A kingdom for a court
Playing tennis is better than watching
The event of the year is just a few weeks away. No, it’s not the WTA finals. Nor is it the ATP finals. In a couple of weekends, 8 empowering women will vie for the crown in the old town of Luxemburg, only one can win it all. Who are they, you ask? Well.
Ana Ivanovic is one of them. Flavia Pennetta another. There are 6 more, amongst them yours truly. Of course. You might have gauged a pattern here. All of us are retired and are coming back for this invitational tournament for one last hurrah. The tagline should be: Win or get injured, sponsored by the best medical team in the city. It basically writes itself. Who on earth just gives away great copy like that?
If I haven’t convinced you by now to spend your last pay check on a trip to the far away land of Luxemburg to watch geriatric tennis, I really don’t know what else to say.
But let’s talk about something else. Let’s talk about how great playing tennis really is. Lately, I’ve been hitting more to a) not injure myself (see above) when I try to compete in a single’s match again and b) not embarrass myself in front of people. I also know myself well enough to know that once the chair umpire says “ready? play” my competitive juices will run out of control and I won’t be able to stop my body from running towards tennis balls it once was able to chase down. But not any longer. No, my friend, not any longer indeed. I figured, I could pay for an add-on on my insurance policy or I could just start training again. Training again seemed more reasonable.
While the gym stuff and running in nature bores me incredibly to the point that I’m considering un-retiring just so I can retire from it again, that’s how much I hate it, the playing tennis part is so much fun. It’s the only thing that is complex enough for my body to keep my mind completely engaged. If you had my God given athletic frame you would understand how hard it is to excel at absolutely everything when it comes to sports. Everyone always talks about how hard working out is but have you ever considered people for whom this stuff comes insanely easily? Exactly. We are misunderstood and I would venture to say marginalised in a way. I’m clearly joking but as some of my readers thought I’m a communist after I dared to make a capitalism joke, I thought it better to flag it.
Anyways, back to tennis. A flow state is achieved when your body is occupied with a task that is difficult enough to need concentration but comes natural enough to not have to over-think it. The perfect balance of focus and clarity. Of control and letting go. Of knowing what you’re doing and strangely feeling like you’re lead by a heavenly entity at the same time. Playing tennis now, since my retirement two years ago, gets me to a flow state almost instantly. It is freed from the baggage of having to win, lightened of the pressures of having to function, of having to become better. So, I can just be. I’m not a big meditator, I have no idea what it’s like to just be. But I catch a glimpse of it every time I step on court. I like to hear my breath when it gets heavier, I enjoy feeling my heart beat in my temples. It makes me happy when I manage to coordinate my feet into a perfect position, rotate my upper body on time and connect with the ball just in front of my hip. When I hear the satisfying sound of a ball well-hit. There’s nothing quite like it. And to be honest, now that playing tennis is not my profession anymore, I realise that every ball well-struck is a little miracle in itself. So many things have to be just right to make it work.
A God, I’m not a entirely sure exists, twinkles in my forehand when I time it right, smiles onto my backhand when it pleases Him. It’s weird that this is the place God chooses to be with all the things going on in the world right now but God works in mysterious ways.
Being in a flow state, doing something that strikes the exact balance of tension and looseness, is a heavenly state to be in. It ends quickly when my knees start squeaking and the tendons groan and once again my back gets blocked. But it was heavenly for that hot second there. In Germany, we call a blocked back a Hexenschuss. I love that word because it implies that an evil witch looked at your lower back (she really loves L4 and L5) and that’s what made it freeze. The flow state lasted an hour, the Hexenschuss a few days. I’m not saying it’s fair, I’m just saying it’s worth it.
Maybe I should give my insurance company a call after all.
Things that make me happy:
The Sinner/Alcaraz rivalry makes me very happy. It’s order against chaos, consistency versus creativity. It’s the song of ice and fire. The tennis is outrageous and the contrasts are stark but what both have in common - an aspect I admire most - is that both seem to be absolutely and utterly in love with the sport of tennis. It’s very romantic if you think about it. They both go about it in their own way. One is cool and loving from afar, he will prepare a surprise for your birthday and bring home flowers when you have a bad day. The other is passionate and easily inflammable. Might forget your birthday, but you’ll never doubt his love. Let’s hope this marriage survives until death do them apart.
Things that make me unhappy:
I might come across as a contrarian here, I’m aware of that. But the trailer for an exhibition tournament in a few weeks in Saudi Arabia with some of the best men in the world is not good. You can see the AI glaring from the first second on, the idea is trite and the execution is cheesy. If you think this is good, you should go watch a movie. Once in your life. Preferably a good one but any will do. LOL. See for yourself here: The Six Kings Slam
I’m prepared to take a loss because I can see how I hold a minority opinion on this one. The trailer is literally titled “the most stunning tennis promo in history”. Philistines.
See you all next week when fall has fully fallen and our souls are blue.
Yours truly, Andrea
Your paragraph on the Sinner Alcatraz rivalry is exquisite. Poetry, really. Sublime.
YES! Finally a tennis player (not a basketball player where it's usually applied) who's applying Csikszentmihalyi's Buddhist insight into flow, anxiety, stress, and boredom! You nailed it, Andrea. Here's hoping that many coaches and players now start learning from him, and living better sporting lives. As for your upcoming tournament, I'd normally say "break a leg", but please don't!