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- #138. The third wheel
#138. The third wheel
Shem Opolot
September 12, 2025
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Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
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Hi! I'm Shem Opolot, and this is The Friday Fix, my weekly newsletter. If you've received it, you’re either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter (yes, I’m the kind of person who uses words like “latter”) camp and want to subscribe, then click on the shiny button below:
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Otherwise, grab a seat 🪑.
HAPPY FRIDAY 🎉 Unencumbered by the need for dodgy websites or VPNs and poor internet connections, I finally caught up with The Gilded Age last week, and I dare say, the last season was the best one yet. I love period dramas and classic literature because of the writers’ skill at capturing the human experience in pithy—sometimes throwaway—phrases. This one, made by the domineering matriarch, Mrs. Russell, while forcing her daughter into a loveless marriage, comes to mind right now:
“Happiness as a byproduct of a well-ordered life may last; as a goal, it is invariably doomed to failure.”
LIFE.
The third wheel.
Source: Getty Images
Being the third wheel can be awkward. Like…you have the best seat in the house for a game you’d rather play in. It can be a pain and a privilege.
But perhaps it’s about framing. About the story.
Many sports have endless debates about their “GOATs”, but that debate is settled in tennis (for now).
Novak Djokovic is arguably the most famous third wheel in professional tennis history. For years, Djokovic was the third-best player in the world behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Two of the best to ever do it. At that time, by every sentiment and metric, Federer and Nadal had eclipsed all the greats before them, floating in rarefied air.
But Djokovic didn’t care about that story.
Much like LeBron James crashed the Michael Jordan party, Djokovic broke rank. He beat every logical argument against his case to be the greatest ever until only petulant refusal remained. He dominated Federer and Nadal in 5-set thrillers on every surface as the two greats clung to their pedestals.
And over time, the 5-set thrillers became 4-set competitive showdowns and then 3-set formalities as the deified duo aged as Djokovic surged.
Toward the end of Federer and Nadal’s careers, their fans tried to will them to victory—with prayer and hate-watching—to preserve their spots at the top, but God doesn’t care about the prayers you make for your sports team. And nor should He. And neither did Djokovic—who beat the GOATs until they faded, hallowed but grey in comparison to him.
We love a good story.
But years later, Djokovic’s dominance rendered pro tennis banal—lacking the tension good rivalries deliver. For a while, the sport flirted with the irrelevance golf has struggled to shake post-Tiger Woods.
Enter the new challengers—Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic has lost several consecutive semifinals to either of the new challengers, and finds himself in a position that must feel familiar, if not poetic.
He finds himself very clearly, once again, third best. The third wheel. Except this time, Father Time isn’t on his side.
Complex though his emotions must be, Djokovic’s experience is a rare privilege: to have a long enough career to pursue the peak, plant a flag at the top, reign for a time, and then dally at the precipice before climbing down reluctantly. Sad, but grateful.
Most people wrestle with the climb-up all their lives.
So, as Djokovic bows out slowly, reluctantly, but inevitably, a new story is being written about the new titans of tennis. The marriage of Nadal-esque grit and Federer flair present in Alcaraz and Sinner, plus a splash of magic of their own making.
But while I delight in watching this new era unfold, I’m tempted to look for the new third wheel. The great story unfolding in the shadows of preeminent greatness. The way that story is told, like yours and like Djokovic’s, depends on the purpose of that story.
THINGS.
A quote.
Money you don’t spend is not yours; life is for the living.
A picture.
People on Twitter debated whether the footpath located to the left of the demarcated path in the picture on the left was a design issue or a discipline issue. And like a true cop-out, I thought the answer was probably both, depending on the circumstances. But then, this week, I saw this new path in the image on the right. Overall, I just appreciated what the addition meant—that the city authority observed, considered the problem and adapted.
WORK.
A useful tool
Imagine you could send an invoice automatically every time you get an order. Or share a receipt automatically every time you receive a payment. Zapier is a powerful tool for automating certain workflows at work or in your business.
FUN.
The Friday Fix playlist
Shem’s picks
✅ The world’s biggest animal migration
✅ Find the missing animal in this daily game
✅ Find a connection between any two words
✅ Living in the world’s most livable cities
✅ How to pack a cooler
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
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