Tweet
Originally posted by don_budge
View Post
I remember sometime in the beginning...in the beginning when I started to post on TennisPlayer.net that is. I made some critical comments about Marion Bartolli's serve, which at the time, in my estimation was one convoluted mess and very unorthodox. As a consequence, our highly esteemed bottle reared up on his literary stallion legs and sort of stated in a somewhat less than subtle way that he resented my description and that he preferred the word "quirky". Well...I thought to myself...I'm ok with that. As a consequence I have come to view the Bartolli take on tennis as a somewhat lovely work of art in process...except for that stupid tennis racquet. The elongated snowshoe. But at least the serve has morphed somewhat...into more convolutions and "quirks".
Being new to the site and having learned to respect my elders and the more experienced, I accepted his less critical word of "quirky" rather than unorthodox or convoluted mess, even though I felt that I was only being critical in the sense of using a form and expression of my sophisticated judgement of something artistic. I think in a way he is right...particularly when the French historically seem to have some kind of artistic avante garde perspective on things that seems to have seeped over into their interpretation of tennis technique.
The French are such lovely creatures aren't they? Drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and carrying on with extramarital affairs besides hitting the tennis ball any way they damn well please. They regard the hours between five and seven in the afternoon as reserved to carry on with their lovers. At least the aristocracy do...they can afford to. Mon amour...je dois travailler tard ce soir. That may oversimplify things a bit although the French seem to take it all in stride...but somebody please bring back dear old Ferdinand Celine, my favorite author of all time. He was a bit quirky come to think of it. His take on the human experience of existence was less than orthodox or conventional at the time...I suppose. He was Jim Morrison's favorite too and Henry Miller only tried to walk in his footsteps.
But anyways...there is one player on the tour that I really love to watch play and that player is another self taught artist whose name is Florian Mayer. This guy is just a joy to watch when he is at his best...because by the nature of his game he can bring out the worst in the best. His game is designed in many ways to upset the rhythm of his opponent and his strokes are less than orthodox...so I call him "The Quirk". Without being judgmental I might add. I saw him dismantle Robin Söderling and reduce him to tears at the Stockholm Open. Robin was crying because he had been embarrassed by the quirky nature of Mayer and ended up a train wreck in front of his adoring Swede fans.
Florian Mayer defeated Bernard Tomic, who's forehand by coincidence is still the subject of a Sticky thread here on the forum, yesterday 6-4, 6-0 to set up a second round match with Andy Murray. Florian's forehand and his serve will probably never grace this forum in any way, shape or form as by their nature...they are quirky. In their only other meeting to date Murray won 1-6, 6-1 and 6-1. That was in Rome at another Masters 1000 tourney in 2011. I believe that Mayer beat Nadal at the Shanghai Masters last year. Is there another lightning strike in the offing? It's unlikely...but one never knows, do they? Due to the sometimes quirky nature of tennis, art and life.
Being new to the site and having learned to respect my elders and the more experienced, I accepted his less critical word of "quirky" rather than unorthodox or convoluted mess, even though I felt that I was only being critical in the sense of using a form and expression of my sophisticated judgement of something artistic. I think in a way he is right...particularly when the French historically seem to have some kind of artistic avante garde perspective on things that seems to have seeped over into their interpretation of tennis technique.
The French are such lovely creatures aren't they? Drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and carrying on with extramarital affairs besides hitting the tennis ball any way they damn well please. They regard the hours between five and seven in the afternoon as reserved to carry on with their lovers. At least the aristocracy do...they can afford to. Mon amour...je dois travailler tard ce soir. That may oversimplify things a bit although the French seem to take it all in stride...but somebody please bring back dear old Ferdinand Celine, my favorite author of all time. He was a bit quirky come to think of it. His take on the human experience of existence was less than orthodox or conventional at the time...I suppose. He was Jim Morrison's favorite too and Henry Miller only tried to walk in his footsteps.
But anyways...there is one player on the tour that I really love to watch play and that player is another self taught artist whose name is Florian Mayer. This guy is just a joy to watch when he is at his best...because by the nature of his game he can bring out the worst in the best. His game is designed in many ways to upset the rhythm of his opponent and his strokes are less than orthodox...so I call him "The Quirk". Without being judgmental I might add. I saw him dismantle Robin Söderling and reduce him to tears at the Stockholm Open. Robin was crying because he had been embarrassed by the quirky nature of Mayer and ended up a train wreck in front of his adoring Swede fans.
Florian Mayer defeated Bernard Tomic, who's forehand by coincidence is still the subject of a Sticky thread here on the forum, yesterday 6-4, 6-0 to set up a second round match with Andy Murray. Florian's forehand and his serve will probably never grace this forum in any way, shape or form as by their nature...they are quirky. In their only other meeting to date Murray won 1-6, 6-1 and 6-1. That was in Rome at another Masters 1000 tourney in 2011. I believe that Mayer beat Nadal at the Shanghai Masters last year. Is there another lightning strike in the offing? It's unlikely...but one never knows, do they? Due to the sometimes quirky nature of tennis, art and life.
"There is nothing lower than the human race except the French."
-Mark Twain
Sadly, that's all I have to say.
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton
Comment