The subtle art of giving away nothing: From Dhoni to Sinner to Satwik-Chirag to The Godfather

About a month back, Novak Djokovic, on CBS’s 60 minutes, had shared a secret that has made him history’s deadliest predator on a tennis court. Between games, while sitting on the bench; Djokovic said, his eyes are always focused on the big screen as he is busy reading the close-up frame of his unsuspecting rival. “I am looking at him … how is he drinking water, is he sweating more than usual, is he breathing deeply or not. I look at how he is communicating with his team .. all these elements really affect the performance and the game itself.”

On Friday at the Australian Open, Djokovic, for close to three-and-half hours over 4 sets, tried looking for clues to crack the 22-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner. He didn’t spot any and suffered an epic loss in the semi-final. Maybe, Djokovic was wasting his time, the young challenger was inscrutable.

An expressionless match-face and an elegant mind that never gets clouded with thoughts of defeat, is something that only champions are blessed with. India’s most famous poker face belongs to MS Dhoni but of late there has been a pleasing sighting on the badminton courts. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are busy disproving several Indian sporting stereotypes and scaling new heights. They don’t allow score lines or setbacks to dictate their style of play. Just like Sinner.

Against Djokovic, the Italian did make mistakes at crucial points and even fluffed a chance of running away with the match in straight sets. But these slip-ups didn’t change his expression or play. Even after a double fault, he would attempt an ace and nail it too. He once missed an easy put away at the net but it didn’t bother him. There wasn’t even a glimmer of grimace. Sinner continued his relentless attack, hitting the lines for a winner on the very next point.

Glassy eyes, blank face, no sign of sweat; Sinner would sit on the bench like he was at a park with time to kill. His support staff too was stoic. Sitting in the front row, they looked like some Godfather’s consiglieres at the negotiation table. They gave nothing away to those wanting a peak into their minds.

Sinner also didn’t freeze when on cusp of history – no Italian man has beaten a World No.1 at a Grand Slam. It’s never easy to close out a game when Djokovic is across the net. Ask any tennis watcher what it means when the Serbian wins a close tie-breaker in the third set after losing the first two sets.

It’s a clear signal that the greatest-ever had his foot in the door and he would now run away with the match. This time the World No.1 couldn’t. Sinner’s deep booming strokes had a voice of their own. “I will continue to play my game, I am not giving in, I am here to win,” it seemed to be saying. He didn’t purr, he kept roaring till he had methodically dismantled the winner of 10 Australian Opens. The final point of the most-watched game of the Slam was won not because of Djokovic’s unforced error but a resounding forehand screamer from young Sinner that grazed past the baseline.

That laser-guided scorching Sinner shot brought to mind the over-head smashes Satwik and Chirag unleash at the crucial moment of the game. There were many of those delightful strikes in the Asian Games gold-medal winning match they won against the high-profile Korean pair of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho.

In an exhilarating show of blazing aggression they won 21-18, 21-16. In the first set, they played catch-up. They were trailing 10-13 and 15-18. But that didn’t show on their face nor mannerism. As the hunter in Djokovic likes to see in his prey, Satwik and Chirag didn’t reach for water bottles more often nor did they sweat a lot. They didn’t even throw nervous glances at their coaches. They dealt with the situation on their own. They stuck to their Plan A – A for attack.

In both the games, like Sinner did to Djokovic, they didn’t wait for their rival to make a mistake but they came up with winners of their own.The land of graceful touch artists and the good guys who mostly finished second had produced a pair of intimidating gun-slingers with killer instinct.

Someone needs to find a way to bottle the passion and spirit that Satwik and Chirag show and transport it to all sporting arenas across the country. India has a long history of losing tight knock-out ICC cricket games and a longer list of fourth placed Olympic finishers. If the nation aspires to have more silverware in their cabinet and podium finishers, they need players with the Sinner and Chirag-Satwik mindset.

At The Indian Express Idea Exchange, the star Indian pair did share their thought process when they take to the court against the best in the world. “For us, if we look at the Chinese or Korean or Japanese players, we don’t fear them and be like ‘oh shit, we are playing them.’ I think they might be thinking, ‘oh shit, we are playing Chirag and Satwik.’ I hope kids in the coming generation don’t fear players from these countries. And we shouldn’t think of them being much stronger than we are.” And we shouldn’t allow them to read our minds too and be as deadpan as Dhoni.

It’s the wisdom that even The Godfather, the movie with all of life’s answers, teaches. Not giving a whiff of your intentions to your rival is what Don Corleone told Sonny when he spoke out of turn during a negotiation. It’s also what Michael would tell Vincent, Sonny’s son in Part III. “Never let anyone know what you are thinking.”

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