I love tennis.  I play it (too much, maybe), and I’m a big fan of the game.  That said, considering myself a fan of the game increasingly feels strange to me.  I can’t quite put my finger on why. 

It’s not because I’m falling out of love with the sport.  It’s that the big picture is completely out of focus.  I know what a tennis match is.  But what is it that we’re talking about when we talk about the game of tennis?  This weekend’s Laver Cup — a men’s tournament being held in Chicago that features top players from around the world, including Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic — has got me wondering. 

I’m not referring to a game of tennis (15-love, 15-all, etc.),  I’m referring to the game of tennis.  When we say “the game of” — the game of basketball or baseball, for example — we’re talking about the idea of the game.  We know its structures: its rules, its contexts and, quite crucially, what a season is.  In other words, we know why the players are playing. 

In tennis, the United States Open is a type of unofficial end of the season for casual viewers.  It takes place at the end of summer, the final of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments.  It’s also the final time in the year that tennis forces its way into the public sphere — this year it was Serena Williams and the women’s final.