I am on an over-40 USTA tennis league. As someone who is considerably over 40, I am tempted to check the IDs of many of the women that we’ve been playing against, because they are suspiciously agile and speedy. I’m getting a little tired of those peppy 41 year olds dashing around the courts smacking the balls into unreachable corners at unreasonable rates of speed.
I would like to propose a league where there is both a minimum age, and a maximum foot speed. This would be a more mindful, enjoy-the-moment, kinder brand of tennis; that permits the time to stop and appreciate a good shot, without having to hustle back into position for the return shot.
This year I volunteered to play singles on the over-40 league, since most prefer to play doubles. I proceeded to lose three straight singles matches in third-set tie-breaks. For those of you who are not familiar with tennis scoring –these are close matches that have gone into the tennis equivalent of overtime. It’s really pissing me off.
It almost felt good to lose a fourth match without playing a tie-break. The (allegedly) 40 year old opponent won because she is a stronger player; not because I had a mental lapse and blew yet another match that I coulda/shoulda won.
I am sure it’s just coincidence, but I haven’t won a USTA match since Trump has taken office.