Oh Canada!

Hello fellow tennis lovers and greetings from a far away land named Canada!

I’ve been in Toronto for a few days now, keeping the tennis under close watch so you don’t have to and trying to steel my weak, pale body against the humidity and sun. After perfume gate last week, I’m happy to report that I have proved once more to be unfit for life. I fancied myself a strong, lithe athlete albeit retired until I went way over my head in a gym session (I was just feeling myself, you know) and now I’m walking staircases backwards. What once used to be my warm-up is now my workout and then some.

But enough about my shortcomings. Let’s talk about tennis. Hardcourt season is under way and I know that the Europeans here will hate me for saying this: I love it. I am European and I hate myself for saying it. The clay may test the lungs more and the grass one’s adaptability but I do think the best tennis players usually triumph on the hard courts of this world. While you can outlast opponents on the red dirt, drive them crazy with moonballs and drop shots, and where you can startle players on grass with a little crush and rush or get away with a good serving day, there is no such tomfoolery on hard. It’s not a coincidence that the current world number ones in tennis, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, have both won the last two prestigious hard court events with their very own sunshine double before they trailed off to the organic surfaces.

Am I being crazy here? Europeans of this world! Help me out, find me some good arguments to disprove my thesis that hard courts are the real truth serums in the tennis world.

Meanwhile in Montréal, the seeds have fallen like the good-natured characters in the first season of Game of Thrones. Which, come to think of it, speaks against my theory that the best players usually prevail on hard courts. Hm. I still stand by my thesis, though (albeit with shaky legs and a tumultuous ground underneath me), because it also means that a lower ranked athlete can be the better player on any given day on hard whereas on organic surfaces top players might still find a trick up their sleeves.

In Toronto, at the time of this writing, most of the top seeds with the exception of Linda Noskova have survived. Aryna Sabalenka’s serve looked particularly good last night while Elina Svitolina played a flawless match against Anastasia Potapova and Alex Eala casually fills stadiums for singles and doubles matches. Over 5000 extra tickets were sold in Toronto after Alex Eala won in Washington D.C. And the atmosphere that comes with it is electric.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about the difference between inner strength and confidence. Confidence being fleeting and fickle like a moody horse that may take off at any moment while inner strength is part of one’s character and purpose and cannot be shaken, not even by an occasional downfall. Alex Eala has both right now, but more importantly, she is all inner strength and poise at all times which will bless her with a sustainable and successful career on tour as long as she can remain healthy.

Life on tour is difficult. You’re away from home for well over 30 weeks a year, lonely and disconnected from who you once were before things got crazy, surrounded by people you pay to make you better. It can sometimes feel like you’re not a human being anymore but a product that needs perfecting, marketing and selling. Having a value system as your North Star is not a question of character; in tennis, it’s a question of survival.

I hope you’ve had a lovely week and didn’t go overboard in the gym like somebody else you know.

Things that make me happy

Dave Eggers’ new book has made extremely happy for a mere few days because that’s how quickly I read Contrapposto. I could not put it down. It’s a story about a lifelong friendship between Cricket and Olympia and we meet them in different periods of their lives. Cricket is a talented artist with no sense for business or marketing while Olympia has a talent for self-invention and maybe that in itself is art. It’s based on Dave Eggers time in art school and reminded me at times a little bit of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt from a few years ago. I’m on a book prize jury back in Germany this year so I’ve been reading more than ever. If this is something of interest to a mostly tennis crowd here at Finite Jest, I can put together a list of the best books I’ve read this year.

Things that make me unhappy

The excruciating pain I have in my thighs when attempting to sit on the toilet is reminiscent of those days in the off-season when the elements of who you are as a person consist of carb-craving, muscle-pain and perpetual tiredness. May I never feel this way again.

Do me a favour and don’t forget your favourite pair of jeans during the summertime. They miss you, too! So long…

Yours truly, Andrea