Rafa Nadal plays in anticipation of the pain of losing. It makes him play harder.
This conforms to what I've learned. It's better to play hungry for success and have confidence tempered by a realistic fear of loss. This often increases your focus.
To most, I think success means reaching goals and seeing the opponent as an obstacle to that objective. I wanted to write playing scared, but some don't do well in that condition. It's a tightrope walk between being fearful and having a healthy fear equivalent to worry of failing. I only know that overconfidence leads to complacency, and that is death in any endeavor. Nadal always looks as if he's playing for his life out there, and maybe that is how he feels. I read somewhere that he detests losing, and you often can see it in his face in those rare times he does lose. To Nadal, I suspect success hinges on walking off the court a winner that day, and each match is a goal.
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