#Tennis Intensity

[jazda-iga]

JAZDA🔥

Iga advances into the round of 16 after beating Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2

[poppy-metal]

do you know how hard it would be to be patricks enemy - its easy to piss him off, he runs hot, his fuse is short - but he lets shit go, just as quick. you'd have to really break his heart, be someone so fucking fake you make his skin itch just to be around you, so against being honest he wonders if you're even real or if you're just a puppet.

[fishandshesmygills]

in one hour and 20 minutes i am letting a first year cut my hair before i go take an exam that i have not studied for at all. currently skipping my morning classes ostensibly to study for said exam but really because i feel wretched from my flu shot yesterday. i love college

[beefy-the-stronk]

I drew this sleep paralysis demon b/c if I don't, then who else would??

Pepperman's vs design is so underrated, I love crazy gross looking monsterous men

I mean I understand why, I can't even make eye contact with these drawings cus he's freaky lmao. But in like, a cool way

[masonjarsmoments]

Mr. No matter what the haters say I will just win the whole thing

[schumi-nadal]

Rafa: You see the horizon over there?

Roger: Yes.

Rafa: That’s how far my love for you goes.

[melissa-leaf]

them: being them me, live reaction:

[bluespring864]

Tomás Martín Etcheverry and Dan Evans meet at the net after a tough battle at Davis Cup 2024

scoreline of the final game (5 match points saved by Dan, 3 break points saved by Tomy):

[louieciriaco19]

Unlock the Secrets: Train Like Serena, Nadal, Federer & Djokovic to Domi...

[fionnalovesanimeboysandholo]

Why does every sport anime have that one super cool guy that has either his hand or leg injured

[muirneach]

NOT THE THREE DOUBLE FAULTS NO HELP

[icewindandboringhorror]

If you became super rich and could design your own house, but could only add THREE unnecessary/random/expensive home additions (like how people will have bowling alleys, movie theatres, closets with museums of shoes, car display rooms, spa rooms, wine cellars, etc. in their mansions) - what three would you choose?

[zingaplanet]

About your pinned post, what's your opinion on Fedal and Prosenna?

Y'all are watering my asks and indulging my ranting habits, i love it ❤️🤌

Well, now that is an interesting relationship comparison! And I say that not because I think they are both opposite versions of each other, it's a bit more as if they're alternate versions of how each other could've been, if that makes sense?

I think this is the case with many rivalry relationships as well, especially one that managed to reach the intensity level of federer-nadal and prost-senna (where they battled each other almost over decades still at the very top level of the sports). I do think with rivalries, there's always a kind of mad obsession that naturally comes with them, you have to, I reckon, otherwise you wouldn't be able to maintain that drive. The difference is the way you choose to deal with that level of intensity, and (because competition is the most soul-baring form of bonding there is) relationship intimacy with another person. It isn't easy because it could be suffocating.

Senna might be the most obvious target here. He was, undeniably, obsessed with Prost (if not at least with beating him). But I think Prost was equally obsessed in some way! Otherwise he wouldn't have been sucked into the narrative and mind games for that long. And unfortunately, I think they dealt with it (Senna, at the very least) with the only way they knew how, by maintaining a distance so as not to combust when they clash too close with each other. Prost talked a lot about trying to make friends with Senna in the beginning (inviting him to his home, to lunch, etc) but was completely ignored as Senna told his friends that he was 'scared to be friends with Prost' because he viewed him as his ultimate rival.

I think this was very understandable. Senna obviously couldn't imagine the dual intensity of being close to someone he already designated as an ultimate chasing target in life, a benchmark of his own identity in a way. But that also kinda only left one avenue for them to channel this emotional intensity and any string strung too tight will always break eventually. Maybe this was also why their rivalry was very intense and problematic, even by the treshold of high-level sports. Let's be honest, at its peak it was one of the nastiest history has seen.

When Prost retired, not only did Senna, I imagine, lost his sense of identity and purpose in racing (which he himself said), I think they also lost a way to channel this intensity. Imagine the one thing that plagued every second of your life (to beat him, to best him, to defeat his records) suddenly being taken away, and the jarring gap it must've left. That's maybe why Senna begged Prost to come back almost every week since he retired and why their personal relationship started getting better after, as sans the other avenue, this could be the only way to channel that level of intensity.

I don't really believe in soulmates but I do think some people are meant to meet in life. And a bond that intense, where you can use the phrase mad for each other quite literally, needed to be channelled in one way or another, albeit unfortunately Prost and Senna couldn't make the right choice in time.

The sad thing was I don't think Senna ever imagined the possibility of them being in that duality of friends and rivals while they were still active (Prost might've, but it wouldn't have worked in itself). There's no one to blame in this regard, it could just be the difficulty and stigma around high-level male dominated sports in this period. I actually genuinely believe if Senna were to make it, they would've been close (Prost said so himself) because there's no way one can simply sever an emotional bond that intense without finding an alternative. It truly is one of the saddest tragedies and what-ifs in sports.

Which is probably why the Federer-Nadal dynamic is very rare and quite strange in a way. They seem to get the memo early on that it was somehow possible to channel this bond not just through intense (and ferocious) rivalry but also through a deeper personal connection such as friendship. I found this fascinating as it seemed to appear out of nowhere, both of them didn't really have an example to follow. They themselves saw the nastiness of the Sampras-Agassi rivalry right before their era and tennis locker room in the 2000s wasn't exactly a welcoming space for any newcomers, the tour was quite hostile.

Federer, however, initiated the friendly nature of their acquintances even before their rivalry began. Maybe it was something just akin to his nature, but it wouldn't have worked (just as Prost's attempt didn't) if Nadal hadn't reciprocated, especially as their rivaly grew more and more intense.

I truly believed that this early dynamic that they've put themselves into (and in a way trapped themselves in) kinda dictated the way the rest of their rivalry went and why it never truly went nasty. It's about a very delicate balance between professional drive and personal relationships. They've had some mishaps and some miscommunications along the way, of course, but perhaps it's what helped them to not let themselves be consumed by the sport as well. Tennis wasn't their whole life, it's a big part of their lives, sure, but Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal still exist outside of the sport. They have families, children, other dreams and ambitions etc., and both didn't hesitate when asked if they could imagine life after tennis.

So I think it's not that their bond was less intense in a way, they simply found ways to diffuse them better through a strong (sometimes negative as well) competitive relationship balanced out by an equally strong, positive personal relationship. Yet, it doesn't mean that the loss of one doesn't affect the other. Hence when the rivalry ended (with Federer's retirement), Nadal said a part of him left as well, and has been struggling with his form ever since. Similar to Prost and Senna though, we do see their personal relationship growing stronger after the retirement, again as if to compensate the sudden loss of emotional bond.

It's fascinating to me, this level of interconnectedness in both of relationships, of almost existing for the identity of one, and the need to be two in order to be whole. I talk about this emotional intensity as if it was something alien and abstract but I do believe that what lies underneath is a very strong, perhaps almost intimate, level of respect even in the nastiest forms of rivalry. In a way, it almost resembles a sense of belonging, knowing that the other is the only one that truly understands what it means to be you, or in simple words, to live what you have lived, to be on the losing side of your best wins, and to live their best days alongside the worst moments of your life.

Some rivalries aren't so lucky to have as happy an ending as others. But I do think nonetheless, that finding your complete equal, one that gives you purpose, dreams, and the thoughtless will to get up everyday, to make all of it matters because they matter and so you must too, is already a gift in itself, right?

[wall-eye]

Highly reccomend making discord emojis and stickers for characters and then misusing them. We have a kul bonk and a ephie wack facing opposite directions and we make them play tennis.

[jerswayman]

the only sport i can handle my faves not winning in is formula one and that's simply bc the set up of the sport means you might have a favourite who has NEVER won. that's not rare. so you're kinda conditioned to be disappointed when your fave is at the back of the grid but it's also kind of just a part of the whole experience. it sucks, but that all consuming rage isn't there the way it is with hockey and football and tennis for me.

unfortunately, watching a racist ableist prick win every weekend DOES fill me with an all consuming rage so i cannot, in fact, enjoy even that anymore!