Stepladder finals are a combination of opportunity and cruelty. The opportunity is what players who aren’t the top seed enjoy. The cruelty is what the top seed experiences when they lose a title match — hence the saying that “You have to win the tournament twice.” A quality player who makes a lot of stepladder finals and doesn’t wind experiences cruelty (when top seed) and frustration (when they don’t take advantage of the opportunity of lower seeds). Such...