He delivered each phrase he spoke with growing fervor, as if he was trying to exhale each criticism against him in short breaths. There was clarity in his voice, though, the kind of clarity that comes from someone who’s come to terms with his own faults, too.Just as his sets usually play out, he adapted over the years. He knew that his mentality was the key to dominating the field and handling the naysayers. Even today, he still spends most of his time prepping his mindset for tournaments, rather than trying to practice as much tech skill as possible.“I focus more on being happy, because if you focus all on your game and on your play, and not on your mindset, when you get there and you’re not able to execute the thing(s) that you practice, you not only lose, but you have a mass level of frustration.“But I feel like if you’re happy and you lose, if everything else in life has a balance—a zen—to it, then losing really isn’t that bad.”Hearing that he has a “zen” is probably unusual for people. Most see him as a fiery competitor that will do anything—and I mean anything—to win. No, this was someone in tune with themselves, a far cry from what even I believed he would be like.It clicked for me.That’s his recipe for winning. Heck, that’s his recipe for life: no matter how much emotion he shows, he’s learned, and is learning, to channel it better than anyone else (and at the right times).So then, how does he still misunderstand himself?“I feel like I misunderstand myself, as crazy as that sounds.” There wasn’t even a trace of hesitation in his tone of voice.“Maybe they’re right and I’m wrong, but I play this game for a lot of reasons…I think I’ve treated this role as a top player not always in the best way.”I wasn’t going to stop him. This was his catharsis, however short it may be.“It’s not because I’m inherently a sh*tty person or anything like that…I think I’m just young. I think I’m always naive. I can learn one thing one day and then still not know about everything else because of it. It just raises up more questions.”