John McEnroe was a guest on La Revuelta, on RTVE. He was asked who he preferred watching right now. He said Carlos Alcaraz, “the best thing that’s happened to tennis in 10 years”. He also said: “We’re lucky to have him.”
The word that stops me is “watching”. A former world number one who chooses who he watches. Me, on Sunday at ten o’clock, on court 4, I have a spectator when my doubles partner’s husband is waiting for the car keys. He looks at his phone. It’s a form of attention.
I’m not comparing myself, mind you. But the pattern is the same: someone, somewhere, chooses to watch you rather than someone else. On court 4, the choice is between me and the flickering strip light. The strip light wins. It’s more consistent, I’ll admit, and I don’t admit it easily.
According to We Love Tennis, McEnroe considers Spanish tennis the world benchmark in player development. I agree. The level in club league (interclubs, Belgium’s weekend team league) has gone way up too, people don’t realise. It’s just that with us, development happens on Tuesday evenings, in the bubble we rent by the hour, and it shows in the game.
In Couvin, we watched whoever was playing. There was no choice to make. The garage only had one wall.
I’m not asking McEnroe to come to Walloon Brabant. I’m saying that the day he looks for his favourite player to watch in club league, I have a paper cone of chips waiting for him at the clubhouse bar, and my AFT (Belgian tennis federation) ranking in January. My season really starts in May.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
