What is Tennis Really?

On a crisp fall morning, a tennis player steps onto the court. The player warms up and gets ready to play. The tennis game is not only determined only by what you are seeing during the match, but it is determined by everything that has led up to this match. These players have trained and drilled to finely hone their skills. Professional player Rafael Nadal said, “You don’t just play tennis and win. No, it’s not like that. You work hard to improve your skills then you play what you learned. Winning is just a bonus.” 

Like any sport, tennis requires many years of practice. When asked how long he had been playing tennis, varsity second singles player Zac Adams said, “I probably started lessons with my mom when I was 4 years old. Then I just did lessons every summer until I was about fourth grade, and then I started to do leagues until now!” 

Second singles is a very high spot on a tennis team. He has been brought up in tennis training. Adams was also asked why he chose tennis as his sport. He replied, “I guess it was like a rule in my family I guess. It was just built into our systems because my mom played and my grandma played. It was kind of just a thing my family liked to do with each other. so I just grew up loving it and I never wanted to quit. So I’ve just kept going and it’s just great exercise and I meet a lot of new people so it’s a lot of fun.” 

Tennis is a cool sport because you can meet so many new people! Whether you are in a match against them or you are just getting closer to your teammates it is a great opportunity to get to know people. Professional player Kim Clijsters said, “You don’t have to hate your opponents to beat them.” I think that no truer words have been said about tennis players and their opponents. You can have a good relationship with them and even be great friends with them and you can still have a very intense and tough match.

“You don’t have to hate your opponents to beat them.”

An amazing part of tennis is the fact that you can play any way you like. When asked how often she plays outside of school Siena Chavez, a junior player on the OHS tennis team, said that she practices very little outside of school and only really plays with friends and family outside of the tennis season. For some people, tennis is a leisurely and social activity that is to be enjoyed with friends and family.  For others it is a high intensity activity that is played to compete. That is why tennis is so cool! Some people can be on the tennis team to compete and others are just on to make friends.

 Most people, however, fall somewhere in between. Chavez was asked if she was on the tennis team for the social aspect or because she just wanted to play tennis, she said, “A bit of both! It was mostly because I liked tennis but then I got a lot of new friends from it and it made it even more fun to play!” Another source was asked what their favorite part of tennis was, they said, “I love the environment. The tennis environment is truly like none other. You can make friends with your opponent while you are trying to beat them! You can get whatever you want out of a tennis match. If you are striving to improve no matter who you are playing you can always improve.” Isn’t that just interesting? Tennis is a game that is totally self motivated. If you are in it to win it then you will. If you just want to have some fun while playing, then you will!

In tennis you are accountable for yourself. You do not always have a team to blame for mistakes made. You also do not have a team to support you when you are having an off day. On the court you have to be able to keep your physical and mental game strong whether you are winning or losing in a match.  You have to be able to not let the previous points affect the upcoming game.  Just like Nadal said, “I play every point like my life depends on it.” When competing players need to play with this kind of mindset. They need to be giving an all out effort. They have to push all of their thoughts to the side and just play like they have been trained to play. 

One nice part of tennis is that it is not a timed activity. That means that no matter what the score is you can always come back. Even if they are one point away from winning the match, you could still come back and win! Professional player Andre Agassi said, “The great part about tennis is you can’t run out the clock…. As long as we were still playing, I had a chance.” If that is true for a pro, It can be true for us as well. When we are on the court, we are not fighting time, we are fighting to play our best game and give it all we got.

In the end, Tennis is an amazing game that requires a lot of skill and determination. You have to give an all out effort and respect the game and your opponent. Tennis is a game that you have to keep practicing and playing until you get the result that you want. Tennis is a game to be enjoyed by all at whatever level you are at. Tennis is an awesome game because it can be played throughout all ages. It is never too late to learn to play tennis. Another reason I believe that tennis is so popular is because just about every lesson that you learn from it can be applied to different aspects from all of our own lives. In life we cannot just sit around and wait out the clock but we have to act and give an all out effort in everything we do, just like in tennis. I know that all of us can benefit from watching a little tennis match every once in a while.