Easy Like Sunday Morning....Sorta

Worthy Opponents Jackie Ruvolo and my husband MarkWhy go to church of a Sunday morning when I speak urgently and often with Him on a tennis court?  It was me and I Hate Tennis US Open double cake winner Beth Allen versus another league teamie, Jackie Ruvolo and my husband Mark calling for divine inspiration (intervention?) this morning at the Church of Prospect Park Tennis Center.

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Saintly Pros: Nate Chura

Nate Chura, radiating goodness at the Brooklyn Heights Casino.Saintly Pro Nate Chura is my Tennis Yoda.  

He's got such a healthy, wise perspective on the game, I suspect he spent several years living under the root system of a tree on some boggy planet in deepest space, communing with the Force.

Actually, Nate's deep respect and love of tennis comes from years of playing and teaching it.  He started playing when he was 11. At 15, he knew he wanted to teach tennis.

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Play to Win, Win by Playing

It must've been the Isner cap: Nelson Simon and I, victorious. The dark cloud behind us is Henry Strozier.Haters, should I start calling you Lovers now?  I've been having so much fun on the courts, it's thrown me -- and my husband -- for a loop.

Earlier this week, I teamed up with Worthy Opponent Nelson Simon against my Mark and Worthy Opponent Henry Strozier of the cranberry commercials.  It was a beautiful morning. We've been having a run of them in New York City: bright blue skies, just this side of cool temperatures, a smell of damp wood and dry leaves in the air.  

I'm so glad to be here! I thought.  Well, what do you know about that.

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US Open: The Party's Over

After the love is gone at the US Open, all that's left is a promise to rendezvous next year.

I returned to the media center underneath Ashe Stadium to find a corporate ghost town of empty offices, dark hallways and furniture wrapped in plastic.

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Ready? Play!

Over the net and between the lines? I can do that!"Ready? Play."

Every umpired tennis match begins with that charge from the chair ump to the players on the court.

He doesn't say, "Ready? Go."  He gives the order to play.

Once it gets mentions of dramatic, staged performances out of the way, the Random House College Dictionary defines play, the noun, as an "exercise or action by way of amusement or recreation."

Amuse, the transitive verb, is "to hold the attention of (someone) agreeably; entertain or divert in a pleasant manner.  Recreation is "refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like; a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment." 

Haters, playing tennis is supposed to contain all these qualities: agreeable, pleasant, relaxing, enjoyable. Go figure.

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