You know, you know my sports thing, right? Many folks know that I’m a tennis fan, and the world of tennis has no bigger stage than Wimbledon, England, where the game has been played since 1877. It is the oldest and most prestigious jewel in the crown of tennis championships. Tennis, much like boxing, is mainly an individual sport where one’s mental game is as important, if not more so, as one’s physical one. It’s not to ignore doubles play, which is lesser known in the sport, though.
Years ago, as a teenager and young adult, I couldn’t change the channel fast enough whenever I saw tennis on the tube. It seemed, well, not really a sport. It seemed to pale beside the almost otherworldly physicality of American football or the brutal, fearsome simplicity of boxing. It took years, and a certain maturity, to teach me otherwise. Tennis, when played well, is a game of enormous endurance and skill and sometimes breathtaking beauty. It should surprise no one that amongst mostly male prisoners, there are more than a few fans of a sport played by women in short skirts.
Team play often excels in showing how people working together can win. Even in individual events like tennis, we’ve seen how people, against great odds, have overcome looming defeat, as Venus Williams did last year in Wimbledon. This year, with inspired play, the deft touch and steering athleticism, France’s Amelie Mauresmo bested Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne in three splendid sets, which could have gone either way. If tennis teaches us anything, is that it ain’t over till it’s over. From death row, this is Mumia Abu Jamal.
These commentaries are produced by Noel Hanrahan for Prison Radio.
