Yes, THIS is the tennis content that I guarantee 100% of your readers actually want, whether they admit it or not! And, so glad the phrase you chose was the rather odd "how to pull a tennis player" instead of the far more scandalous "how to tug a tennis player".
“There’s still plenty of time to develop a proper personality after they retire” Damn. Watching interviews I’ve always had the impression that players have little interesting to talk about and this confirms it to me. And I’ve always noticed how the stronger a player is, the less interesting things they will tend to say (I’m thinking of Nadal in Rome answering a question from the press with “… so we are in Rome”), trading personality for performance must be brutal.
Though I guess it has an upside; it all reminds me of what my school philosophy professor taught us about Schopenhauer’s ascetic, the one that fills their life with routine actions in order to avoid the existential pain that life brings, getting as close as possible to a state of “nothingness” as only this can bring us peace in our minds.
And this means truly “living in the present” I guess ^^
Anyway, I loved reading this glimpse into the tennis athlete’s mind, it feels like being there!
I remember my Dad once briefly dated a ballroom dancer who had been a circus acrobat. And that was when I heard the phrase "when dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire."
My Dad was a great deal of fun, a man of infinite jest, and like Yorick, he’s gone too.
I suspect you always had a personality, before, during and after playing. More Linklater reviews (how great was Nouvelle Vague!) And where else can I read about Schopenhauer's aesthetic in the comments. It's a thing that makes me happy. thanks.
Devastated to learn from Lesson #3 that my interest in French New Wave will not impress the average tennis player. I guess I'll just have to pretend to like Wuthering Heights even though it's just glorified fanfic. I also cannot believe it is through this substack of a former tennis player I learn of Nouvelle Vague!
Brilliant, as always. You and Hannah from TTP rule this niche. I very much appreciate the BTS information. Any chance you could do a “pull a tennis player’s mum”, more my age range. Then start a dating app for tennis fanatics. Much obliged.
The "dullness" of tennis players/atheletes is a very Foster-Wallaceian concept for sure, but I was listening recently to the "Founders" podcast episodes (now, that is a very basic thing to say!) on Federer and Agassi and they both seemed to be the opposite of dull.
But I am sure that competitive swimmers must be much much duller than tennis players! Spending hours and hours inside a pool, there is nothing more mind numbing than that
Yes, THIS is the tennis content that I guarantee 100% of your readers actually want, whether they admit it or not! And, so glad the phrase you chose was the rather odd "how to pull a tennis player" instead of the far more scandalous "how to tug a tennis player".
“There’s still plenty of time to develop a proper personality after they retire” Damn. Watching interviews I’ve always had the impression that players have little interesting to talk about and this confirms it to me. And I’ve always noticed how the stronger a player is, the less interesting things they will tend to say (I’m thinking of Nadal in Rome answering a question from the press with “… so we are in Rome”), trading personality for performance must be brutal.
Though I guess it has an upside; it all reminds me of what my school philosophy professor taught us about Schopenhauer’s ascetic, the one that fills their life with routine actions in order to avoid the existential pain that life brings, getting as close as possible to a state of “nothingness” as only this can bring us peace in our minds.
And this means truly “living in the present” I guess ^^
Anyway, I loved reading this glimpse into the tennis athlete’s mind, it feels like being there!
very true! still today, i try to “think less”, “be in the moment more” and fail miserably on a consistent basis. LOL
Relatable😩
Dying laughing. Thank you for this! Much needed in the current hellscape.
I remember my Dad once briefly dated a ballroom dancer who had been a circus acrobat. And that was when I heard the phrase "when dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire."
My Dad was a great deal of fun, a man of infinite jest, and like Yorick, he’s gone too.
It’s a very good and funny text.
Grigor Dimitrov is handsome and eloquent. I see what you did there 😂
He also was a top 3 player when I recall your text from before correctly
I personally never understood the hype of his handsomeness 😅 far more attractive tennis players out there
Jest FTW in this week’s newsletter. Love it!
!!
I suspect you always had a personality, before, during and after playing. More Linklater reviews (how great was Nouvelle Vague!) And where else can I read about Schopenhauer's aesthetic in the comments. It's a thing that makes me happy. thanks.
Devastated to learn from Lesson #3 that my interest in French New Wave will not impress the average tennis player. I guess I'll just have to pretend to like Wuthering Heights even though it's just glorified fanfic. I also cannot believe it is through this substack of a former tennis player I learn of Nouvelle Vague!
at least you know who louis garrel is?
Indeed, small silver linings. Reminds me - I must rewatch The Dreamers
Brilliant, as always. You and Hannah from TTP rule this niche. I very much appreciate the BTS information. Any chance you could do a “pull a tennis player’s mum”, more my age range. Then start a dating app for tennis fanatics. Much obliged.
lol! this app actually sounds kind of great.
This was so delightfully funny
You can write and you can make people smile with your writing. So very good. Thank you for this.
I loved F1.
This is actually quite awesome - and hilarious!
Two questions:
1) What players, past or present, were the most curious and knowledgeable about non-tennisy things?
2) Why the stale bagels? Surely you deserve the freshest & best.
The "dullness" of tennis players/atheletes is a very Foster-Wallaceian concept for sure, but I was listening recently to the "Founders" podcast episodes (now, that is a very basic thing to say!) on Federer and Agassi and they both seemed to be the opposite of dull.
But I am sure that competitive swimmers must be much much duller than tennis players! Spending hours and hours inside a pool, there is nothing more mind numbing than that
Obviously, you were never a player with pedestrian interests, Andrea. You're a gift to us tennis fans.