Andrew Baird
Fontana Dam, NC 28733
Somewhere on the AT
September 20, 1998
Dear Andrew
Tennis on the varsity courts is over till next year. Six of the group including me is trying to set up Friday evening from 7 pm to 8:30 pm. We had our first go at it, unsure if we actually have the court, last Friday. We played 2 hrs and 15 min of intense tennis. It was very competitive and we finally ended up in a two set to two set tie. In the final set my partner, Daniel Yip, and I were down 5 to 0 having dominated the first two sets and narrowly loosing the third. We battled back winning five straight sets to our tiebreaker which, we lost 8-6 and even that was a squeaker. Considering how intense this tennis was I felt pretty good. I did make one mistake, which was to not have water during that 2.25 hrs. When I got home around 10 pm and stepped out of the car I started shivering like mad. I had a rough night finally throwing up around 3-pm. Saturday morning I had tennis with Belcher and no time to get a sub. I told them I would play as long as I did not have to run! We played three sets and Gordy Monford and I actually won one. I was so shot that I went home to bed and slept all day waking up at 5 pm. I had to scurry out to Greenville to get some horse feed and made it before the store closed. Then back to bed. No doubt I got the "24 hour flu." Today, Sunday, was a day of weakness and I thought I would take it easy.
I decided to attempt to escape the heat of the city today by going to Newport. As I was tooling through Portsmouth I spotted "Polo Today" and thought I might take a look, but it cost $8. Then I saw some activity at the Tennis Hall of fame and checked it out. Turned out there was a "Legends of Tennis" event. At the ticket counter I asked, "what's the deal" and was given a free ticket. I am typing this at courtside. I have one of the best seats in the house, in the shade, first row at the service line. The two players are Pat Cash and Tim Mayotte. They are playing first to win eight games. I guess it is not quite the same as a real match, but I am enjoying it immensely. Pat Cash is sending booming serves toward Tim Mayotte and is clearly the better player. He is younger too. In the end Mayotte wins, but I cannot help but think Pat Cash let up a bit. After all, it is a charity event and for the fans. The points were hard fought at times however.
It is a perfect day in Newport and it is cooler than in Providence. The flags are blowing gently on the stands in the Casino. The grass courts are in very good shape and this could not be better. I can sit here and recuperate my flu and enjoy nice professional tennis on beautiful grass courts at the Tennis Hall of Fame. Great place.
Now, Mel Purcell and Sandy Meyer. Suddenly all the TV equipment has vanished and Stan Smith, who was around and up with the upper TV equipment with some other pros is gone. The New York Times Sports photog, or contract photographer, has left his tens of thousands of dollars of cameras on the turn next to the umpire's chair and is no where to be seen. Purcell and Meyer do their thing. They are obviously very accomplished tennis players, but not as good as Cash and Mayotte. It seems clear to me. Any way, the stands became sparse, but I stayed and watched some good tennis. Clearly, Pat and Tim were crowd favorites-and better players in world tennis. Free perfect seat ticket. How could I complain?
It is new Monday morning and I am back to work. I am sending some film that somehow did not make it into my last mailing. I hope that everything is going well and that as you near the end you can look back at this as a great adventure.
Remember, give me a phone call collect, use a phone card, or my card
Love,
Dad