game. set. match. blog.

A perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquility.
- Billie Jean King

It's that time of year again, right after my birthday, when the weather is still warm and I'm still arguing with people that summer isn't over - time for the US Open at the USTA in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY.

Accompanied by my tennis partners in crime, Alex and my mom, I took on the heat, the crowds, the merchandise, the free giveaways, the exorbitant food court prices, John McEnroe, and, of course, world-class tennis.


...okay, maybe not McEnroe per se, but he was in the vicinity.

And, as per usual, I got to thinking: Why am I not out there playing some world-class tennis, too? Well, let's see...A lack of a coach in more than five years maybe? The lack of a steady partner with whom to play? Not enough self-discipline to work on my serve six days a week? The fact that I'm too busy trying to write a book?

All these things, and perhaps more, are definitely good reasons, but not anything that can't be remedied.

So, as of today, I've gotten myself a coach, and I start lessons the first weekend in October. It might not sound like much, but it's a start. It's getting back out on the court. It's that competitive edge flaring up again. It's Varsity tennis all over again, sans the green pleated skirt.

Oh yeah, and it's also dawned on me that next to writing and films, the next thing I'm probably most knowledgeable and passionate about is this very sport, from the history of its snooty (and British) beginnings to the greatest athletes to play the game to those technical scoring intricacies that baffle the uninitiated tennis viewer. I think the lightbulb went on when I found myself for the fourth time this week, not to mention how often in all my 24 years (did I mention it was my birthday??), trying once again to explain to someone the very logical, quite brilliant scoring methodology behind the game. But to no avail. Maybe I'm just not explaining it well enough, I found myself thinking, but God knows, I've tried. So I pondered and I pondered and finally came to the conclusion that I might better express myself in writing than in frustrated, fast-paced, out-of-breath spoken words. Maybe I'll get Alex, my mom, and my sisters (my dad has yet to ask) to understand how to keep score soon enough -

racquetgirl.blogspot.com

Game. Set. Match. Blog...All tennis, all the time, by a tennis player who dreams of US Open glory.

Interesting, if nothing else. The start of something truly unique, most definitely.