Morning; Sunshine

I hit with Tony this morning at the Central Park tennis courts at 8 am. I'd forgotten how much energy and enthusiasm there is at those courts, as cramped and elusive as they are. There's 30+ courts and every single one is taken starting from 6:30 in the morning.

I miss that environment - old people and their morning doubles, junior girls crushing the ball, hackers chopping away.

Front of clubhouse (looking into the park, toward the Reservoir):



The courts (looking toward Central Park West):

Salute to Tennis (the Game)

I sit across from Eric at work and when we aren't working, we're chatting away about something inane, and the subject, not surprisingly, is often tennis. Here's an exchange (edited for clarity) that we had yesterday afternoon that was actually meaningful -- it was also about tennis. (Beware, may be boring for most people.)

cchug: wow, justine [Henin] said something very profound! it was in french

cchug: "With tennis, it's a kind of permanent failure..."

...

gseric123: so what did justine say and where did u read it?

cchug: "With tennis, it's a kind of permanent failure..."

cchug: she was asked if there was any dissatisfaction w her game

gseric123: wow, why she said that? silly!

cchug: i totally agree with her though

cchug: remember we were talking about if i'm ever happy with how i play

gseric123: and u said no

cchug: and i've never been happy in my whole life [with how I've played]

cchug: maybe once or twice..

gseric123: is it because u expect too much?

cchug: and so i feel like what she says, that in tennis it's always a kind of permanent failure, is so true

...

gseric123: i do agree with u chris. it is funny, because i watch u and ... i love the way u construct ur points and the way u hit the ball ...

...

gseric123: but yet, u see it as a "permanent failure". ... i think i do have a couple of fans who want my game, but still i see my game as a failure too...no power, and not v exciting.....shots land short all the time...

...

gseric123: so i feel like a permanent failure with my game too. but today, i felt pretty good...

gseric123: ...but i suppose the feeling or permanent failure cant be overturned or changed by what other people say right? i guess no matter what u or anyone says, about how good my game is, i still dont believe it....

gseric123: so i need to accept it...

cchug: that's very insightful methinks. in some ways we see our games as failures because we know so well what we don't have

[some pointless tangent ensues]

cchug: but really having nice shots can only get you so far. last time i saw myself hit a shot was in 6th grade so it does nothing for me

gseric123: yeah i know, sorry.....but grass is always greener on the other side..i am just saying that i think for most serious tennis players who are passionate about it, we all feel the same....

gseric123: but that's what makes us keep trying right?

cchug: yep. it's great. strivers. i love that.. it's not just a game. it's a personal work that you spend your whole life trying to improve

...

gseric123: do u feel u have "improved" on anything related to tennis since we started hitting?

...

cchug: yeah definitely.. that's why i try to keep hitting with you...

cchug: as ridiculous as it sounds i learn to focus better from hittin with you - most of the time i hit crap rallies (like this morning) but every 20-30 balls or so I really try to focus and concentrate and stay consistent while hitting out and i feel like we produce a good point

cchug: and i'm better at chasing down slice backahnds down the line, of course

...

gseric123: like i used to get so worried at warm up when i see that my opponent hits very clean shots or they have "proper" technique......i mean, most of them are actually pretty good too, but i used to lose half the battle because they "look" so good

cchug: oh well that's an underhanded one

gseric123: u r a good player, but i realised that good technique does not always add extra points

...

cchug: well that's true. i had to learn that for myself..

gseric123: also, i learned to be calm and realise that i cant simply keep balls in play 100% of the time, and it is ok that ur opponent can sometimes hit good shots too

gseric123: i worked out that competition can be good too..and they can be friendly...u r so right [...] ....i am so competitive that i avoid it....and i realised that it is ok to win 6-4 7-5 and i dont need to destroy or be destroyed.

...

cchug: i think the competition thing is a good point

cchug: esp for you because through competition you can learn a lot of things. if you just accept that sometimes you'll win sometimes you'll lose etc

...

gseric123: I DONT LOSE! Bitch!

...

gseric123: i suppose the things i said above arent necessary on court hitting kinda thing, but mentally and all that, i think i have improved a lot already

...

cchug: well mental side is a huge thing. especially since you play a consistent type of game

gseric123: i know....like gaby! [Gabriela Sabatini]

gseric123: as one article said years ago abotu gaby "confidence is a fragile thing, when u have it, u feel u can fly. when u dont, getting out of bed can be a struggle".

...

gseric123: and u know too, on the on court thing...i think we both work things out... [when we first started hitting] u werent used to the backhand slice downtheline, u took some time and worked it out, and then now it gives u no bother, so i thought about it and added the short cross court forehand and then u hit a forehand down the line and i combine that with a short cross court backhand slice....and now u have that worked out too, so through hitting with u, i feel i constantly need to think and improve.....

cchug: totally true. i noticed you added the short forehand crosscourt

cchug: that's why it helps playin with different good partners.. they challenge you to improve specific parts of your game

cchug: like the more you come to net on that slice backhand the better i'll get at passing shots

...

This continued for a bit longer. It gets a bit obsessive, but at the same time I love that the game is something you can participate in in so many different ways. As a fan, as a spectator, as a player, as a teacher, as an obsessor . .. and for your entire life.

TennisWorld, All Growed Up

Time was, TennisWorld was just a two-bit operation without blog software, institutional support, or a following. Just me and Pete going at it, primitive methodologies and all. Two and a half years later it's a well-oiled machine and Pete's basically running the show himself (of course with the volunteer help of a few of his thousands and thousands of readers). Look at how many comments he gets!

Anyway I thought this post was a great example of why it's a popular and versatile blog. It's total tennis-nerd stuff, but Pete happily veers off topic when he feels the need to.

(I gotta say, though, really not digging the bright-blue italics and giant green serif treatment of Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" quote...)

A Heartbreaker

Did I ever tell you that USTA league tennis is a serious, serious sport? Captains cry, hold grudges, and nearly faint when their teams win in the playoffs. They drive across Staten Island and through Brooklyn and into Queens to attend matches, will pay out of pocket to hire line judges for matches, and even try to grease the palms of their favorite players by waiving court fees. Well, at least my captain does.

Enough about that. This is about me. Today I played a tough match with my Brooklyn mixed doubles team; it was for the Brooklyn championship, and if we win tomorrow we can claim the city/regional championship. All this could lead to a state championship in Syracuse, and if we keep going, the Nationals, in Puerto Rico.

But, you see, I had previously planned on attending my former violin teacher's recital with two good friends (former students of hers as well) tomorrow, the day of the regional. It's been years since all four of us were in the same room together, and who knows when it'll happen again? There would be no way to be in both places at once. My teammates begged me, and even offered to have a car service pick me up in Katonah (Westchester) and drive me to the National Tennis Center, in Queens. They had me convinced; I'd pull out of the recital at 4:30 p.m. and get chauffeured to Flushing Meadows. I had to consult Dan; we had a long dramatic talk, during which he convinced me that I was being a loser and just trying to appease too many people instead of just doing what would make me happy. Unfortunately, sometimes those two things are inseparable.

So I pulled the plug on my captain's hopes and dreams for 2007. I think she might've been crying a little. My partner said that if I wasn't playing she wouldn't play, partially because she doesn't have very good chemistry with the only other guy available to take my place, and partially because they'd have little to no chance to advance anyway.

I'm feeling pretty ambivalent.

TENNIS Everywhere

My first day in Hong Kong I took a nice trip on the Peak Tram, a little piece of the metro transit system that's been running for something like a hundred years -- it's not unlike the Duquesne Incline in good ol' Pitt (except that it's much much cooler; no offense yinzers). Give 'em a few bucks, get on the tram, and watch the dramatic landscape unfold as you climb to the top of Victoria Peak.

At the top, which is about 1,500+ feet up in the clouds, you get that glamorous view of Hong Kong's business district that you see in that photo I linked to down below. Up there, of course, there's shopping, malls, restaurants -- whatever your heart may desire. I was looking for postcards in a bookstore and I found the latest issue of TENNIS, the one that I finished but never saw come out. It was weird seeing it at all, but even moreso because I was up on some mountaintop in Hong Kong. I guess I kind of miss it. I know, poor me.

Sweat and Specs

Anyway, scenery's all good and fun, but let's get to the real reason I came halfway around the world: To play tennis in Hong Kong. The only problem was that today it was 29 degrees or so, which is... hmm... nine-fifths... 261/5... 52... plus 32... 84 degrees Fahrenheit, which is alright but still hot, and what felt like about 110% humidity. My friend Eric (from the Brooklyn league I'm playing in) happened to be here the same time as me so we decided weeks ago to meet up and play.

We played from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. (he's an event organizer so the courts were booked about a month ago or something), and it sucked because it was so hot, but it was fun too since I hadn't played in almost three weeks. After that we went back to Eric's hotel and cleaned up, then got some lunch. He had convinced me that I should look into getting some extra glasses (as fashion-accessory-type things, because you know me, that's what I'm all about) since the prices were so good. Eric took me to the store he has gone to for the past two years, in Wan Chai, and I ended up picking TWO pairs of glasses + exam + lenses for... 532 Hong Kong dollars, or less than $70 U.S.! One pair is relatively normal for me; the other is a stretch, but he intimated that they "work" and that "Mel will be proud." We shall see...

Small But Exciting Happenings

Today, Monday, I did not do much. But there were a few minor developments quite worth mentioning.

1) Getting closer and closer to Hong Kong tickets. A travel agency quoted us hundreds of U.S. dollars for a round-trip to HK, and then slapped on a 500 RMB ($65ish) fee for using an American passport.... So I called up Gideon and he found some crazy discount websites that has dozens of flights per day to Shenzhen (a short train trip across the border from HK) for as little as 420 RMB one way, or about 1,100 RMB roundtrip after taxes, for a total of about $150 -- but we called and I can't book until six days before the trip. You know those Chinatown buses in New York? I've realized that that's how much of the transit works in China, including the domestic air travel. The site is shakg.com -- let me know if you know something about it that I don't, because in one week I'm booking.

2) I got in touch with the Shanghai Racquet Club, thanks to Andrea from my Brooklyn tennis team. She worked at the ATP Tennis Masters Cup a couple of years ago so she knew some people here. Maybe this week I'll be able to make it in and hit with some of the juniors there. Sweet.

3) I got a haircut at one of these trendy, two-level salons today. The wide, glass double doors are attended by two cute girls dressed in coordinating outfits, and funky hairstylists work their magic inside to a soundtrack of dated American Top 40. For 40 yuan ($5 US), a girl (dressed in the same matching blazer and skirt as the girls working the doors) washes and conditions your hair, then gives you a mini-massage -- shoulders, arms, neck -- in the barber's chair until the hairdresser shows up. I guess I spoiled the fun by asking him to just fix up the mess on top of my head, but I probably would've regretted going with some elaborate swept-back, propped-up blow-dried style that all the cool Chinese people are doing now. Maybe next time.

Hard at Work

MARCH 21, 2007  |  Melanie and Gary goof off during a lull in the action at the offices of TENNIS Magazine. Chris was not amused by the abuse of his office computer (click to enlarge).

:: photo by Melanie Hendel ::

Mayor Federer

A couple of months ago, Steve from work mentioned that Roger Federer is now so diplomatic and is in such good favor with basically the entire world that "the guy is starting to sound like the Mayor of Tennis."

You know what? Roger Federer really is the mayor of tennis. I knew that he was contacted by the ATP president about last week's Las Vegas brouhaha -- which he wasn't even at; he was playing a tournament in Dubai -- but the way he describes it, it sounds like he's the premier being briefed by a deputy on events in his dominion.

From his press conference on Friday at the Pacific Life Open:

ROGER FEDERER: No. I got a phone call from [ATP president] Etienne de Villiers, who explained me the situation. I mean, I was far away, you know, so there was the whole time difference, the whole thing was kind of happening. I just remember going on the Internet and checking out the scores of Vegas and I saw that Blake was through, but I couldn't figure it out, because I thought Korolev should have been through, even though Blake was about to win, you know, the whole thing.

So I thought, okay, well, I guess I miscalculated or whatever, and then I got a phone call on the way over to the club, you know, from de Villiers explaining the whole situation, kind of the whole back and forth, you know. I said okay. ... [It's] your problem, you know. I'm over here, you know.

But I'm happy to see that finally we had a problem in this round-robin system, because I always told you I was against it in the first place. So, you know, he apologized and the whole thing, that something like this had to happen with other players...

Picture Post: TENNIS.com, on the Ball

MARCH 7, 2007  |  During a media session at the Pacific Life Open in California, Elena Dementieva speaks with reporters -- including Kamakshi Tandon, TENNIS.com's editor extraordinaire (click to enlarge).

photo by Getty Images

Pete Posts

It's a Sampras Bonanza over at SI.com, where they've stuck an exclusive interview, Jon Wertheim's analysis on the best way to stage a Sampras vs. Federer exhibition, and a December post by current pro Justin Gimelstob on how Pete could actually still take on Federer.

Gimelstob thinks Pete could challenge him: "Pete Sampras is currently playing at a level as high as anyone in the world except for Federer."

photo by Damian Strohmeyer, Sports Illustrated

Sullivan ♥ Federer

Apparently Andrew Sullivan is a Federer fan. Well, he's made some room for him on his blog anyway. And for Anna, too.