While sitting at breakfast this morning I checked the tournament website to make sure that my 1:00PM match time hadn’t been changed. Good thing I checked. My opponent, who had won his first round match yesterday defaulted. So, disappointingly, no match today.
It has been a bumpy road getting to this point in my preparation for this tournament. Lots of old demons that I thought had been jettisoned popped up.
My first competition of the year is two weeks away and I have been in the toughest period of my tennis life.
Why now?
I have been competing as a senior tennis player for 30 years. I have been fortunate to have had an incredible run during these years. I had results beyond my dreams and, more importantly, I have become a different person as a result of being in the heat of competition
For two weeks, as a spectator and player, I was wowed by the special moments of play that were demonstrated by Dimitrov, Wawrinka, Ivanovic, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Cibulkova, Li Na and so many others. The shots they can hit, the level of consistency of their play, and the coverage around the court so complete that it is hard to relate for the rest of us who play.
Many people write resolutions for the New Year. When I am with my family, I will spend less time on my cell. I will get to work earlier, make this amount of money, go to the gym 3 times a week and get more fit. It’s a story you hear a lot: people write goals and then don’t think about them again for another year. In the world of storytelling we call that a bad story, a story that doesn’t work. It’s 2014, and it’s time for something different. Something simpler. Something that actually works.
