English: Court No. 1 at All England Lawn Tennis Club (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Speaking of machismo, what’s with all the Power Play that is doing the tennis circuit these days? I have been following Wimbledon daily since Round 1 this year and although it is common knowledge that the sport of tennis has changed, with advanced technology, heavy duty racquets and superb fitness levels of players these days; frankly all this baseline slugging is purely boring!
And the men’s game is even more boring than the women. All power, slugging, muscle and big serves! Whatever happened to the sport that was tennis? The game, which was all about skill, talent, agility and wit. Where serve and volley made the audience’s heart race; where fluidity and grace made one fall in love with the player, the one who displayed sheer beauty and grace. Where the battle of wits was equally evident with the display of power. Where panache and passion went hand in hand. I actually slept off during some of the matches this year.
I admit, I have grown up on a healthy diet of Becker, (and I was a huge fan); but I also thrived on Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl. So I don’t mean that there needs to be gymnastics. Slices, corner placements, cross-court passes, fast returns are fantastic. All I ask for is a little bit of dazzle, a little more risk…come inside the court…attack the ball from there…and perhaps a few more volleys and calisthenics.
It is likely that many may not agree with my viewpoint. But I think it is going to be universally acknowledged that some of the matches that excited us this Wimbledon were the Roger Federer ouster by Sergiy Stakhovsky, Serena Williams vs. Sabine Lisicki, Maria Sharapova vs. Michelle Larcher de Brito. There was a fight, a challenge, movement all around the court and above all a battle of wits substituted the levels of experience, or lack thereof!
But there is hope. With few players coming back with the serve and volley game, tennis tomorrow may have some more excitement in store. To many more years of Wimbledon, strawberries and cream; hopefully lesser injury and accidents causing drop-outs. And many more legends and their stories. Cheers!
hues¬es 