Like everyone else with an interest in tennis, I’m watching Wimbledon.
But for years, I didn’t. Seeing the world’s best players serve and volley on the grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club was too emotional.
If that seems weird, it is, especially because I was a tennis fanatic as a teenager. I was a glutton for the game. I’d spend hours at the Smith College courts, hitting with friends or people I didn’t know or, if no one was around, against the backboard. And when I wasn’t sharpening my groundstrokes, I’d be watching whatever tennis I could find on television. There wasn’t much in those days, just the four Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. I watched them all, but Wimbledon was appointment TV.
