MATCHES are often won and lost by the narrowest of margins. A shot that goes in off the crossbar for a goal, a forehand that misses the chalk by a hair's breadth, an outstretched limb that takes an athlete across the finish line.
At the Madrid Masters, Jurgen Melzer sealed victory against Fernando Verdasco on his first match point with a shot that hit the net cord, fell over and died.
That is not to say that Melzer would not have eventually won the match had he lost that point. Rather, that the little things matter.
In another tennis match between Gael Monfils and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the first set was settled in a tie-break. The set summary: Monfils won 53 points; Garcia-Lopez 52.
Athletes are aware that matches can go down to the wire, that they can be decided by one error or one poor decision. On match day, there are some things they can do little about — like a shot that catches the edge of the table in ping-pong.
But for everything else within their control, athletes (and their supporting cast) will do whatever it takes to have an edge.
Last week, I had the opportunity to watch the Singapore national women's table tennis team prepare for the May 23-30 World Team Table Tennis Championships. The world's No. 2 squad were in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for centralised training.
Singapore national women's table tennis team prepare for the May 23-30 World Team Table Tennis Championships. PHOTO: Lin Xinyi
If anything, they showed that it's all about the little things.
On court, training sessions are planned with a specific objective in mind. For example, sparring partners are brought in to replicate the playing styles of upcoming opponents.
Hard on court training is backed up off the court by the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA). PHOTO: Lin Xinyi
Off the court, arrangements are made to ensure that they are in the best physical condition possible.
Take food for example. The Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) ensured that meals are catered for the paddlers.
With the exception of breakfast, which is the buffet available to the other hotel guests, lunch and dinner are specially prepared for them by the hotel chefs. A spread of six dishes, a bowl of soup and a plate of fruit awaits them after each of their two training sessions.
After their meal and a shower, the paddlers will wait for their turn to get a massage. The masseur, who is from the Singapore Sports Council, flew in with the team.
Pains are even taken to make sure the paddlers get enough rest. On one of the bus rides from the training ground to the hotel, I was surprised to learn that doubles partners Sunny (Sun Beibei) and Rayne (Yu Mengyu) were not paired together as roommates.
The response from STTA technical manager Loy Soo Han: "Even when we are deciding who should room together, there are a lot of considerations. You can't put two good friends together. They might talk all night and not get enough sleep."
That said, there are some rules. Among them, lights should go out by 10.30pm.
However, there is also some freedom for the paddlers to do what they need to do. There is nothing to stop Li Jiawei from keeping in touch with her husband Li Chao and son Terry, who are in Beijing.
Said Loy: "Our team is not made up of kids. They know what they should be doing. A lot of the time, it is not about us telling them what they should or shouldn't be doing. The players themselves know what they want to achieve and what it takes to get there. They have to want to want all this."
In sports, no one can definitively say that a match was won because they had a good night's sleep or because they had access to sports science and sports medicine.
But athletes would much rather win and attribute their success to a team that includes the coaching and support staff, than lose and wonder what more they could have done.
"We can't guarantee victories," said Loy. "What we can do is put our paddlers in the best position to win."