It was always my intention to play my dad first for the project. Me and my dad have always had a complex relationship but I’ve always felt like on the tennis court is where we understood each other best and at the end of the day he was the person who taught me to play so it only seemed right. After moving home to begin saving I didn’t tell my parents about the project (I think to protect it, as it already felt like an insane thing to do without the natural anxieties of parents whizzing around my fragile brain) anyway, they knew I was saving for something – probably hoping it was a house – alas it wasn’t! Surprise I’m still not growing up ! The day of the match was when I planned to tell my dad about the project but I had told my mum just before and explained I was going to play dad first. My mums reaction went something like this ‘oh tom, im not sure that’s a good idea – please no tears’ to which I thought ‘huh? We’re grown men – I’m not 11 anymore?!? There won’t be tears! Surely? Right?’
7pm, Sunday evening me and my dad walked on to the court. We warmed up, hit the ball a bit and then I told my dad the idea. He reacted with the normal amount of confusion but ultimately accepted the challenge – the game was on. “Imagine if your 62 year old dad beats you! Imagine your about to embark on this project but in the very first match your 62 year old dad BEATS you” was repeating in my head as we settled in to the match. For reference my dad has beat me so many times over the years – he did not go easy on me as a kid but to be honest we haven’t played much over the last decade – a tactical move from him while he tries to hold on to his competitive edge by playing my brother (who is a piece of piss to beat).
Before I knew it I was 4-0 up and in all honestly I still wasn’t comfortable. It was around this point in the match my dad started doing what he does, what all tennis players do – bringing out the excuses ‘I haven’t played in 4 weeks’ etc. etc. – the type of thing that would throw me off my game – I recognised it straight away and although it didn’t feel good I had to remain ruthless.
I did it I beat my dad 6-0 I actually don’t think I’ve ever done that? And little me would be so excited by this but actually I just felt a bit shit about it – maybe because I knew what was coming!
On our return home, camera in hand, I went and told mum the outcome. Her face said it all. Less than 10 seconds later my Dad comes running in with a barrage of excuses. Some of my favourites include “Its 8pm”, “I have food poisoning”, “I feel bloated”. All the while my Mum is pissing herself taking little jabs at dad “was it windy?” “did you forget your sunglasses?” “have you got your little badge?” We’ve heard it all before, we know this game. Watching this all unfold whilst capturing it on camera felt like my families version of an Attenborough moment. This was my family, this was my dad and this is exactly why this project exists.
Listen, anyone who is competitive knows what it feels like to lose and in Tennis the excuses are easy to find. If I had lost 6-0 maybe I would have had food poisoning too?! Either way the project was of to the start it deserved.
All the best, Tom