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Yeah, well, the lack of topics dedicated to it should be a strong enough hint, but...Anyone here like to watch tennis? (men's or women's). I've been an avid watcher since the late eighties, and it's my favourite sport beside football (the real one, that you play with your feet :P).

 :ye_gods:

Yah, I'm a tennis player and fan.  Rare breed nowadays.  They wanted to tear down some of the courts at the club I played at in order to add more parking and expand the yoga studio.

Tennis is a really underrated sport, there's a lot of psychology involved as well as the athleticism.

So, Agassi's mullet was actually a wig. That disappoints me nearly as much as his meth use.

I like to watch pictures of Anna Kournikova. Does that count?

Probably my favorite sport to play these days, especially since I've gotten back into shape.  Tempted to join one of the leagues around here, but just haven't done it since I've mostly been playing golf or in a flag football league.  The flag football is fun, but it just isn't the same (no contact :( ).  I  do know I need to look at getting some up to date gear as my rackets are probably 10 years old.  I don't even know what's good anymore.

Can't stand to watch it, though.

I play tennis a lot, been having fun lately as I feel my game is suddenly becoming better after a long plateau at 4.0-ish play. Tendonitis in my Achilles' is starting to be an issue, though. I sometimes enjoy watching it, but it's an off-and-on thing for me. Depends a lot on the personalities of the players and whether there's an interesting contrast in styles (like Federer/Nadal).

I haven't played in a year after somewhat peaking (won a 4.0 singles tournament without dropping a set or serve I think).  The toll on my body was just ridiculous.  Every week something new hurt (mostly knees, abdominals), and I was starting to have really bad shoulder problems serving. 

The real reason I quit is that the social aspects of it started to annoy me.  Sure, I could do the club men's league, but that only ran for about 10 weeks at a time and it's once a week.  Plus it's doubles and singles, and I hate doubles.  Oh, and if you want to play regularly, you really have to play doubles with people. I dislike doubles enough that I passive aggressively got myself replaced from my weekly doubles match. Also with tennis on the wane, it's very difficult to find a regular singles match (or just a hitting partner) with someone my own age.  And.. Tucson, ever play a 3 setter in 100+ degree weather.  It's dandy.

I would like to get back to it, but right now with an infant, it's hard to commit the time to it.  And unless I can put in 2 hours 2-3 times a week, I'll just get pissed off with my game. 

If you want some advice, don't do league unless you're really sure of where you're currently rated. I had no idea when I did a mixed doubles league that I was a 4, so in a 7.0 league I had to be placed with the 3.0 on the team.  And boy was she ever a 3. Worse player than my wife and my wife has played less than a handful of real tennis matches.  I was incredibly pissed off at the end of that league and the experience was just miserable. 

Yeah, it's one of those sports where matching with people who are just right for your game is incredibly crucial. It's not even that you need roughly the same ability, it needs to be a compatible style of game. I play a slice-and-power game mostly with relatively little topspin; a player who relies on a lot of topspin and placement can be a frustrating matchup for me. I completely accept it in a league, but I wouldn't want to hit with that person for fun that often.

I do like doubles, and it's often easier to find players if you'll do doubles--many people dislike the feeling of exposure and intensity that comes with singles. Plus doubles is a bit easier on the body--when I've had a hard singles game of 3 sets or so, my 45-year old body really lets me know about it. I'm lucky, there's a group of men and women at work who play doubles and we're reasonably evenly matched. Getting harder for us to find younger players who will join us, though--I think the sport is dying a bit for under-35 people.

Oh, Miloš.