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The Next Point: What Tennis Has Taught Me About Leadership and Business
Hello there,
In 1997, I was almost ten when Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten won his first Roland-Garros title. Guga was only 20 and ranked №66 in the world, an underdog from the south of Brazil who suddenly made one of tennis’s biggest stages feel much closer. Alongside Fernando “Fininho” Meligeni, he helped make our flag more visible in a sport that had often felt distant and elite.
I’ve been watching tennis since Guga battled legends like Agassi, Sampras, and Safin. I stayed hooked through the Big 3 era of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, and today with Sinner, Alcaraz, and Fonseca.
I hit the ball for fun a few times, but only in my mid-30s did something click: I finally decided to learn properly.
Three years later, tennis has become more than a sport to me. It is a full-body workout, a mental exercise and, unexpectedly, a practical classroom for leadership and business.
Learning to be a beginner again
I started in a beginner class at a community centre. From there, I progressed into intermediate levels at a larger club, taking lessons and playing with people far more experienced than me, including players who had competed and won at a national level in their age groups (thank you…
