All I Want Is Some Tennis!

The U.S. Open is on now. I'm watching last night's match. It's okay because I expect the time difference. It used to happen all the time in reverse in the U.S. whenever I tried to watch the Australian Open in January. However, the sheer lack of coverage is what's making me cranky today. Honestly, I've been trying to watch tennis here for 3 years and I swear that the only time you get coverage (cable included) is when a French player is on the court. That really sucks because like baseball, tennis is a like a religion for me. Years ago when I worked in municipal government, I would take one of my vacations in September just so I could watch early-round coverage of the Open during the day on cable.

I discovered tennis at a really early age. Nobody else I knew cared for the sport or even played it for that matter, but I didn't care. I was seven years old, and it was a year after Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open. That's when I discovered my hero, Bjorn Borg. I was too young to like him for all the reasons the bigger girls did, I just thought he looked cool on the court. He was a man of very few words and let his racket do all the talking for him. I was simply mesmerized and I watched him win a total of five Wimbledon titles. Every July, I would be right there in front of the television set with a bowl of cereal and strawberries. Since that time, I've seen a lot of great players come and go - my favorites being Borg, Wilander, Edberg, (there's a pattern of Swedes here), Becker and Sampras. I've missed very few major matches until moving to France, and even when I do catch a tournament, I turn down the sound of the television because the play-by-play simultaneously in French and English is annoying. At least I take the time to actually play more than I did in Chicago - even though I had a court across the street from my house.

Chloe has developed an interest in tennis. I hope Jillian and Chloe learn to play because Philippe is a big tennis fan too. Back in Chicago he and I used to go and watch many of the players listed in senior tournaments. That sounds so funny.

Philippe recently asked me how would feel if Chloe became a really good player and turned pro? I thought about it and said it would be great. "Uh huh," he said. "Could you see yourself as one of those backstage sports parents? They would bar you from the tennis stadiums."

Yes and no - it depends on what's happening, as I think about it. I could become one of those parents because like many of them, I learned the game from an arm chair. But I think I'd be cool and rational, just like Borg for the most part. However, one really, truly unfair call against my kid and Philippe might have a point. The fathers of Elena Dokic, Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati, and Serena and Venus Williams would look like choir boys by comparison.