By Daniel Muñoz Pozo, Head of Communications & Media at Sánchez-Casal Academy.
Maturity and consistency are both ingredients that usually lead to success, although of course sport has another ingredient, which is competition, and with competition, anything can happen.
This season has been especially important to the ATP player, Gilles Müller, who is 34 years old and is excelling thanks to some great recent results. Victory over Rafa Nadal in Wimbledon perhaps is the most remarkable one.
Müller is a great example of the truth that life always gives you a second chance. His success is the result of overcoming adversity and fear, being tenacious, consistent, and always remembering to use his habits well.
Müller is 34 years old, and perhaps has one of the best serves of the circuit. Until not long ago, he was the only tennis player in the top 50 who had not earned an ATP title in his career, despite having up to five different opportunities to do so, always falling at the last hurdle in the finals.
“I played my first final in 2004. Now, we are in 2017 and I have waited 13 years to win my first title. What a night! I’ve waited so long to get here. It means a lot to me winning this tournament in front of my wife and my children,” said an excited Mulller during the presentation of the Sydney trophy.
This is your story, the story of players like Muller, who spend years working towards their second chance, the story of someone who is persistent, the same as you, still on the road facing difficulties. Müller lost more than six months, between June 2009 and January 2010 due to inflammation of the patella tendon and more than seven months, from May 2013 to January 2014 with a knee injury.
In an emotional speech months ago, tears of happiness flowed after he triumphed in the face of adversity. Müller channeled the anger he felt at getting so close to achieving an ATP title so many times, over so many years. He waited a long time before it was finally his turn to hold the trophy.
Müller came to Sánchez-Casal, Barcelona, after a great career as a junior. He got to number 1 as a player in 2001, and had important wins in the US OPEN and Wimbledon, where he was a finalist in his category. Müller trained at the Sánchez-Casal Academy for two years, from 2003 to 2005, at which time he was placed among the Top 100 of the ATP.
In 2003, he was ranked 160 ATP and it was then that he began training with the Sánchez-Casal System. In 2005, he stood out on a global level when he defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. He managed to finish 2005 with an ATP ranking of 58.
From 2003 to 2017, at 33 years old and the father of two children, he achieved his first ATP title in Sydney, as a result of perseverance and humility. This was followed by a second title in Hertogenbosch, later in June. And you? What do you fear? How can you overcome the challenges you face? Do you believe in second chances?
Daniel Muñoz Pozo
Head of Communications & Media at Sánchez-Casal Academy.
