Much of a muchness

This photograph was taken a few years ago on holiday in Los Angeles. I arrived and found myself playing tennis the next day with my friend Claire, her boyfriend, Rich and her good friend, Tracey Ullman, who is every bit as funny in real life as she on the screen. Miraculously, Rich and I won and we were presented with this silly trophy which we were very proud of!

I’ve been playing quite a bit of tennis again recently and throughly enjoying it. I used to be a part of a regular four who met every week, all year round to play doubles. We have played in all weathers. If it’s frosty, we wrapped up and wore gloves and hats and carried on regardless. Rain? No problem. Gale force winds? Bring it on. In fact last time we played together, we had a combination of all of these and hail stones. We carried on, we are British after all! I had to stop playing while I was doing my teacher training but now I am footloose and fancy free again, I have been getting back into it.

I use a Head TiS6 racket which I have had for about six years which I love. It has a huge ‘sweet spot’ and is wonderful to use. I am in dire need of some coaching as my serve is rubbish and I have developed some very bad habits but what I lack in technique, I make up for with enthusiasm.

I used to play with number two son but he is so good now that I don’t stand a chance against him. He is so strong and hits the ball so hard, I find it impossible to return. He is working at Wimbledon this year as a court attendant, so I will have even more reason to be glued to the TV while I try to spot him. If it rains, he is going to be one of the guys who runs on and pulls the covers over the court. Woo hoo.

I once made the big mistake of suggesting a game of tennis with my (then) boyfriend who had said he hadn’t played for years. Sensing I might be able to acquit myself reasonably well, I loaned him a racket and off we went. What was I thinking? If I had thought about it a bit harder, I should have put the clues together and kept very quiet – playing against a man, who was 9 years younger than me and a PE teacher – utter carnage. When he started to offer me a two point lead in each game, my pride made me refuse (patronising or what?) and we finished the match and never played together again. We split up shortly after – are these two things related? Needless to say I have not made that mistake with subsequent boyfriends, no matter how much they protest their ineptitude!