| 19 January 2010
While it’s not possible for me, a casual bowler, to be in a bowling alley most of the day - nor would I want to be when I really think about it – but, I do love overly-crispied greasy French fries. I’d like to have access to one of the best amateur sports tool ever created –not the hand blower --- the bowling-pin reset button.
On court yesterday, a despondent Dana started her story, “I can’t believe I lost the first set to Bobbie.” She shook her head. “Everyone told me I’d beat her easily; I saw her play a few weeks ago in a tourney and she had nothin’.”
“Obviously she had more than that,” I said.
“It gets better,” she shushed me with her raised hand. “After losing the first set 6-1, I sat on the bench at the changeover faced with a decision: Do I do a Sarah Palin and quit mid-term? Do I cry? Do I improve my game right now? Do I play her game better than she does?”
I said, “You did not quit; I know that much about you.”
“Right,” she said, “the last time I cried in public was 6th grade, and that didn’t get me the kiss I wanted; I’d been playing ‘my’ game as best I could, and she was just eking out points.”
“So you played ‘her’ game?”
“Not so fast,” Dana slowed me down. “I heard a chant in my head ‘Upset, re-set, next set, no upset.’”
“And during the set changeover you…”
She leaned against the netpost and said, “I decided to play her game – and play it better than she does. I had to trust my ability to play, not my ability to win.”
“Winning’ might be just one shot; ‘playing’ is the entire match?” I posed.
“This almost upset, thankfully, inspired me to play with more of me.”
The result was a first round win for Dana. “Unlike the early round victim: Sharapova,” Dana added, “I’ll be able to go out tomorrow and compete with another opponent and reset my expectations and goals. Maria’s going back to the gym with her coach, Michael Joyce, to reset her choices for the next tournament, two weeks from now.”
The upsets at the Australian Open are our chance to see how the pros re-set for the next tourney and these unexpected losses may even be more interesting than an expected victory. When I watch carefully, I can see some of the players do it between points: egos checked, goals revamped - adjustments along the way. Seeing the ball. Doing whatever it takes to play.
Thank you, Maria. You spared us the agony of a boring first-round at the 2010 Australian Open. Resetting will be more fun.
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