fortitude and determination

I know all my posts lately have been about soccer and tennis but this is going to be one more that involves tennis.

Yesterday I watched a marathon match. The first 4 sets of this match were played the night before. Then they suspended the game (after 3 hours) because it was too dark to continue. They were just going to play the 5th set on the following day. Easy, right?

However, Wimbledon has a rule that a 5th set is never decided by a tie break. So, the two men played for over 7 hours yesterday! That's right - the 5th set lasted over 7 hours and again had to be suspended due to lack of light. They were tied at 59 games apiece and will have to come back again today to try to finish this marathon match.

It just made me reflect on fortitude, determination, and motivation.

What could possibly make two men continue playing when they can hardly stand upright? They have played for over 10 hours already and there is no end in sight. When does one cry "uncle"? I can't possibly believe that even when one of them eventually wins, he'll actually have any strength or energy left to play his next match. I have to wonder if rather than wanting to win neither can stomach the idea of losing after investing so much time and energy in this match? Are they playing not to lose?

Is there something, besides my children and my husband, that I would fight that long and hard for? I'm fairly competitive but this goes beyond my realm of understanding.


**scrappinsoccermama did NOT watch all 7 hours of set 5 (I do have one or two things to do during my day despite how it sounds).