Well, the story is out that tennis will actually have a sitcom. Greg Daniels is bringing this show to Fox and hopefully it will be as successful as his series The Office.
This ranks much better than the periodic movie on the subject or one with tennis in the background. I don't know if I'll be able to enjoy it based on the short description of the storyline where a tennis pro/failure comes home and finds himself actually envious of his brother the bar owner for his so called carefree lifestyle and somehow he must prove himself to The Girl. Poor X tennis pro. Please.
Wow, how many of us would have suffered endless indignities to spend time on the tour even as an also ran somewhere between 50 and 500 in ranking. Anywhere in there makes you an exceptional player and the opportunity to play for a living even at subsistence level would have been a dream for many of us but the option didn't exist.
Now, if this guy comes to his senses he'll settle down and become a teaching pro with a great resume. He could make a decent living and share his supposed love of the sport with his students along with many great stories. I knew many tennis bums from the past that had the chance to play satellite tournaments had some wonderful experiences.
Some of us bypassed the competition for various reasons including injuries and lack of financial ability to do so and just went right into teaching it for a living. For us it never seemed like a step down, but I suppose for those players that had tasted the life of professional play it always seemed like a downgrade. It is somewhere close to the old football star selling cars in terms of falling from grace. In this case, it is all in the mind. Some of us love teaching.
Since it is tennis, I'll have to check out the show anyway and I hope you do the same.
