benefit personally,
opinions which don’t respect the evolution and the process.
The parents of these children listen,
observe, investigate, and draw conclusions
that they believe are the best for their kids.
During my time as a professional tennis player,
I chose to focus on myself,
my evolution, more than watching from the other side of the net.
The experience, these virtues, and limitations that I discovered,
along with what my parents had instilled in me,
were and continue to be my support.
As a tennis coach,
I like to put myself in someone else’s shoes,
to try to understand the reason for the behavior,
and why someone else may think differently from me.
I like to listen,
listen to what I’m being told, and try to identify the message.
To try to discover exactly what someone is trying to tell me.
When I was named Argentina’s Davis Cup captain,
I knew I would have significantly more exposure
than I had experienced
as a player as well as a coach.
I felt happiness, excitement, enthusiasm, adrenaline,
but I also felt uncertainty, a little fear,
because I asked myself:
What happens if I don’t achieve the goal?
What happens if we don’t win?
And if I make a fool of myself?
That’s when I looked inward.
I tried to be the most loyal to myself as possible.
And I identified what I could bring to the team.
What could I generate in the player next to me
to optimize his performance?
From then on,
I discovered that
gaining a tennis player’s trust is crucial.
It’s important in order to succeed on the court,
but gaining personal confidence is transcendental.
It generates unlimited potential.
I believe we must be consistent in what we say,
what we feel, and what we do.
It takes time
because first, we speak and then, we act.
When I was in charge of the team,
in one of my first talks,
as I finished speaking, one of the players looked at me,
looked at the rest of his teammates,
and asked them in a slightly derogatory way:
“Do you all agree with him?”
That question
made me aware that only time
would give me the possibility
of serving as a model of what I was preaching,
of what I was proposing.
I believe that when leading a project,
beyond being part of a group,
of a team,
it’s so important to respect individual goals.
When I would be standing in front of the team,
I thought, what do I want?
What can I contribute to this group?
I wanted to be a guide.
I wanted to be the person who could protect the players
beyond the results of the match.
I think we need to know how to listen
and from there, act.
Returning to the values that are part of society,
they’re not so highly regarded or a little undervalued.
I want to share with you
how truth, honesty, and humility
were, for me, the fundamental pillars.
They gave me my greatest strength.
I asked my players to play with all their hearts,
and we won the Davis Cup
for the first time in the history of Argentinian tennis.
I invite you, each and every one of you,
to identify these values,
to strive to bring them into society
and that you put this into practice
with the person beside you,
that you hold onto these values,
that you strive to make a better society.
To the youngest ones
and to everyone else.
I invite you
to be part of this team of values.
(Applause)
(Music)