COURAGE
Anyone who has ever played tennis competitively knows how intense the game can get. It mixes qualities from all sports, but in its deepest essence, it is a graceful and poetic mortal combat between two adversaries who want nothing less than the complete annihilation of their opponent.
Tennis hides its violence through artistry and sportsmanship, but its reality is a debilitating experience only the best dare to defy. It quashes you physically and emotionally. It drains your confidence and self-esteem, but like a phoenix we always rise from our ashes to a much-improved self.
The pedigree of a tennis player is developed over many years weathering ups and downs, wins and losses, heartbreaks and celebrations, pain through injuries and recoveries for only a few glimpses of victorious sunshine worth bragging about.
The battered soul of a true tennis competitor is pure resilience and grit.
As we enter this new COVID-19 phase in our lives, it is obvious that we will all experience difficult times and challenging situations where our very core will be tested.
For one, Tennis players are outdoor creatures where space, air, and sun rule, and the mere thought of a lengthy homebound forced curfew sends chills of depression down our spine.
However, I trust that all competitors will figure out a way to cope and ace this new normal. I am sure we will cage this new opponent in its rightful place. Courage will prevail.
CREATIVITY
Mastering tennis requires an extraordinary sense of adjustment and troubleshooting skills. You must reinvent yourself and re-craft every single point you play. One must create new winning strategies instantaneously against someone doing the same. The battery of skills and their respective applications are infinite and the brushstrokes one will use to produce a tactical masterpiece immeasurable.
Tennis players are artists; on court Da Vinci disciples who would cut their ear off like Van Gogh if that meant taking down Federer at the US Open in front of the largest crowd in history.
We are resourceful because our sport demands it, and survival of the fittest is just another drill in the middle of a blistering hot day.
Tennis players are skilled musicians whose epic productions can mimic Carl Orff Carmina Burana and touch our inner core just the same.
We create and this abundance of possibilities is the creed that controls our humanity. This creativity WILL prevail.
INTELLIGENCE
Tennis players have an active mind with sharp fast twitch neurons constantly compiling pros and cons every millisecond. We make thousands of tactical choices in a 1-hour span and process loads of geotargeted data faster than Watson.
We master math, physics, physiology, geometry, and can stretch a human resolve to near extinction.
Tennis demands a multi-dimensional brain that can process trajectories, speed, angle of attack, and obstacle avoidance while in complete opposite motion from the desired target and requires you to do the same on the very next shots.
The victor in this IQ test will be the most disciplined, consistent, fittest and bravest warrior on court and this Chess warfare will be filed as just another day in the life of a tennis player.
So, what do we say to COVID-19? Bring it on! We will prevail.
