“Wow,
what a tournament we witnessed this week, Johnny Mac! Before we came
back on the air, we were both saying that we’ve been just flat-out
blown away by the talent at this year’s Intertemporal Tennis Writers
Classic. Some of the greatest writers in history came and competed and
showed us what it means to write extraordinarily well about tennis.
This tournament attracts the world’s sharpest minds because tennis is a
global sport that’s steeped in tradition, and more, it’s a gentlemanly
clash of wills where you’re out there alone, and the way you play
reveals so much about who you are. Somewhere between chess and boxing
lies tennis. So you have to be an elite writer to get through this
tournament. That’s why no one was surprised to see Touré get knocked
out in the first round. Sure, he’s done some nice stories, like his
profile of Jennifer Capriati for Vogue, in which he hits with her. Do
we have a clip from that? ‘The whole incident takes on the feel of
intense aerobics mixed with a back-alley mugging, and you’re just
deflecting and defending and, eventually, after eight or nine minutes,
your arm starts to throb and your lungs start to shriek and each new
shot racing at you is like a punch to the chest and you feel her inner
bully.’ Touré’s a solid player, but in this tournament your forehand is
your vocabulary, your backhand is your eye for detail, your ability to
turn words into poetry and rhythm is your volley, your use of metaphors
and symbolism is your overhead, and your deep understanding of the
sport is your all-important first serve. Touré writes passionately and
knows tennis, but some whispered that he might have gotten into the
tournament only because of affirmative action. Maybe.