Your Call, From Memphis

MEMPHIS–I got to Memphis a few hours later than planned but just in time to see Sergiy Stakhovsky hit an underhand serve against Milos Raonic. It came out of nowhere, and you could hear the it-came-out-of-nowhereness in the collective gasp from the few fans still out on the stadium late Thursday night. It’s the first time I’ve seen an underhand serve live.

And the first time in months I’ve seen live tennis, so I went through my usual assortment of feelings, remembering that, oh yeah, this isn’t the same sport I play at the Chicago public courts across the street and, oh wow, how are they doing that, and that, and that! I like feeling that excitement anew and feeling that newness again. It didn’t last long though. A few games later Raonic wrapped up the match 6-4, 6-4 to make the quarterfinals.

I made my way out, past melodic accents that never get old, past a thirtysomething man reminding the older woman beside him that Raonic is “still just a man” and past still-baby-faced Raonic patiently smiling for pictures on his way back to the player area that's a two-minute walk away. It was late, though you can easily forget that here at The Racquet Club of Memphis, with its big-and-fancy-high-school-gym feel and indoor lighting that highlights the tennis but hides the time.

Much of this is to say, I didn’t watch much tennis today, but I’m here and will watch more over the next few days. I’ll be following up on a few other things, but I expect to write a TennisWorld post or two. Now if you’d like to discuss the day’s matches or other goings-on, go right ahead.

—Bobby Chintapalli