As many other Spaniards, I am indeed a great fan of Rafael Nadal. A couple of days ago I read a survey published in El Mundo’s Magacine (Magacine) revealing Nadal was the most admired man in Spain in 2010. This did not happen in 2008 or in 2009. I guess many admire him nowadays for the same reason I do.

The idea the general public had about Nadal was that it had been easy for him to reach the top. Every time I read in the newspaper he had won a tournament, I used to say to myself, “that’s normal, he always wins”. Sometimes I even got upset when he was heading towards a fifth set –it seemed everything was pre-arranged. Then I understood that the one going a set down gets all the strength he needs from that situation –a situation that gives him the push to try to reach the victory. When I saw him live, I realized that he really had to make a great effort in key points. The fifth set represented the moment of truth had arrived, and only the best and the ones believing in themselves are victorious. And Nadal is one of those, because he is the number one in the world.

But then family and knee problems came up, and he started to lose, defeat after defeat. Media told us everything and we were all suffering with him. We could really feel he was going through tough times. I am very interested in the sentences top sport players usually say at the end of a game, because I consider them to be a real engine for motivation and I think they teach a lot through their victories. 

And I like what Nadal says. In January 2010, after being defeated in his umpteenth match against a top-ten player in his third or fourth final of the season 2009-2010, he said, “I need to play more finals like this”. This really touched me. I could then see what was his most positive attitude after losing another final. Nadal showed he was willing to learn from his mistakes, and I felt Nadal was close to be what he had to be. Meanwhile, Federer was winning absolutely everything and beating all records in his way to become the best tennis player ever. It is important to remember that, up to date, Federer is indeed the best tennis player ever.

I have bad news for you, Federer. Rafa is back, and now it’s time for you to cry again.

Nadal won Roland Garros and Wimbledon. And it is now –not two or three years ago– that Nadal is the most admired man in Spain. Now we know he is the number one, and we know how hard it has been getting there.

We admire the best. But we admire much more those who unceasingly work everyday to become the best. There is always a person who practices a lot behind every top sportsman or woman. I don’t think sportspeople become legends just in the finals. This is just the consequence of their daily efforts and work.

We know much about Nadal and we know how hard it has been for him to reach the top. What about your wines and wineries? I know your wines have 90 and 92 points according to Parker, and 92 and 93 according to Peñín, but… what other finals have you played? How many of them have you won and how many have you lost? What are your achievements so far and the obstacles you have overcome? How long has it taken you to be where you are nowadays? Do all your customers, and your customers’ customers know how good your wines are and the efforts you have made? Has any media informed about it? Are you satisfied with the way they did it? Do you think the national and the international market know everything about your wines and your winery? Do you do everything possible to make a difference in comparison to your competitors?  

If the answer to all these questions is positive, congratulations. If it is not, what if you take advantage of the Social Media in order to promote your work and your product?

Do you need further reasons to join Social Media? The reasons are countless, but only for this I would recommend to enter a Winery into Social Media. Because we don’t know if anyone will tell everyone about us, but we know no one could tell it the way we do.

This post in Spanish: Necesito jugar más finales como ésta. Cuenta tu historia a través de Social Media

This image is from: as.com