Tennis Dreams

Last night, after shivering for 20 minutes or so before warming up enough to sleep, I dreamt of long lazy afternoons watching tennis.

When I woke, I was thinking of novelist Tim Pears' celebrated essay on Bjorn Borg, and of course *that* final which I was lucky enough to watch as a 15 year old.

As Pears reminds us, the end of the fourth set was unforgettable:

The tie break that followed has lifted the 1980 final into myth. At this time and place, with every other point from 5-5 either a championship point to Borg or a set point to McEnroe, the two men exchanged shots of courage and beauty, until they were not so much competing as collaborating. Each had met his destiny in the other.

Click the quote above to read a great essay on a great player.