Winning

My 'tennis career' has definitely not been spent winning.   By the time I started,  Gerry already had twenty five plus years of experience, so he was so far ahead, that beating him was completely out of the question.  Twenty five years later,  I can, in fact, beat him once in a while. I've improved.  But typically, my reason for playing is for exercise,  for improving my game, and for fun, not for winning.

Today we played mixed doubles with 'Jon and Jen' (let's call them)  Jen is one of the best, if not THE best player anywhere around.  She usually plays only with the 'big boys'.  Today, her usual partner was unavailable, so she was partnered with Jon instead.  Jen was nursing a knee issue.  There wasn't a lot of pain, but having had knee surgery in the past made her a bit tentative, and really destroyed her confidence.  I've not played with Jon very much,  but he clearly was not playing his best game today either.  Jen was not her usual steady competitive self.  Neither one of them were.

On the other hand,  Gerry was playing exceptionally well.  And I also was playing perhaps my very best mixed doubles game, making very few mistakes, which is rare.  The result was,  we were winning.  For me, that was such a rare occurrence.  When Gerry and I play against Jen and her regular partner,  we win some games, but rarely any sets.  Today we won both sets soundly.

While I am not exactly a fiercely competitive warrior,  I must admit that winning feels pretty good!
I should try it more often!

Seniors playing tennis