Roger Federers Speech at 2024 Dartmouth
1. this has to be my most unexpected victory ever
- 这可能是我经历过的最意想不到的胜利。
2. President Beilock, the board of trustees, faculty members: thank you for this honor. President Beilock, I’m incredibly grateful, and I’ll try my best not to choke.
- 贝洛克校长、董事会成员、各位教职工：感谢这份荣誉。贝洛克校长，我非常感激，我会尽力不紧张（不怯场）。
- “choke”：在压力下失常，尤其在演讲或比赛中。
3. The robe is hard to move in. Keep in mind, I’ve worn shorts almost every day for the last 35 years.
- 这长袍穿起来太难动了。你要知道，我过去35年几乎每天都穿短裤。
4. As you might have heard, grass is my favorite surface. Big green, it must be destiny.
- 正如你们可能听说过的，草地是我最喜欢的场地。一大片绿色，这一定是命运的安排。
5. I can sum it up in two words: beer pong. I’m told Dartmouth invented it.
- 我可以用两个词总结：啤酒乒乓（酒桌乒乓）。听说是达特茅斯发明的。
- “beer pong”：大学生派对游戏，象征青春和社交文化。
6. So I’m glad to work on my shots with some of you this past few days.
- 所以这几天能和你们一些人练练球，我很开心。
- “work on my shots”：可以指投篮、发球、击球等动作的练习。
7. I’m actually thinking about turning pro
- 我其实在考虑要不要转职业了。
8. but I know there’s more to Dartmouth than pong
- 不过我知道，达特茅斯远不止于酒桌乒乓这件事。
- 表达了对学校深度价值的认可。
9. I did a welcome. I got to climb the Baker Tower.
- 我参加了迎新活动，还爬上了贝克塔。
- “I did a welcome”：非正式说法，指参加了“Welcome Event”。
10. I crushed some chocolate chip cookies from Foco
- 我在 Foco 狂吃了一些巧克力曲奇。
- “crushed”：俚语，表示“猛吃、吃得爽、干掉了”。
11. I’ve done it all, but there’s another big reason I’m here: Tony G, class of ’93.
- 我体验了这一切，但我来这里还有一个重要原因：Tony G，1993届的校友。
12. the day Bella got into Dartmouth
- 贝拉被达特茅斯录取的那天。
13. I vacuum the house. Knowing truth, I’m loving the life of a tennis graduate.
- 我用吸尘器打扫房子。知道真相的我，正享受着作为“网球毕业生”的生活。
- “Knowing truth”带有调侃意味，表示认清现实。
14. So I have a head start in answering the questions of what’s next.
- 所以我比你们更早开始思考“接下来该做什么”的问题。
15. Today, I want to share a few lessons I’ve relied on through this transition.
- 今天，我想分享一些我在这段人生转变中所依赖的经验和教训。
16. I hope they will be useful in the world beyond Dartmouth.
- 我希望这些经验在达特茅斯之外的世界也同样受用。
17. they meant it as a compliment
- 他们说这话本意是想赞美。
18. He barely broke a sweat
- 他几乎没怎么出汗，也就是毫不费力地完成了某件事。
19. I spend years whining, swearing – sorry – throwing my rackets before I learned to keep my cool.
The wake up call came early in my career when an opponent at the Italian open publicly questioned my mental discipline. He said, “Roger will be the favorite for the first two hours, then I’ll be the favorite after that.”
- 在学会冷静之前，我花了好几年时间抱怨、骂人（抱歉），甚至乱扔球拍。
- 我的警钟是在意大利公开赛早期响起的，一位对手当众质疑我的心理素质。他说：“罗杰在前两小时是热门，之后我就成了热门。”
20. after two hours, your legs get wobbly, your mind starts wandering, and your discipline starts to fade.
- 两小时后，你的腿会发软，思绪飘散，专注力开始减弱。
21. so much work ahead of me
- 我前方还有很多努力要做。
22. calling me out
- 指出我的问题，进行有建设性的批评或提醒。
23. even my rivals were doing it
- 连我的对手也在这么做（如保持冷静、提升自律等）。
24. Players, thank you
- 各位球员，谢谢你们（表达感恩之情）。
25. racking up A after A
- 一个A接着一个A，不断取得优异成绩。
26. pulling all-nighters
- 通宵熬夜（通常为学习或准备考试）。
27. loading up in caffeine
- 大量摄入咖啡因（咖啡或能量饮料）。
28. pure talent alone
- 单靠天赋是不够的，暗示努力的重要性。
29. “Hopefully like me”
- “希望你们也和我一样”。
30. “Kicked in”
- “开始生效”“突然起作用”。
示例：My self-belief really kicked in. 我的自信真正建立起来了。
31. aiming right at their strength
- 直接挑战对手的强项，不回避难点。
32. I tried to beat the baseliners from the baseline. I tried to beat the attackers by attacking. I tried to beat the net rushers from the net. I took a chance by doing that.
- 我试图用底线打法打败底线型选手，用进攻打法打败进攻型选手，在网前击败冲网型选手。这么做其实很冒险。
33. To amplify my game and expand my options, you need a whole arsenal of strengths. So if one of them breaks down, you’ve got something left.
- 为了增强我的比赛水平、扩展战术选择，你需要一整套技能武器库。这样即便某项技能失灵，还有其他可以依靠。
34. When your game is clicking like that, winning is easy relatively.
- 当你的状态如此顺畅时，赢球相对来说就容易多了。
- “clicking”：比喻状态运转得很顺。
35. But talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it’s not about having a gift, it’s about having grit.
In tennis, a great forehand with sick racket head speed can be called a talent.
- 天赋的定义很广，大多数时候不是天赋异禀，而是坚韧不拔。
- 网球中，挥拍速度惊人的正手击球也可称为天赋。
- grit：毅力；sick：俚语，表示“酷”“非常棒”。
36. Some people are born with them. Everybody has to work at them. From this day forward, some people are going to assume that because you graduated from Dartmouth, it all is going to come easy for you.
And you know what? Let them believe that as long as you don’t.
- 有些人天生具备这些品质，但每个人都要努力。
- 有人会以为你从达特茅斯毕业，一切都会轻松。
- 但你知道吗？只要你自己不这么想，就让他们这么以为吧。
37. Tennis is brutal. There’s no getting around the fact that every tournament ends the same way.
- 网球很残酷。不可否认的是，每场比赛的结局都是一样的（只有一个冠军）。
38. but I think it would’ve been way, way better if I had won.
- 但我认为如果我赢了，那将会好得多。
39. obviously, except winning that Dartmouth master punk title sophomore summer, it is.
- 当然啦，除了我大二那个夏天赢得的“达特茅斯大师菜鸟赛”冠军（自嘲称呼）。
40. the cathedral of tennis；amazing venues；the magnitude of the moment
- 网球的殿堂；令人惊叹的场地；时刻的重大意义。
41. I’m not going to walk you through the match point by point.
- 我不会逐分讲解比赛过程。
- walk through：一步步解释。
42. There were rain delays, the sun went down, Rafa won two sets. I won the next two sets in tie breaks, and we found ourselves at seven all in the fifth.
- 比赛因下雨暂停，太阳落山，拉法赢了两盘，我在抢七中赢了两盘，第五盘打到7比7。
43. The final minute is so dark, I could barely see the chalk on the grass, but looking back, I feel like I lost at the very first point of the match.
- 最后一刻天色太暗，我几乎看不清草地上的白线，但回头看，我觉得我早在第一分就输了。
44. crushed me in straight sets；he’s finally got my number
- 直落几盘轻松击败我；他终于找到对付我的办法。
45. It took me onto the third set before I remembered, “Hey, buddy, you’re the five-time defending champion, and you’re on grass, by the way. You know how to do this.”
- 打到第三盘我才想起来：“嘿，你可是草地五连冠啊，你知道该怎么打。”
46. Some defeats hurt more than others. I knew I would never get another shot at six in a row. I lost Wimbledon.
- 有些失败更痛。我知道我再也没机会六连冠了。我输了温布尔登。
47. people said, “He had a great run. Is this the changing of the guard?” But I knew what I had to do: keep working and keep competing.
- 人们说：“他曾辉煌过。是不是要换代了？”但我知道我要做的：继续训练、继续竞争。
48. When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot.
You teach yourself to think, “Okay, I double faulted. It’s only a point.”
- 平均每两分就会输一分时，你学会不再纠结每一分。
- “好吧，我发球双误了，不过也就丢了一分。”
49. “Okay, I came to the net and I got passed again. It’s only a point.”
Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN’s top 10 playlist, that, too, is just a point.
- “好吧，我冲网又被穿越了。也只是丢了一分。”
- 即便是登上 ESPN 十佳球的好球，也只是一分而已。
50. This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point and the next point after that with intensity, clarity, and focus.
- 这种心态非常关键，让你能毫无负担地全神贯注于下一分，全力以赴。
（以下内容第51-70条将继续在下一条中完成）
以下是整理内容的最后部分（第51条至70条），依旧保持顺序、中英文对照，并补充必要注解：
51. It’s a rollercoaster with many ups and downs, and it’s natural when you’re down to doubt yourself and to feel sorry for yourself.
- 这是一场充满起伏的过山车之旅，在低谷时怀疑自己、为自己难过，是非常自然的事。
- rollercoaster：比喻人生或情绪上的大起大落。
52. That is, to me, the sign of a champion, the best in the world and not the best, because they win every point.
- 对我来说，这才是真正的冠军标志：他们成为世界上最好的，不是因为他们每一分都赢了。
- 正确理解结构应为：
A champion—the best in the world—is not the best because they win every point, but because of how they handle setbacks.
53. be relentless
- 毫不妥协，坚持到底，不轻言放弃。
54. Not much bigger than a dorm room. Okay, make that three or four dorm rooms in Mass Row.
- 空间不比宿舍大多少。好吧，大概相当于马萨诸塞宿舍楼里三四个房间那么大。
- “Mass Row”：达特茅斯的宿舍区域。
55. a rewarding life
- 一个值得的、有成就感的人生。
56. never lost my appetite
- 我从未失去过对这件事的渴望或热情。
- “appetite”引申为“对某事的兴趣”。
57. I never burned out maybe
- 或许我从未精疲力尽（从未感到倦怠）。
58. Philanthropy
- 慈善事业
- philanthropists：慈善家
59. Motivated by my South African mother, I started a foundation to empower children through education.
Early childhood education is something we take for granted in a place like Switzerland, but in Sub-Saharan Africa, 75% of children do not have access to preschool.
Think about that, 75%.
- 在南非母亲的激励下，我创立了一个基金会，通过教育赋能儿童。
- 在瑞士这样的地方，幼儿教育被视为理所当然；但在撒哈拉以南非洲，75%的儿童无法接受学前教育。想想看，75%。
60. Thank you. It’s been an honor and it’s been humbling, an honor to help tackle this challenge, and humbling to see how complex it is, humbling to try to read stories to children in one of the languages of Lesotho.
Humbling also to arrive in rural Zambia, and have to explain what tennis actually is.
- 谢谢大家。能参与解决这个挑战，我感到既荣幸又谦卑。
- 用莱索托某种语言给孩子读故事让我深感谦卑；在赞比亚农村向人解释网球是什么，同样让我感到谦卑。
61. I vividly remember drawing a tennis court on the chalkboard for the kids to see, because I asked them what tennis was and one kid said, “It’s the one with the table, right?”
With the paddles, pong, again. It’s everywhere.
- 我清楚记得我在黑板上给孩子们画网球场，因为我问他们什么是网球，有个孩子说：“是那个有桌子的游戏，对吧？”
- 有拍子，是乒乓球，又是Pong，真是无处不在。
62. I can’t believe we’ve just celebrated 20 years of this work, especially because I started the foundation before I thought I was ready.
- 我简直不敢相信我们刚刚庆祝了这项工作的20周年，尤其是在我还没准备好的时候就开始了这项事业。
63. A Well-Rounded Education
- 全面发展的教育。
64. picked a major and went deep
- 选择一个专业并深入钻研。
65. Athletes even sang acapella
- 运动员甚至还参加了无伴奏合唱。
66. It’s not an accident that my business partnership with Tony is called TEAM8 – a play on words, “teammate”.
- 我和托尼的商业合作叫 TEAM8，这不是巧合，而是“teammate（队友）”的双关语。
67. they have shared your triumphs and your struggles.
- 他们与你共同经历了胜利与挣扎。
68. but you share this memory and a whole lot more.
- 但你们不仅共享这段回忆，还有更多宝贵经历。
69. can I have my racket real quick?
- “我能快速拿一下我的球拍吗？”
70. Okay, so for the forehand, for those who play tennis, you’ll want to use an eastern grip, okay? You keep your knuckles apart just a little bit.
- 关于正手击球，打网球的人通常会用东方式握拍。
- 你要稍微让手指的指关节分开一点点。
71. Obviously, you don’t want to squeeze the grip too hard. Switching from forehand to backhand should be easy.
Also, remember, it all starts with the footwork. And the take back is important, and the same as the follows through.
No, this is not a metaphor, it’s just good technique.
- 显然，握拍不应太紧。从正手切换到反手要自然流畅。
- 一切始于步伐；准备动作和随挥动作都很重要。
- 不，这是技巧，不是比喻。
72. Parting Words
- 告别的话，临别赠言。
====
TRANSCRIPT
Thank you, everybody. It’s great to see you, and hello, class of 2024. This is so exciting! It’s an incredible feeling to be here with you, and I am so excited to join you today.
Really, you have no idea how excited I am. Keep in mind, this is literally only the second time I’ve ever set foot on a college campus. Second time ever, but for some reason, you are giving me a doctorate degree. I just came here to give a speech, but I get to go home as Dr. Roger. That’s a pretty nice bonus, so Dr. Roger, this has to be my most unexpected victory ever. Thank you.
President Beilock, the board of trustees, faculty members: thank you for this honor. President Beilock, I’m incredibly grateful, and I’ll try my best not to choke.
Outside My Comfort Zone
I’m a little bit outside of my comfort zone today. This is not my usual scene, and these are not my usual clothes. Do you dress like this every day at Dartmouth?
The robe is hard to move in. Keep in mind, I’ve worn shorts almost every day for the last 35 years. I’m not a person who gives a lot of speeches like this, maybe the worst, but an important speech was when I started on the Swiss national team.
I was only 17 years old, and I was so nervous. I couldn’t even say more than four words: “Happy to be here.” Well, here we are, 25 years later, and I still feel a little nervous, but I’ve got a lot more than four words to say to you, starting with “I’m happy to be here.”
Happy to be with you here on the green.
As you might have heard, grass is my favorite surface. Big green, it must be destiny.
Dartmouth Experiences
And there’s another reason I’m here, and I can sum it up in two words: beer pong. Or pong as you call it, and I guess you can all call it what you like. I’m told Dartmouth invented it.
Now, this sport – wait, is pong a sport? It is? Okay, or is it a way of life? Either way, Dartmouth is the Wimbledon of pong, and it’s even raining like in Wimbledon. So I’m glad to work on my shots with some of you this past few days. I’m actually thinking about turning pro, but I know there’s more to Dartmouth than pong.
I’ve spent an amazing couple of days here, and you’ve made Hanover feel like home. The mountains here are exactly like the Swiss Alps – just shorter, but I’m loving it here. I got a chance to hit some balls with my kids at the Boston Tennis Center yesterday.
I did a welcome. I got to climb the Baker Tower. I saw some incredible views and took my kids to see the Dr. Seuss’s books at the library. And, of course, also I crushed some chocolate chip cookies from Foco, and I ate some EBAs chicken sandwich from Lou’s. I’ve done it all, but there’s another big reason I’m here: Tony G, class of ’93.
Connections and Loyalty
Tony Godsick is my business partner, my longtime agent, and one of my closest friends, and most important, the proud father of Isabella, class of 2024. From Tony and now Bam, I know how special this place truly is, and how loyal you are to each other, and how obsessive you are about this color green.
I was with their family, including Mary Jo and Nico, the day Bella got into Dartmouth. I remember how crazy happy she was. I saw a smile and a level of excitement on her face that I’d never seen before.
But then I got here and actually everybody is smiling like this. I can see how proud you are of this place and this moment. You’ve worked so hard to get here. I have huge respect for all of you, what you have achieved and for the families and friends who have helped you achieve it. Let’s give them a big hand.
Tennis Graduate
I’m even more impressed, because I left school at the age of 16 to play tennis full time, so I never went to college, but I did graduate recently. I graduated tennis.
I know the word is “retire.” Roger Federer retired from tennis. Retired, the word is awful. You wouldn’t say you retired from college, right? It sounds terrible. Like you, I finished one big thing, and I’m moving on to the next.
Like you, I’m figuring out what that is. Graduates, I feel your pain. I know what it’s like when people keep asking what your plan is for the rest of your life. They ask me, “Now that you are not a professional tennis player, what do you do?” I don’t know, and it’s okay not to know. So what do I do with my time?
I’m a dad first, so I guess I drive my kids to school. I play chess online against strangers. I vacuum the house. Knowing truth, I’m loving the life of a tennis graduate. I graduated tennis in 2022, and you are graduating college in 2024. So I have a head start in answering the questions of what’s next.
Tennis Lessons
Today, I want to share a few lessons I’ve relied on through this transition. Let’s call them tennis lessons. I hope they will be useful in the world beyond Dartmouth.
So here’s the first: effortless is a myth. I mean it, I say that as someone who has heard that word a lot. Effortless. People would say my play was effortless. Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment, but it used to frustrate me when they would say, “He barely broke a sweat,” or, “Is he even trying?” The truth is I had to work very hard to make it look easy.
I spend years whining, swearing – sorry – throwing my rackets before I learned to keep my cool. The wake up call came early in my career when an opponent at the Italian open publicly questioned my mental discipline. He said, “Roger will be the favorite for the first two hours, then I’ll be the favorite after that.”
Working Hard
I was puzzled at first, but eventually, I realized what he was trying to say. Everybody can play well the first two hours. You’re fit, you’re fast, you’re clear, and after two hours, your legs get wobbly, your mind starts wandering, and your discipline starts to fade.
It made me understand I have so much work ahead of me, and I’m ready to go on this journey. I get it. My parents, my coaches, and my fitness coach, everyone had been calling me out.
And now, even my rivals were doing it. Players, thank you. I’m returnly grateful for what you did, because you made me work harder.
So I started to train harder, a lot harder actually. But then I realized winning effortlessly is the ultimate achievement. I got that reputation, because my warmups at the tournaments were so casual that people didn’t think I’ve been training hard, but I had been working hard before the tournament when nobody was watching.
Maybe you’ve seen a version of this at Dartmouth. How many times did you feel like your classmates were racking up A after A without even trying? While you were pulling all-nighters, loading up in caffeine maybe, or crying softly in a corner of Sanborn Library.
Hopefully like me, you learn that effortless is a myth. I didn’t get where I got on pure talent alone. I got there by trying to outwork my opponents.
Self-Belief
I believed in myself, but belief in yourself has to be earned. There was a moment in 2003 when my self-belief really kicked in. I was at the ATP finals where only the best eight players qualify, and I beat some of the top players I really, really admired by aiming right at their strength.
Before, I would run away from their strength. If a guy had a strong forehand, I would try to hit his backhand, but now, I would try to go after his forehand. I tried to beat the baseliners from the baseline.
I tried to beat the attackers by attacking. I tried to beat the net rushers from the net. I took a chance by doing that.
I said, “Why did I do it?” To amplify my game and expand my options, you need a whole arsenal of strengths. So if one of them breaks down, you’ve got something left.
When your game is clicking like that, winning is easy relatively. Then there are days when you just feel broken, your back hurts, your knee hurts – have that a lot. Maybe you’re a little sick or scared, but you still find a way to win.
And those are the victories we can be most proud of, because they prove that you can win, not just when you’re at your best, but especially when you aren’t. Yes, talent is – yes, talent matters. I’m not going to stand here and tell you it doesn’t.
But talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it’s not about having a gift, it’s about having grit. In tennis, a great forehand with sick racket head speed can be called a talent.
Talents in Tennis and Life
But in tennis, like in life, discipline is also a talent, and so is patience. Trusting yourself is a talent. Embracing the process. Loving the process is a talent. Managing your life, managing yourself. These can be talents, too.
Some people are born with them. Everybody has to work at them. From this day forward, some people are going to assume that because you graduated from Dartmouth, it all is going to come easy for you.
And you know what? Let them believe that as long as you don’t. Okay, second lesson: it’s only a point.
Let me explain. You can work harder than you thought possible, and still lose. I have many times. Tennis is brutal. There’s no getting around the fact that every tournament ends the same way. One player gets a trophy, every other player gets back on a plane, stares out of the window, and thinks “How the hell that I miss that shot?”
Dealing with Losses
Imagine if today only one of you got a degree. Congratulations, this year’s graduate. Let’s give her a hand. The rest of you, the other 1,000 of you, better luck next time. So, you know, I tried not to lose, but I did lose, sometimes big. For me, one of the biggest was the finals at Wimbledon in 2008.
Me versus Nadal. Some call it the greatest match of all time. Okay, all respect to Rafa, but I think it would’ve been way, way better if I had won.
Losing at Wimbledon was a big deal, because winning Wimbledon is everything – obviously, except winning that Dartmouth master punk title sophomore summer, it is. I mean I’ve gotten to play in some amazing venues around the world, but when you have the chance to walk onto center court at Wimbledon, the cathedral of tennis, and when you finish as the champion, you feel the magnitude of the moment, and there’s nothing like it.
In 2008, I was going for record six consecutive title. I was playing for history. I’m not going to walk you through the match point by point.
If we did, we will be here for hours, almost five hours to be exact. There were rain delays, the sun went down, Rafa won two sets. I won the next two sets in tie breaks, and we found ourselves at seven all in the fifth.
Lessons from a Loss
I understand why people focus on the end. The final minute is so dark, I could barely see the chalk on the grass, but looking back, I feel like I lost at the very first point of the match. I looked across the net, and I saw a guy who just a few weeks earlier crushed me in straight sets at the French open, and I thought, “This guy is maybe hungrier than I am, and he’s finally got my number.”
It took me onto the third set before I remembered, “Hey, buddy, you’re the five-time defending champion, and you’re on grass, by the way. You know how to do this.” But it came too late, and Rafa won, and it was well deserved.
Some defeats hurt more than others. I knew I would never get another shot at six in a row. I lost Wimbledon.
I lost my number one ranking, and suddenly, people said, “He had a great run. Is this the changing of the guard?” But I knew what I had to do: keep working and keep competing.
In tennis, perfection is impossible. In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. Now, I have a question for you. What percentage of points do you think I won in those matches? Only 54%. In other words, even top ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play.
When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot. You teach yourself to think, “Okay, I double faulted. It’s only a point.”
“Okay, I came to the net and I got passed again. It’s only a point.” Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN’s top 10 playlist, that, too, is just a point.
So here’s why I’m telling you this. When you’re playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world and it is. But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you. This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point and the next point after that with intensity, clarity, and focus. The truth is, whatever game you play in life, sometimes, you’re going to lose a point, a match, a season, a job.
It’s a rollercoaster with many ups and downs, and it’s natural when you’re down to doubt yourself and to feel sorry for yourself. And by the way, your opponents have self-doubt, too. Don’t ever forget that.
But negative energy is wasted energy. You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments. That is, to me, the sign of a champion, the best in the world and not the best, because they win every point.
It’s because they know they’ll lose again and again, and have learned how to deal with it. You accept it, cry it out if you need to, and then force a smile. You move on, be relentless, adapt and grow.
Work harder, work smarter. Remember, work smarter.
Life Beyond the Court
Lesson three, are you guys still with me? For a guy who left school at 16, this is a lot of lessons as well for me, too. So here’s the third one: life is bigger than the court.
A tennis court is a small space – 2,106 square feet to be exact. That’s where singles matches. Not much bigger than a dorm room. Okay, make that three or four dorm rooms in Mass Row. I worked a lot, learned a lot, and ran a lot of miles in that small space, but the world is a whole lot bigger than that. Even when I was just starting out, I knew that tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world.
I knew that if I was lucky, maybe I could play competitively until my late 30’s, maybe even 41. But even when I was in the top five, it was important to me to have a life, a rewarding life full of travel, culture, friendships, and especially family.
I never abandoned my roots. I never forgot where I came from, but I also never lost my appetite to see the very big world. I left home at 14 to go to school in the French part of Switzerland for 2 years, and I was horribly homesick at first, but learned to love a life on the move.
But these are the reasons I never burned out maybe. I was excited to travel the world, but not just as a tourist. I realized pretty early that I wanted to serve other people in other countries.
Philanthropy
Motivated by my South African mother, I started a foundation to empower children through education. Early childhood education is something we take for granted in a place like Switzerland, but in Sub-Saharan Africa, 75% of children do not have access to preschool. Think about that, 75%.
Like all children, they need a good start if they’re going to fulfill their potential. And so far, we’ve helped nearly 3 million children to get a quality education and help to train more than 55,000 teachers. It’s been an honor…
Thank you. It’s been an honor and it’s been humbling, an honor to help tackle this challenge, and humbling to see how complex it is, humbling to try to read stories to children in one of the languages of Lesotho. Humbling also to arrive in rural Zambia, and have to explain what tennis actually is.
I vividly remember drawing a tennis court on the chalkboard for the kids to see, because I asked them what tennis was and one kid said, “It’s the one with the table, right?” With the paddles, pong, again. It’s everywhere.
I have to tell you, it’s a wonderful feeling to visit these incredible rural places and to find classrooms full of children who are learning and reading and playing like children everywhere should be allowed to do. It’s also inspiring to see what they grow up to be.
Some have become nurses, teachers, computer programmers. It’s been an exciting journey, and I feel like we’re only at the beginning with so much to learn. I can’t believe we’ve just celebrated 20 years of this work, especially because I started the foundation before I thought I was ready.
I was 22 at the time. Like many of you are today, I was not ready for anything other than tennis, but sometimes, you’ve got to take a chance, and then figure it out. Philanthropy can mean a lot of things.
It can mean starting a non-profit or donating money, but it can also mean contributing your ideas, your time, your energy to a mission that is larger than yourself. All of you have so much to give, and I hope you will find your own unique ways to make a difference, because life really is much bigger than the court.
A Well-Rounded Education
As a student at Dartmouth, you picked a major and went deep, but you also went wide. Engineers learned art history. Athletes even sang acapella, and computer scientists learned to speak German.
Dartmouth’s legendary football coach, Buddy Teevens used to recruit players by telling their parents, “Your son will be a great football player when it’s football time, and a great student when it’s academic time, and a great person all the time.” That is what a Dartmouth education is all about.
Tennis has given me so many memories, but my off court experiences are the ones I carry forward just as much. The places I’ve gotten to travel, the platform that lets me give back, and most of all the people I’ve met along the way.
Tennis, like life, is a team sport. Yes, you stand alone on your side of the net, but your success depends on your team, your coaches, your teammates, even your rivals. All these influences help to make you who you are.
It’s not an accident that my business partnership with Tony is called TEAM8 – a play on words, “teammate”. All the work we do together reflects that team spirit, the strong bond we have with each other and our colleagues, and the athletes we represent and with partners and sponsors.
Importance of Family
These personal relationships matter the most. I learned this way of thinking from the best, my parents. Of course, they’ve always supported me, always encouraged me, and always understood what I most wanted and needed to be.
A family is a team. I feel so very lucky that my incredible wife, Mirka, who makes every joy in my life even brighter, and our four amazing children, Myla, Charlene, Leo, and Lenny are here with me today. And more important, that we are here for each other every day.
Graduates, I know the same is true for you, your parents, your families – they made the sacrifices to get you here, and they have shared your triumphs and your struggles. They will always, always be in your corner, and not only them, as you head out into the world, don’t forget, you get to bring all of this with you, this culture, this energy, these people, this color green.
It’s everywhere. The friends who have pushed you and supported you to become the best versions of yourself. The friends who will never stop cheering for you just like today, and you will keep making friends in Dartmouth community possibly even today.
So right now, turn to the people on your left and on your right, and maybe this is the first time you’ve met. You might not share experiences or viewpoints, but you share this memory and a whole lot more. When I left tennis, I became a former tennis player, but you are not a former anything.
You are future record breakers, world travelers, future volunteers and philanthropists, future winners, and future leaders. I’m here to tell you from the other side of graduation that leaving a familiar world behind and finding new ones is incredibly, deeply, wonderfully exciting.
Tennis Lessons
So there, Dartmouth, are your tennis lessons for the day. Effortless is a myth, as we heard. It’s only a point.
Life is bigger than the court. Wait, I mean, I got one more lesson. President Beilock, can I have my racket real quick?
Thank you. Okay, so for the forehand, for those who play tennis, you’ll want to use an eastern grip, okay? You keep your knuckles apart just a little bit.
Obviously, you don’t want to squeeze the grip too hard. Switching from forehand to backhand should be easy. Also, remember, it all starts with the footwork. And the take back is important, and the same as the follows through. No, this is not a metaphor, it’s just good technique.
Parting Words
Dartmouth, it has been an incredible honor for me. Thank you for the honorary degree. Thank you for making me part of your really big day.
I’m glad I got to meet so many of you these past few days, and if you are ever in Switzerland or anywhere else in the world, and you see me on the street, even 20 or 30 years from now, whether I have gray hair or no hair, I want you to stop me, and say, “I was there that day on the green. I’m a member of your class, the class of 2024.”
I will never forget this day, yeah. I will never forget this day, and I know you won’t either. You have worked so hard to get here, and left nothing on the court or the pong table.
From one graduate to another, I can’t wait to see what you all do next. Whatever game you choose, give it your best. Go for your shots, play free, try everything, and most of all, be kind to one another, and have fun out there.
Congratulations, again, class of 2024.