On July 1, I was named to the 2020 Super Senior 70 World Team scheduled to compete in Mallorca, Spain, October 11-16. On July 15 the event was cancelled.

There have been so many disappointments these past five months: weddings, vacations, birthdays, graduations, and now another added to the list. The ITF ( International Tennis Federation) made the right call. How would they be able to guarantee the safety of approximately 540 men and women all over 65? Even if we were able to play how would the social distancing occur in a team setting? And at this moment we are not allowed to travel to and from EU countries … we are stuck trying to control our own mess.

I am now reckoning with the potentiality of no competitive events for perhaps another eight months or more. Typically my years since retiring from UMass are planned around training for a tournament, time off, gearing up again, competing, and repeating this cycle. This is the life I had hoped for and worked for as I neared retirement. My brain is struggling to compute the loss. Now when I play I find myself watching balls whizz by that I might run for if I had more desire. The other day I watched a serve come at me, and while I decided whether to take it as a forehand or a backhand, and because I never did decide, the ball hit me…. I am sporting a large bruise on my left arm to prove it. COVID tennis has set in.

I am playing with no purpose except for perhaps the most important one … I am healthy and I love this game. Perhaps this is really all that matters.

Players can visit my Tennis Technique & Strategy page to see all of the posts sent to my newsletter subscribers. The newest post is about how to avoid missing easy shots.