Does anyone follow the tennis (no spoilers)… it is the most Balearic of sports… maybe only beaten by windsurfing : )
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Yep! I play and follow it and am endlessly frustrated as a result, although it’s great. Weird, right?
Been exciting to us here in Brazil to have a promising young player in João Fonseca, but the unintended consequence (or maybe very much intended) is that courts are now even more full of people getting (back) into the sport.
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Yep, been playing since I was 10, gave up at uni, took up again during covid and I’m completely obsessed with it.
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i don’t follow it closely, but i will watch it when it’s on. used to play but the last time i tried i felt like an absolute beginner.
mostly i follow the women, it tends to be a better watch. there’s more personalities, a greater variation of styles, and more compelling match-ups. imho.
my ex is good friends with the navarro family and used to drive emma to her tennis lessons. i’ve never met her personally, but it has been fun to watch her rise up in the rankings.
I just got tennis tv. Looking forward to sinner and alcaraz tomorrow. That’ll be a good one.
Playing wise I only started last year but am pretty obsessed. It’s the best sport I’ve found in years. You get fit without thinking about it. I’m trying to play like a zen chill style rather than grunt tennis but we’ll see…
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A game that lends itself to floaty bangers.
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I live fairly close to Wimbledon so used to go and queue after school/work at least once a year. More recently I’ve treated the wife to a day out there which she loves - a decent mid-price seat on #1 court in the first week is under £100 and you can take in a posh picnic and a bottle each, so it’s incredible value especially as you can be there for hours.
After numerous attempts we’ve finally been lucky in the ticket lottery so it’s centre court for us this year 
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Loved watching it all my life. Played a bit when I was younger then took it up again a couple of years ago.
Don’t really live in an ideal climate for it alot of the year. Alot of the auld lads in the club pride themselves on turning out for doubles in some pretty rough weather all year round. If you sign up for men’s doubles night and it’s not at least 40kph+ and raining so much that you’d be unable to see it’s considered bad form not to show. And if there’s some fellas in their late sixties showing up I’ve no excuse. I’m not sure that results in the best tennis but definitely good for the head on some level.
Yeah, it’s great exercise. Really slow progression curve I’ve found, I really had to put alot of effort into it, where just playing doesn’t necessarily lead to improved techniques.
This guy’s advice on a load of stuff is great.
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Aye great day out, I’ve got court 2 tickets this year. Well done on getting centre.
If at any point you get bored of centre, I strongely recomend going to sit on one of the ground courts for a bit as you’re right there next to the players and you get the sense of how hard they hit the ball.
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Yes, I always try to watch a bit at the ground courts. Also always fascinated to see the playing surface up close - how the hell they get a lawn as flat as that amazes me!
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used to live in Southfields around the corner. Someone told me it was traditionally Quaker territory and therefore weren’t many pubs so a few enterprising locals would set up makeshift ‘bars’ in front gardens for all the passing trade.
*am crap at tennis although I still enjoy it. My missus thrashes me every time
Loved watching Wimbledon on TV for years but haven’t had the time for the last few years, hopefully catch a few games this year, deffo one of the most Balearic of sports, Yannick Noah was a don…
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I loved McEnroe, Connors, Nastase as a kid. The automatons arrived later with Lendl, Sampras and Edberg and maybe my interest dipped a bit as the entertainers were replaced by supreme power. Some tennis fans see the sport purely in terms of excellence but I dunno, for me the psychology was a large part of it too, you always sensed that Ivanisevic could ace or double fault at any minute which added to the tension.
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All about the Padel for me nowadays.
Oh brilliant. I’ll check that…
totally looks like garry shandling in the background.
one thing that i found frustrating about learning tennis is that, sure, you can practice and improve.
but it’s really hard to improve without playing someone else, and it sucks to both play against someone who’s better than you (frustrating) and to play against someone you’re much better than (boring). finding someone who can hang and challenge you can be difficult.
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Have to say playing against better people has improved my game no end, and though I do get beat, my game is improving faster… I know what you mean though. I’ve got a friend I play against and we’re pretty similar and the games are so much fun…
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Played growing up, took a few decades off and now hitting three times a week for a few years. Relearning as an adult is pretty frustrating, but I agree, playing with people who are at a higher level is helpful and humbling. We have ideal weather in Southern California, so there is little excuse to get out there. Got the Mrs into it, too.
I follow atp more than wta if only because Tennis TV is an atp product. We also have access to Indian Wells - such a fun tournament to attend. Have many thoughts about Sinner and doping…maybe another post…
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