VIDEO | Federer’s graduate lesson: “Effortless is a lie”

Speech to students at Dartmouth College: "Negative energy is wasted energy"

ROME – Roger Federer says he graduated in tennis, not retired. Graduate. And he says this while speaking to students at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, while receiving his honorary degree in literature. It gives a real lesson. Tennis taught him many things for life. Two above all. The first is that “effortless” success is a lie, at most a legend: “I didn’t get where I got just with talent. But by trying to work harder than my opponents. I believed in myself, but you have to earn that belief in yourself.”

“It’s just a point” is the title of the second lesson: “When you play a point it’s the most important thing in the world, but when that point is behind you, it’s behind you. The mental aspect is truly fundamental, because it allows you to prepare for the next point, and then the other, with intensity and clarity. Whatever game you play in life, you will end up losing something. One point, one match, one season, one job. It’s like a roller coaster, you go up and down. And it’s natural, when you go down, to doubt yourself, but your opponent also has doubts, never forget that. Negative energy is wasted energy. You want to be masters of difficult moments. That to me is the trait of a champion. Talent has a very broad definition. But most of the time it doesn’t mean having a gift, but having grit.”