This Australian Open was different for me. For the first time (atleast for me), I got to witness the pre-match warm up exercises of the players. These behind-the-scenes live footages were fascinating to watch how world-class athletes prep themselves before a match, both physically and mentally.
What absolutely stunned me was the dedication of some players who would do post-match cool down exercises.
Nadal’s epic finals was a case in point. He just finished a gruelling five setter with Medvedev, them went through a long presentation ceremony. After that and before the long post-match press conference, he hit the gym to do his routine cool down exercises.
Any other person would have given higher priority to celebrating the victory. Not Rafa.
To have that level of commitment to take care of his body is remarkable. That’s why even at the age of 35, he has the physical stamina to outpace rivals 10 years younger to him.
Rafa’s routine reemphasized the points from the book Atomic Habits and the importance of setting and following systems.
