Paradoxically, the winning shot in tennis is often not really the winning shot. It’s easy to look at the unreturned forehand down the line as the decisive thing, but it’s usually only the clincher, coming at the end of an exchange in which one player progressively gains an advantage by tactically outmaneuvering the opponent. It’s merely the conversion of an opportunity that was set up throughout the point.

Even points that are seemingly simple and short are often coloured by a hidden set-up. Federer, for example, is remarkably good at holding serve, despite the fact that his serve is not as powerful as those of some of the “big servers”, like Karlovic, Isner, or Raonic. The effectiveness of Federer’s serve, like his overall game, is due instead to variability. He mixes up the spin, speed, and placement of his serves in a way that makes it difficult for opponents to read and adapt to. As a result, a serve that Federer hits may be an ace because his opponent was caught off guard based on the previous pattern of serves in the match. In a sense, the ace, though a stand-alone shot, was primed by the preceding mix of serves. It too was set up.

Less frequently, points are won without a set-up. These are the points in which, out of nowhere, a player will hit a spectacular shot. They dominate the highlights reels, but that’s precisely because they’re special. The fact that they receive so much attention in the post-match synopses can be misleading; it’s easy to get the impression that the match consisted of all inspired, spontaneous acts. For all their brilliance, however, these are merely the showy face of a more mundane reality made up of points that are deliberately constructed and predictably executed.

Wins, whether in tennis or life, are nominally brought about by discrete acts but are also the culmination of a hidden iceberg of preparatory work. Indeed, the set-up is where the heavy lifting takes place. Through the consistent application of constructive habits and principles, an opportunity is eventually created, which can then be cashed in when the circumstances conspire to make an opening. Setting things up well creates the illusion that they’re done easily because if the lead-up is efficient and timely you’re left with a light finish in which you can acquit yourself with flair and easy grace. The audience focuses on the finishing achievement, either unaware of or neglecting the preparation that went into it, but the doer can’t be seduced by that idea.