Media365
Thousands of tennis fans soaked up the on-court action as the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open got under way in late October. But in the lead-up to the tournament, legends of the sport served their own aces off the court during a special event aimed at inspiring and nurturing young talent.
The Prudential NextGen Aces event put a spotlight on the resilience, discipline and mindset required for elite athletes and business executives to reach the top of their respective games. It was presented as a complement to the tennis tournament, which the insurer has been supporting for more than a decade.
The event’s line-up of speakers included Aryna Sabalenka, the current Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world No 1 player who has won four major tournaments so far in her career, and Andre Agassi, the former world No 1 men’s player who holds eight major tournament titles. They were joined by Vivian Kong, Hong Kong’s Olympic gold medal-winning fencer, and Prudential executives in two discussion sessions that explored the lessons learned on the journey to career success.
In his opening speech to an audience of more than 200 guests, Prudential Group CEO Anil Wadhwani said Prudential NextGen Aces was part of the company’s wider campaign to support the growth of tennis in Hong Kong and its ongoing outreach to local communities, emphasising that the experiences of the sport and business leaders featured at the event could provide inspiration for young people with aspirations of their own.
Wadhwani hosted a fireside chat with Agassi, which was titled “Passing the Racket: Leadership, Legacy and the Next Generation”. The pair discussed the pressure that comes from being at the top of a field. Agassi, who became a professional tennis player at age 16, shared the highs and lows of his career, which included falling from the world No 1 ranking to No 141 within a two-year period.
He revealed how success at a young age made him have a “hate-love” relationship with tennis. But a time of reflection led Agassi to establish an educational foundation for children in the poorest neighbourhood of his US hometown of Las Vegas, which not only helped give him a purpose, but also a reason to return to the sport.
“Every day, my identity was tied to performance,” Agassi said, adding that he was always trying to prove himself in order to feel more connected. “I thought winning would do this, but it never quite did.”
He continued: “It’s much harder [to come back] the second time, but it teaches you very quickly how to become incredibly present in what it is you’re doing, because your goal can’t be to be No 1 – it is, can I be better than I am today?”
