When I was 40, my doctor advised me that a man in his 40s shouldn't play tennis. I heeded his advice carefully and could hardly wait until I reached 50 to start again.
- Hugo Black
The opponent I was scheduled to play today in the league didn't show up. And to be honest, I was kind of relieved. It's been a busy month, maybe I could consider this an early Christmas gift in disguise from the tennis gods.
But the awesome people at the training center quickly called upon their resources to get me someone to play against. So I figured the gift gone, sat down with a cup of hot chocolate, and waited for my new opponent to arrive.
About half an hour later, she did, and was perhaps the nicest player I've played all season.
Not to mention, I won 6-1, 6-0 and got off the court with time to spare.
A Christmas gift well received, indeed.
On a side note, we took a short break after the first set to record the score, and when we were done, I sprinted back out onto the court with my pen...and no racquet. I realized it when I got to the baseline. Clearly, a writer and anxious tennis player all rolled into one.
I wouldn't have it any other way =)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
rematch...kind of
The fifth set is not about tennis, it's about nerves.
- Boris Becker
Today's match was definitely an interesting one.
For starters, I got very little sleep last night. Writing and working, I was up until about 3 AM. So sleepy, in fact, was I when I finally got to bed, I forgot to remove my contact lenses. So when I woke up at 8 AM this morning, my eyes were not pleased in the least. They were dry, and my vision was annoyingly blurry. But after about 30 minutes, things began to look up, and at 8:45 I headed off to the courts.
I got there just on time, and when I went to look at who my opponent was, it was none other than the woman I first played in the league months ago. Awesome, right? Kind of. I was slightly nervous. Here I was, operating on little sleep and less than eager to go out and play tennis for an extended period of time, and I was about to face off with a player who would act as a gauge, in my head, of how far I've come in the league. Have I gotten better? Have I gotten worse? What has changed? What can I change? One match, as I saw it, was about to answer all those questions.
Wonderful.
So we got out on the court, and surprise, surprise, the first set was a bit of a flop. She took it 6-3. But even with the sleepiness and blurred vision, my game should've improved enough by this point to have taken the first set, right? Well, apparently not.
But it was what happened in the second set that salvaged the whole thing for me. I got angry (on the inside, of course). Frustrated, annoyed, and no longer tired, I realized I: 1. was playing with a brand new racquet; 2. had been training for several months now; and 3. was not about to let a lost first set lead to a similar result in the second. And I was definitely not about to let head games and tentative shots, the bane of my tennis existence, prevail - not again.
So I didn't. And I won the set 6-1. So there.
- Boris Becker
Today's match was definitely an interesting one.
For starters, I got very little sleep last night. Writing and working, I was up until about 3 AM. So sleepy, in fact, was I when I finally got to bed, I forgot to remove my contact lenses. So when I woke up at 8 AM this morning, my eyes were not pleased in the least. They were dry, and my vision was annoyingly blurry. But after about 30 minutes, things began to look up, and at 8:45 I headed off to the courts.
I got there just on time, and when I went to look at who my opponent was, it was none other than the woman I first played in the league months ago. Awesome, right? Kind of. I was slightly nervous. Here I was, operating on little sleep and less than eager to go out and play tennis for an extended period of time, and I was about to face off with a player who would act as a gauge, in my head, of how far I've come in the league. Have I gotten better? Have I gotten worse? What has changed? What can I change? One match, as I saw it, was about to answer all those questions.
Wonderful.
So we got out on the court, and surprise, surprise, the first set was a bit of a flop. She took it 6-3. But even with the sleepiness and blurred vision, my game should've improved enough by this point to have taken the first set, right? Well, apparently not.
But it was what happened in the second set that salvaged the whole thing for me. I got angry (on the inside, of course). Frustrated, annoyed, and no longer tired, I realized I: 1. was playing with a brand new racquet; 2. had been training for several months now; and 3. was not about to let a lost first set lead to a similar result in the second. And I was definitely not about to let head games and tentative shots, the bane of my tennis existence, prevail - not again.
So I didn't. And I won the set 6-1. So there.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
racquet wanted
It's shocking how little there is to do with tennis when you're just thinking about nothing except winning every point
- Andre Agassi
The match is over when you shake hands. Never before.
I was up 5-1 in the first set this morning against a player who I was actually feeling bad about beating so handily. And then it was 5-2, then 5-3, then 5-4. Fortunately, I was so annoyed at myself that sheer adrenaline helped me eek out the sixth game I needed to close it out. But even so, I had wasted so much time losing games in the first set, we didn't even get to finish the second set (league play runs for 1.5 hours, so whatever the score is at the end of that time is what counts...players move up in the ranks based on how many games they win overall, not necessarily how many sets).
Ugh, to say the least. What happened? Was it nerves? Was it over-confidence? Whatever it was, it was unnecessary.
One thing that didn't help, but that I can't fully attribute all the blame to, was my overworked racquet in desperate need of restringing. You're supposed to restring your racquet something like every six months. Ha - I think the last time I restrung mine was 2+ years ago. And for some reason, or so I thought, I was feeling the effects of it more than ever in this match.
Fast forward to my two-hour lesson, I'm playing against my tennis partner with our coach watching and critiquing from the side. Just thinking about how much I need to buy a player's racquet, or at least restring the one I have, is hindering my concentration. It's getting the best of me, and my game is feeling the frustration.
Then *pop*. The ball goes dead after making contact with my racquet, and I turn it over to look. I popped the strings. Craziness!! It was a dorky, first-time-I've-ever-done-that moment. My thoughts went to Pete Sampras, who used to do it frequently during his matches because of how tight his racquets were strung.
Of course, the reason his strings popped were not the same as why it happened to my racquet. It turns out it hadn't been in my head after all. The strings on my racquet were making their last stand, and I was fortunate to have even gotten through the morning's league match.
What to do then - I was on the court with no racquet. Turns out God does work in mysterious ways. My friend went over to her bag and pulled out the Wilson K Factor racquet she bought a month ago. She's taking a break from the game for a bit, plus, isn't too crazy about the racquet because it has way more control than the power she needs. So here, Melissa, you have it for the next three months.
So yeah, now I have a new racquet - kind of, for a little bit =) When I got home, I looked up the racquet. It is, indeed, all about control, and it was, how cool, Justine Henin's weapon of choice.
Let's see what I do with it...
- Andre Agassi
The match is over when you shake hands. Never before.
I was up 5-1 in the first set this morning against a player who I was actually feeling bad about beating so handily. And then it was 5-2, then 5-3, then 5-4. Fortunately, I was so annoyed at myself that sheer adrenaline helped me eek out the sixth game I needed to close it out. But even so, I had wasted so much time losing games in the first set, we didn't even get to finish the second set (league play runs for 1.5 hours, so whatever the score is at the end of that time is what counts...players move up in the ranks based on how many games they win overall, not necessarily how many sets).
Ugh, to say the least. What happened? Was it nerves? Was it over-confidence? Whatever it was, it was unnecessary.
One thing that didn't help, but that I can't fully attribute all the blame to, was my overworked racquet in desperate need of restringing. You're supposed to restring your racquet something like every six months. Ha - I think the last time I restrung mine was 2+ years ago. And for some reason, or so I thought, I was feeling the effects of it more than ever in this match.
Fast forward to my two-hour lesson, I'm playing against my tennis partner with our coach watching and critiquing from the side. Just thinking about how much I need to buy a player's racquet, or at least restring the one I have, is hindering my concentration. It's getting the best of me, and my game is feeling the frustration.
Then *pop*. The ball goes dead after making contact with my racquet, and I turn it over to look. I popped the strings. Craziness!! It was a dorky, first-time-I've-ever-done-that moment. My thoughts went to Pete Sampras, who used to do it frequently during his matches because of how tight his racquets were strung.
Of course, the reason his strings popped were not the same as why it happened to my racquet. It turns out it hadn't been in my head after all. The strings on my racquet were making their last stand, and I was fortunate to have even gotten through the morning's league match.
What to do then - I was on the court with no racquet. Turns out God does work in mysterious ways. My friend went over to her bag and pulled out the Wilson K Factor racquet she bought a month ago. She's taking a break from the game for a bit, plus, isn't too crazy about the racquet because it has way more control than the power she needs. So here, Melissa, you have it for the next three months.
So yeah, now I have a new racquet - kind of, for a little bit =) When I got home, I looked up the racquet. It is, indeed, all about control, and it was, how cool, Justine Henin's weapon of choice.
Let's see what I do with it...
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