I might add: and I’m proud of it!
No, wait, this doesn’t mean I play tennis. I have
never played tennis. My father tried to teach me something when I was a little
girl, but then, due to lack of time, I didn’t continue.
No,
I don’t play tennis. I like watching others do it, especially good ones.
I
discovered this passion of mine only a few years ago. In the past I watched
this sport with curiosity, but only every now and then I had the opportunity to
watch a match, also because it was objectively more difficult to catch one on
free-to-air TV in Italy before the arrival of SuperTennis (the FITP -
Italian tennis federation - channel). But every time, I was hypnotised by that
ball that went back and forth on the court and by the prowess of those guys and
gals who hit it.
This
probably comes from the fact that my father played when he was young and there
was a court right in our apartment block, so it wasn’t uncommon to find some
used tennis balls among my toys.
But
then I concentrated on football, on supporting Cagliari (the team from my
city), which I still do.
Then
came the pandemic, and tennis, being a non-contact sport, was one of the first
to resume. So I started following it more consistently, and in a short time I
was hooked.
There are many things I like
about tennis.
First
of all, the fact that it’s physics in action: that ball goes
there because it was hit a certain way.
Secondly,
it is an extremely psychological sport. There are shots, talent,
fitness, tactics, but what can make the difference is how the player feels in
that moment. It takes very little, almost nothing, to change the inertia of a
match just because the player feels confident in his abilities or loses this
confidence. Mental strength, which allows you to forget your own mistake or an
opponent’s feat and start playing as if nothing had happened, can prevail over
the rest.
Also, tennis matches
are like thrillers. Sometimes all it takes is an episode,
perhaps a lucky one, a twist, which can decide the fate of a game and create
the conditions to overturn the result. It’s never over until it’s over. A
player can be on the brink of the abyss, three match points down (even more, if
it’s a tie-break), and cancel them, then win the set and ultimately win the
match. Anything could happen.
And
then there is everything that happens off court: the preparation,
the planning of the season, the commitment of the players, the ambition, the
ability to improve oneself to become stronger in all
aspects.
The
best thing is to see players who, from the beginning of their career, achieve
their first successes, accumulate points, and slowly rise in the ranking,
measure themselves against the great and then perhaps become like
or better than them.
In all this I find inspiration.
Finally,
tennis has the peculiarity of being practised all year round.
With the exception of December, every week there is at least one tennis
tournament from the major circuits (ATP and WTA) and, with all the Italians,
both men and women, achieving excellent results in this sport, this means that
there is always a match worth watching. I often have breakfast in front of a
match on TV, perhaps after getting up early so as not to miss it, given that
the tours touch all continents. In a way, it’s comforting to know that I can watch
something I like even every day if I want.
Initially
I did it every now and then, but then I started to get to know the players
better, their stories, and become passionate about their game. Now I find
myself organising
my life, both daily and concerning my scheduled commitments, including
any holidays, in such a way as not to miss the tournaments that interest me.
And, sometimes, one of
my holidays is nothing more than a trip to go and see a tournament,
and then while I’m there, I also act as a tourist.
I
admit that being self-employed makes things a lot easier for me!
If I had fixed work hours, it would be a big problem to see a match in the
morning and afternoon or, even worse, during the night.
It might seem that tennis takes
up time, a lot of time. On
the one hand, it is true since sometimes, at the beginning of a big tournament
like a Slam, it happens that there are even four or five matches of Italian
tennis players in one day, some of which do not overlap and therefore which I
can watch. On the other hand, however, having this type of commitment leads me to make
better use of my time.
Having
a limited number of hours available to work on something, rather than generally
the whole day, pushes me to be more disciplined because I
will be able to get my reward afterwards. For example, now that I’m writing
this article I’m waiting for a TV match to start and this pushes me to write
quickly, instead of sitting there thinking about it a lot or, worse, messing
around on some social network!
But
it also helped me review my priorities. I realised
that I often dealt with unnecessary things more out of habit than out of real
interest (now lost). Indeed, in the end they made me feel unnecessarily
dissatisfied, since it no longer gave me pleasure to do them and at the same
time they did not lead to the desired results. Much better to leave them aside
and watch a bit of tennis, to find the good mood (especially in case of
victory!) necessary to face my duties and new stimulating challenges.
But
I have to admit: tennis is addictive. I notice it when
I don’t have any matches to watch for a couple of days. Not to mention in
December! But in that case at least, I console myself with figure skating on
ice.
Anyway,
it is a
nice addiction, one of those without side effects.
Okay,
now I really have to go: not only has the match started, but I wrote the last
sentences during a changeover!
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