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As a player I can see it's unbelievably easy to tunnel into a world of self-hatred and anger when shots that have been made hundreds of thousands of times begin to seem impossible to make in the face of a clever opponent (or a bad day).
As someone that played tennis competitively as a teenager this hits a bit too close to home.
ElGonzo-
As a player I can see it's unbelievably easy to tunnel into a world of self-hatred and anger when shots that have been made hundreds of thousands of times begin to seem impossible to make in the face of a clever opponent (or a bad day).
This is exactly what I have come to love about watching it. It may seem obvious but the entertainment is in watching the player rather than the game. Yes, someone wins/loses and there are some incredible shots, but seeing how each player responds to the ebb and flow of the match is the fascinating bit. They’re all good at the top level, but how well they cope with loss – of a point, game or set – usually decides who wins.
snoops
Yeah I love tennis, althought my enjoyment of watching it has strangely faded over the years. Maybe only with age do I realise what a headfuck it is. They all have the knowledge and confidence to execute any possible shot with perfection, but doing so against a different opponent and on different days makes it a case of internal warfare. As a player I can see it's unbelievably easy to tunnel into a world of self-hatred and anger when shots that have been made hundreds of thousands of times begin to seem impossible to make in the face of a clever opponent (or a bad day).
It's totally different kind of mental resillance to cycling I think.