Sometimes at tournaments it’s not the matches that captivate your interest, but rather the practice courts. Today, as a cranky mid-week mood washed over me, deadlines loomed, and, for some unexplainable reason, none of the on-court matches captivated my interest, that’s where I found myself.
On the practice courts, watching Sam Querrey desperately try and hit tennis balls into trash cans.
(I didn’t say that this was a high point of my life.)
Let’s take a step back for a moment, so that I can really set the scene. Last night, Querrey played a pretty terrible-but-entertaining three-set match against Denis Istomin, finally winning 11-9 in the third set tie-break. He “saved” four match points, mostly due to Istomin errors, and towards the end of the match was rolling in second-serves in the 80s (later chalking it up to nerves).
Here, have some Vines!
Tomorrow, Querrey plays Dimitrov, in what will likely be a very, very difficult match. So, naturally, when I walked over to the practice courts mid-day, I saw a group of American players huddled around Sam on the practice court, and watching him intently. This is what he was doing:
It’s hard to see the target on the Vines, I know, so I zoomed in with my camera phone:
Yes. That is a group of three trash cans on the far side of the practice courts that Your No. 1 American was aiming at.
His friends Steve Johnson and James Blake started to practice real tennis, and yet Sam was undeterred. He kept hitting ball after ball over their heads, really showing off his ability to focus under tough conditions.
After hitting all of the balls in his vicinity for about 10 minutes and not getting a single one into the bins, he became giddy with excitement when he realized there was a whole cooler of tennis balls nearby. He gallantly continued his quest.
Eventually John Isner showed up, fresh off of his two-set defeat over Kuznetsov, and was informed that his good friend didn’t watch his match because he was trying to hit balls into trash cans.
Isner attempted a few tries of his own, failed, and quickly realized how stupid it was.
Then he just laughed.
But first, he posed for a few fans. Because…ROCKSTAR.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your metaphor. Run with it.
Fascinating read.