Scott Samuelson: On Achieving 'Tennisosity'
As in life, the point of tennis isn’t to hit serves above a certain speed or win a major title. The point is for a great game to be played—one that brings out the best in each player.
By Scott Samuelson
Though I’m at best a mediocre tennis player, I’ve achieved something in the sport that the pros achieve only at their finest, which I’ve taken to calling “tennisosity,” a hybrid of “tennis” and “virtuosity.” I coined the term several years ago, in the sweaty aftermath of a match in which my opponent and I had entered into its state. Among my friends and family, the ugly term tennisosity has stuck—I suspect because it describes something vitally yet elusively important, something with an ethical and an aesthetic dimension that can apply to any meaningful human activity.
Tennisosity (in the realm of tennis) is when you and your opponent are so well-matched that the competition not only raises both of your play to a higher level but perfectly realizes the game of tennis. The way I put it to my exhausted opponent was, “We just played t…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The First Person with Michael Judge to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
 | A guest post by
|