A Great Meeting

Hello. Last Sunday arguably the two most dominate male individual professional athletes. Shortly after defeating a very game Andy Roddick in the US Open by winning 7 of the last 9 games, Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrated with Tiger Woods.
It was the first time the two masters had met each other. They share an agency, which set up the meeting.
What do these two talk about? Well, they're probably the only ones who know what the other goes through in an event. The great expectations (can we imagine what the story will be if either/both of them win the Grand Slam next year?), the possibility of disappointing (what will be the story if either/both don't win?), the feeling of invincibility, the tremendous hype.
What is the key to each of them winning? In a word, patience. I watched the US Open final when it was still up for grabs. Federer remained calm, whereas Roddick was running all over. Once Federer got a couple of points, it just started to snowball, because Roddick just couldn't relax. And who could blame him? In the US in the biggest match he's been in in quite a while. The adrenaline has to be pumping.
Federer and Woods (and Bjorn Borg, and Mario Lemieux, and other greats) just seem to be able to play great without having to get the adrenaline flowing. That seems to be the difference.
From now on, I'm going to try to be more patient. After seeing how the great ones benefit from it, it can only help me.

Regards,
Steve