Good Envy and Tennis Tall Poppies.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

The Awakening Slave

The Awakening Slave sculpture by Michelangelo is a powerful representation of the human struggle to break free from physical and spiritual constraints. Created around 1525-1530, this 2.67m high marble statue depicts a figure seemingly emerging from the stone, symbolizing the eternal battle of the human spirit to liberate itself from material limitations.

The sculpture’s unfinished state, known as “non-finito,” is believed to be intentional, serving as a metaphor for the ongoing process of self-liberation. The figure’s dynamic pose, with its twisted body and strained muscles, conveys a sense of immense effort and latent power as if the slave is on the verge of breaking free from its marble prison.

This work is part of a series of “Prisoners” or “Slaves” sculptures originally intended for Pope Julius II’s tomb. The incomplete nature of the piece aligns with Michelangelo’s belief that a sculptor’s role was to reveal the figures already contained within the marble, rather than to create them anew.

Themes include the struggle between spirit and matter; the human desire for freedom; and the process of self-realization and emergence. It serves as a profound meditation on the human condition, capturing the eternal striving of individuals to overcome their limitations and realize their full potential.

Envy – Good and Bad

From my book The Tall Poppy Syndrome – The Joy of Cutting Others Down:

Aptly described by W. Gerrod Parrott and Richard Smith in 1993: “Envy occurs when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacks it.” Envy is usually characterized by feelings of inferiority, longing, resentment, and disapproval. However, this complex emotion can be experienced in other ways, also, as indicated in this list quoted from Parrott:

longing: a longing for what another person has; frustrated desire

inferiority: anxiety, sadness, or distress over one’s shortcomings; feeling inferior to an envied person; despair over ever obtaining what an envied person has

agent-focused resentment: resentment of a specific person or group; displeasure over another’s superiority; anger and hatred of those deemed responsible

global resentment: resentment of the unfairness of circumstances or fate

guilt: guilt over ill will; belief that rancor is wrong; “enlightened malicious envy” (i.e., recognition of malicious envy in oneself)

admiration: emulation

Envy commonly consists of any combination of these. Inferiority and admiration are the most frequent combinations when resentment is absent. Admiration and resentment are an uncommon combination.

Although envy is normally considered undesirable, Aristotle distinguished a different type: emulation motivated people to improve themselves versus being motivated to take away things. Psychologists today have divided envy into various types but mostly to signify good and bad envy, or benign and malicious (also called malignant).

Good envy leads a person to admire others’ good qualities and seek to be like them. Malicious envy is not wanting people to possess what they have and desiring to cut them down (TPS) so the envier looks better by comparison. The point is to denigrate the person. This can overlap anger, and the distinction relies on justification and social standards. If the superiority of the envied is not “deserved,” we might consider our anger to be righteous indignation. If the advantage is deserved, our anger is not appropriate and is labeled malicious envy.

Benign envy pulls the envier up, while malicious envy pulls the envied down. For example, desiring what another possesses entails benign envy if we seek to earn that for ourselves, but malicious envy is when we resent the other person for having it.

Some languages have two words for envy. In Dutch, envy translates as afgunst and benijden. The first refers to malicious envy, the second to a brighter, constructive form. Russia has one word for envy but refers to “white” and “black” envy when describing its constructive versus destructive nature.

Tennis Greats: Three Tall Poppies who defined an era of men’s tennis using good envy.

Roger Federer, was born on August 8, 1981, in Basel, Switzerland.

Grand Slam Success:

• Won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, third behind Novak Djokovic (24) and Rafael Nadal (22)
• Claimed a record 8 Wimbledon titles
• Won 6 Australian Open, 5 US Open, and 1 French Open title
• The first man to win 20 majors (achieved at the 2018 Australian Open)
• Reached 31 Grand Slam finals, 46 semifinals, and 58 quarterfinals

ATP Tour Dominance:

• Won 103 ATP singles titles, second only to Jimmy Connors’ 109
• Claimed 28 ATP Masters titles and 6 ATP Finals crowns
• Holds the record for most consecutive weeks as world No. 1 (237 weeks)
• He spent a total of 310 weeks as world No. 1, second only to Djokovic 3

Olympic Achievements:

• Won gold in men’s doubles with Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
• Secured silver in singles at the 2012 London Olympics

Notable Records:

• The only player to win two Grand Slams five consecutive times (Wimbledon 2003-2007, US Open 2004-2008)
• Reached 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals (2005-2007), a record streak
• Won 65 straight matches on grass (2003-2008), the longest grass-court winning streak in the Open Era.
• The first player to win 40 successive matches at two Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US Open)

He retired from competitive tennis in 2022.

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Spain on June 3, 1986.

Grand Slam Sucess

• Won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second only to Novak Djokovic’s 24
• Claimed a record 14 French Open titles, showcasing unparalleled dominance on clay
• Secured 4 US Open, 2 Australian Open, and 2 Wimbledon titles
• Completed the Career Grand Slam by age 24, the youngest player to do so
• Achieved the Double Career Grand Slam, winning each major at least twice

Clay Court Mastery

• He won 63 of his 92 ATP singles titles on clay courts
• Holds an astonishing 97% win rate in best-of-five matches on clay (137-4)
• Achieved an 81-match winning streak on clay from 2005 to 2007, the longest single-surface streak in the Open Era

Olympic success

• Won gold medals in singles (Beijing 2008) and doubles (Rio 2016)
• The only player to complete the Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles

ATP Tour Achievements

• Claimed 92 ATP singles titles and 36 Masters 1000 titles
• Spent 209 weeks as world No. 1 and finished year-end No. 1 five times
• Won 11 Monte Carlo Masters and 12 Barcelona Open titles, the most at these events

Notable Records

• Youngest player to complete the Career Golden Slam (24 years old)
• The only player to win 14 titles at a single Grand Slam tournament (French Open)
• First male player to win titles on three different surfaces in the same year (2010)

He retired from competitive tennis in 2024.

Novak Djokovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia on May 22, 1987.

Grand Slam Dominance:

• Record 24 Grand Slam singles titles in men’s tennis
• 10 Australian Open titles (2008, 2011-2013, 2015-2016, 2019-2021, 2023)
• 7 Wimbledon titles (2011, 2014-2015, 2018-2019, 2021-2022)
• 4 US Open titles (2011, 2015, 2018, 2023)
• 3 French Open titles (2016, 2021, 2023)
• The only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam (winning each major at least three times)
• Record 37 Grand Slam final appearances

ATP Tour Achievements:

• Record 40 ATP Masters 1000 titles
• First and only player to achieve the Career Golden Masters (winning all nine ATP Masters tournaments)
• Record 7 Year-end Championship titles (2008, 2012-2015, 2022, 2023)
• 98 ATP Tour event victories

Rankings and Records:

• Record 428 weeks as world No. 1
• Record 8 year-end No. 1 finishes
• Record 72 Big Titles (Grand Slams, Masters, Year-end Championships, Olympic gold

Olympic Success:

• Gold medal in men’s singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, completing the Career Golden Slam

Notable Achievements:

• The only player to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously across three different surfaces
• Completed the Career Golden Slam and Career Super Slam
• Set record with 6 Masters titles won in a single season (2015)
• Achieved 31 consecutive Masters match wins

He remains active in competitive tennis.

These three are considered the best men’s tennis players of all time and are often called the “Big Three.” Their collective dominance and achievements have defined the modern era of tennis. Each player has unique strengths and possesses good envy (or even great envy).

Their rivalries, unique strengths, and consistent performances elevated each and the sport to be the best they could be.

Novak earns my particular acclamation. He collected the most Masters 1000 titles (40), the most ATP Finals titles (seven), and the most Grand Slams (24) while finishing the most seasons as the ATP world No. 1 (eight) and spent a record 428 weeks on top of the rankings.

When he arrived on the scene, he overcame multiple barriers including Feder and Nadal, two Goliaths, who were already winning Majors and had fan admiration and few flaws. Instead of anger, frustration, and discouragement with these considerable obstacles, Novak used good envy, courage, and fortitude to elevate his level of play rather than seeking to take advantage of their limited weakness. His prowess included mental fortitude, tactical brilliance, physical attributes, versatility, return of serve, shot precision, and defensive skills.

Compete, compare, surpass.