The Power of a Soft Return

On July 5, 1975, Arthur Ashe walked onto Centre Court at the All England Club to face Jimmy Connors in the Wimbledon final. Connors was twenty-two, the defending champion, and heavily favored. Ashe was thirty-one, considered past his prime, and few believed he had a chance. But Ashe had a plan, and it was counterintuitive.

Instead of matching Connors' ferocious power, Ashe did something no one expected. He slowed the ball down. He hit soft, looping shots that floated across the net, robbing Connors of the pace he needed to fuel his punishing groundstrokes. Connors grew visibly frustrated, his rhythm shattered. Ashe won in four sets, 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, becoming the first Black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.

He didn't win by overpowering his opponent. He won by refusing to play his opponent's game.

Paul writes in Romans 12:21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." The instinct when we face hostility or cruelty is to match it — force for force, anger for anger. But grace operates like Ashe's soft returns. It changes the terms of the contest. It refuses to let the aggressor set the rhythm.