{Photograph} by Ethan Miller/Getty Photographs
I can say with explicit pleasure that I used to be the primary individual to play tennis inside State Farm Area.
Elton John staged a tennis profit for his AIDS Basis on the newly opened constructing, then Philips Area, in 2000, with Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Billie Jean King, and different legendary gamers readily available. I used to be a tennis beginner and organized to hit with doubles star Luke Jensen earlier than the occasion for a narrative I used to be writing.
The crew had simply completed organising the court docket when Luke and I walked out, rackets in hand. It rapidly became a tennis lesson, with Luke patiently educating me find out how to enhance my recreation. After a time, we had been joined by 99X disc jockey Steve Barnes.
Then out walked Elton John. Luke gathered us on the internet as Elton unpacked his rackets. “I promised to heat up Elton for a couple of minutes,” he stated. “Stick round and we are able to hit some extra afterwards.”
Barnes and I grew to become their ball boys, chasing stray hits and feeding balls again to them between factors. It was fascinating to be that near Elton John and to watch him in a snug, unguarded setting. He was a unusual participant, in no way athletic, however he performed with a fierce depth. (He even took a tennis professional on the street with him so he might play as he toured.)
They hit for half-hour; then the 4 of us gathered on the internet. Elton and Luke shook palms and exchanged pleasantries. Despite the fact that we had been all standing barely a foot aside from each other, Elton by no means checked out me or at Barnes. He by no means stated “thanks” and even “hey.” I’ve by no means felt so invisible to a different human being.
It’s no coincidence that Elton introduced his annual fundraiser right here. Atlanta is the tennis capital of the world, and on this problem, we discover how that got here to be. The evolution began in 1952 when Bitsy Grant Tennis Middle was opened by the Metropolis of Atlanta. Till then, tennis was the bastion of nation golf equipment and the elite. At Bitsy Grant, anybody might play. Public tennis facilities had been ultimately constructed all around the metropolis.
I scorned tennis for a lot of my life. I absolutely embraced the stereotype that it was a sport for spoiled, wealthy brats. John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors had been the poster boys for every thing I disliked in regards to the recreation.
However my girlfriend on the time had been blunt. “You’re out of form,” she introduced one morning. “That you must train, so I’m going to show you find out how to play tennis.” By that night, we had been standing on a neighborhood court docket, and she or he was displaying me find out how to hit. I believe I fell in love with tennis within the second of exhilaration after I hit my first forehand winner.
She’d performed doubles on her highschool crew and relished beating up my clumsy strokes. Then, one night, I took a set off her. It was my first up-close expertise with a tennis tantrum. I’m undecided she ever forgave me.
Tennis turned out to be her final present to me. Bitsy Grant grew to become my second house. I hit for hours in opposition to the middle’s large wall and took group classes twice per week. I liked to take a seat in a rocking chair on the again porch, chatting with my tennis buds and placing collectively pickup doubles matches.
I developed a robust recreation: a heavy forehand (after I might management it), a tough first serve (after I might nail it), and fast palms on the internet for volleys (after I might get the ball to clear the web). In different phrases, I used to be like most novice gamers: My aspirations far exceeded my abilities.
Cranky knees and ankles ultimately pressured me to “retire” from tennis. I nonetheless miss going out on Bitsy’s majestic clay courts and whacking a tennis ball. I miss the fun of hitting a clear forehand winner or serving an ace into the nook. I additionally know that I would like to search out one other recreation to get some train. I don’t like gyms and I can’t run. Basketball, like tennis, is not an possibility.
Plus, I would like motivation. How about this? I problem Sir Elton to a no-holds-barred three-set grudge match. Enjoying pickleball. See you on the court docket, pal.
This text seems in our April 2025 problem.
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