A large and enthusiastic crowd settled into the Siegel Center for the fourth annual Anthem LIVE! charity tennis match to support cancer research programs. Mauricio, Dwayne, Isabel and I found our spots in the bleachers and waited for the event to begin.
I flipped through my program, glancing down at the glossy photos of Andy Roddick and James Blake, the highlights of the exhibition. “Who are these guys again?” I asked, having not paid much attention to professional tennis since Agassi and Sampras were rivals.
“They’re HAWT!” replied Isabel and that was really all I got before the lights went dim and the emcee introduced the players as they walked out into a spotlight in the court below.
The tennis began soon after with a doubles match; Roddick paired with one of the Bryan brothers and Blake paired with John Isner (since the other Bryan brother was out with an injury). The match started with a blistering 140 mph ace from Roddick. I pointed down to the fancy courtside tables where the people were reeling from the near miss, “You have to pay extra to get smacked in the head with Roddick’s balls!”
Roddick and Bryan captured an early lead as the chair umpire made funny quips and commentary. When the umpire asked the crowd if they thought Blake and Isner could overcome the 3-6 set deficit,
Roddick and Bryan handed their rackets over to a ballboy and ballgirl and let them finish off the final set.
After a short intermission, which gave our rear ends a much needed break from the narrow and uncomfortable bleachers, Roddick and Blake came back on the court to compete in a singles match.
There were several intense volleys and rallies, and when an errant shot flew into the audience, Isabel shouted “Hit one over here!”
Roddick won the first set and then, with a comfortable lead in the second set, began doing impressions of famous tennis serves, from McEnroe’s stiff-armed delivery and racket throwing tantrums, to Boris Becker’s crouching lunge towards the net. The crowd began making requests and I recognized both Sampras and Agassi’s serves before Roddick finally finished Blake off.
It was fantastic to watch live tennis but what I really wanted to do was play. Mauricio said he could dig up a couple rackets and that we should head over to Byrd Park some day after work, which is exactly what we did. 

After work on Monday, we met at Byrd Park tennis courts. They were full. An older gentleman with an over-stuffed Wilson case slung around his shoulder looked out over the courts and shrugged. “I guess tennis is enjoying something of a resurgence.”
Impatient and eager to play, Isabel, Mauricio and I headed over to the courts on Patterson Avenue and Thompson street. A women’s tennis team was just wrapping up their practice and the court at the far end, next to 195, was open. We staked our claim, opened up a fresh can of balls and got started.
Mauricio, who played tennis in high school, gave us some pointers. He stood on one side of the net and lobbed easy shots to Isabel and me. “Either play the net or play the baseline… but don’t stand in ‘no man’s land!’ Back up!”
“Don’t forget to follow through!” he advised Isabel who promptly lobbed a shot over the fence towards the highway below. We braced ourselves for the squealing of tires and an impact that never came. She knocked two more at the traffic in the next ten minutes.
“There goes ONE can of balls!”
Dwayne finally arrived and joined in the chaos. Luckily the neighboring courts were still relatively deserted and our wayward shots and unsportsman-like language weren’t disturbing anyone. We were just getting warmed up and the rallies almost looked like actual tennis, when a line drive aimed at Mauricio’s head caused him to drop his new digital camera – jamming the lens housing and rendering it inoperable.
The sun was setting and we’d lost our groove. We never got around to playing an actual game for points, but Isabel’s final score was five balls over the wall. We’ll play again sometime when we don’t need to take pictures.