The Inner Game of Tennis

Warning: This is going to be a very boring read if you don't know anything about tennis.

I have never really written anything about my love for tennis. For those who do not know me well, I have been playing tennis since I was in second year high school. My first racket was a Wilson Sting 2 which was given to me by my father. Sad to say, I stopped playing tennis when I was already in Theology. It was only in 2006 after a long hiatus that I went back to the courts. My doctor told me I was too young not to exercise at all. I found my Wilson racket too heavy already for my game and too outdated (nakakahiya na dalin sa court). My mother gave me a Prince O3 Silver, a light power-racket which helped me shape my game once again. Since then, I have been playing at least twice a week at the Eusebio Tennis Club in Pasig. Last year, I found a new weapon in the market. The Babolat Drive Z Lite. It is not as heavy as Wilson Sting 2 but not as light as Prince O3 Silver. It has less power but more control.

Tennis has an outer game and an inner game. The outer game you play against an external opponent and you overcome external obstacles to win. Here you need to hone up your skills, improve your leg work and learn to be more precise in your shot-making aside from finding the right racket for your weapon. But there is the inner game of tennis which takes place in the mind of the player. It is played against such obstacles as lapse in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. Maybe this is why my personality fits the game. I am not really a good team-player which makes me shy away from team sports. I don't like also being blamed by team mates for the defeat whether verbally or by just giving me the mean look which is the same as telling you, "it's your fault we lost." In tennis, you don't find coaches lounging on the court sides and giving instructions during the break. The player is left on his own to figure out how to defeat the opponent. In his own silent moments, the player determines the right strategies to make.

As I write this, the Australian open is already on its 4th day and players are now battling for a place in the 4th round of action. Yesterday morning, I went to the tennis court at 7am. I was playing against my trainer. I was down 5-0 before I started to heat up (parang diesel, mabagal mag init). I held serve in the 6th game to finally be on the scoreboard at 5-1. I broke his serve in the 7th game at 30-40 to make the score 5-2. It was on the 8th game that the unexpected happened. I was leading the game at 40-15. He delivered a good return of serve to the ad side which I managed to return with a a cross-court backhand return. He hit the ball with a down the line topspin forehand which forced me to run a few quick sidesteps. I made it just in time and I knew the moment my racket made contact with the ball that I was going to hit a crosscourt winner. Unfortunately, my right foot took all the impact and my right ankle gave away. I screamed in pain as I immediately stopped playing. I was limping in pain towards my chair. My right foot was already swollen when I removed my shoes and had to apply cold compress immediately. Although I was in pain, I felt satisfied when my trainer told me my last shot landed a winner and the score was already 5-3. However I could no longer stand up to finish the game.

The whole day yesterday the doctor advised me to rest completely. That was good for me since I was able to watch the 2nd round of action in the Australian open. (One thing I like about the Australian Open is that I have been to the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne and have seen the tennis courts there during the World Youth Day.) Of course, I did not miss my idol's (Roger Federer) match yesterday against an unseeded Russian whom he dismissed in straight sets. And that is how I found the time to write about tennis. I am not even sure if anybody gets to read this blog up to this point. If you are still reading this, please leave a comment so I can thank you for staying with me. God bless!