Tennis Weekend Weakened

The weekend of tennis is over. Our little 8.0 Mixed doubles team finished out of the medals, but we were assured by the organizers that we should be proud of our appearance in the playoffs. My own odyssey finished in another loss to a reasonably good pair. The guy hit big topspin on forehands and backhands and possessed a strong serve. His partner was consistent and more agile than I foresaw. We got off to a slow start and were down 4-1, before coming back a little and losing 6-3. The second set was similar, in that we lost the first four games, but we rallied enough to get to 5-4 in our favor and just two points from winning the set, but lost finally in a tie breaker, 7-6. My excuses for subpar play weren't needed. Below is the scene of the tournament, Nicollet tennis center in Minneapolis.


I spent some time talking to a tennis friend that I hadn't seen in a couple of years and who is now living and playing out of Duluth. He played on a 7.0 team that lost all of their matches. Fred is 70 years old and probably the oldest player in the tournament. He used to be a professional baseball player and took up tennis at age 40. He's one of those slice and dice, lob and drop shot guys that people hate to play against, but love to have on their team. He says he can't see very well any more, but still is unafraid to call the close shots out. When questioned about his calls by people familiar with his eyesight weaknesses, he just says that he calls them the way he sees them. I was happy to see Fred still playing and enjoying himself.