Wimbledon, 1985. A 17-year-old German walked onto the grass unseeded. Nobody knew his name. Two weeks later, everybody did. Boris Becker. He served like a hammer. They called him Boom Boom Becker and the ball flew past his opponents before the sound reached the stands.

His game was classic serve and volley. Serve-Charge-Volley. Point won. When a ball went wide, he went after it. Full stretch, airborne and flat out on Centre Court, racquet extended, ball back over the net. He got up with grass on his whites. They hardly looked white. He could have been the poster boy for Surf Excel (Daag achhe hain. The stains are good.)

At 17, the youngest men’s champion Wimbledon had ever seen. At 18, he lifted the trophy again. He did not walk onto a court. He arrived. Opponents did not play Becker. They survived him. His opponents had their own way of dealing with his serve. Stand further back, react faster, guess better. Every reaction started after the ball had landed.

What Agassi changed

Initially, Andre Agassi struggled against it like everyone else. Then he changed what he watched. Not the ball but the man. Every server has a ritual. Becker’s never changed. He rocked, back and forth, the same rhythm every time. Then, just as he was about to toss the ball, the tongue came out. In the middle of his lip, the serve went down the middle. In the left corner, it went wide. Agassi found it by watching tape after tape.

Agassi went on to win 10 of their 14 matches. He did not hit harder. He got there earlier. He knew the signal.

We all carry one

We all carry a signal when we talk. It is in our voice. Agassi had to watch for Becker’s. On a call, you only have to listen. The pause before the yes. The pitch that lifts when an offer lands. The pace that slows when doubt walks in. The words say what we decided to say. The voice says what we intend.

Mouths and ears

Every conversation, between two people or between human and bot, needs a mouth and an ear. The world is building the mouths. At Pradhi, we are building the ears.

Your customers give a signal on every call. Do you have the ears?