After being down 2–5 in the second set of the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, Coco Gauff won the match in a tie-break, 7–5.

In the post-match court-side interview, she said, “I told myself, ‘If I lost five games, I can win five games.’”

This is how champions think.

They do not deny the scoreboard. They simply refuse to let it define what happens next.

Lose a point. Win the next one.

Lose a game. Focus on the next game.

The most powerful shift happens in the mind first.

I always appreciate hearing the messages great competitors and champions (all contexts) tell themselves when they are behind. Those quiet internal conversations, what we tell ourselves in the hard moments, often determine what happens next.

The mind is a powerful force.

What do you say to yourself when it matters most?

Watch this graduation speech by Roger Federer for another perspective of a champion’s mindset.